Saturday Soup

Saturday soup is exactly what the name says: a soup that Jamaicans make on Saturdays, thick with yellow yam, dasheen, sweet potato, cho cho, corn on the cob cut into rounds, and pumpkin cooked down until it thickens the whole pot. Into it go spinners, small twisted flour dumplings rolled between the palms, and either chicken, beef or, for the classic version, cow foot or pig's tail. It is sold from stands at the roadside from midday, ladled into styrofoam cups, and it is as much a weekly ritual as a meal. Red pea soup and mannish water, a goat soup made for celebrations, are its close relatives.

What you actually see

• Spinners - hand-rolled twisted flour dumplings.
• The ground provisions - yam, dasheen, sweet potato and cho cho.
• Pumpkin - cooked down until it thickens the whole pot.
• Roadside soup stands - operating from midday every Saturday.

When to go

Saturday afternoons, when the stands appear at roadsides across the island. Some cook shops make it other days but Saturday is the tradition. It runs until the pot is finished, usually by evening.

Honest expectations

The traditional versions use cow foot, tripe or pig's tail, which is worth knowing before ordering; ask what is in the pot if you would rather not. It is very heavy for something called soup. Roadside stands vary in hygiene, so pick busy ones. Vegetarian versions are rare but the ingredients make one easy to ask for.

Nearby

Roadsides across every parish; the mountain roads on a Saturday are reliable.