Winston Stona of Busha Browne talks about great ingredients, making movies and what “Jamaican jerk” really means.

Did you always want to be in the food business?
Not at all. I was living in Europe and about to head to Gambia to work in a program related to Development Economics when I had an invitation to come home to become the assistant director of tourism and help resuscitate the country’s tourism industry. The plan was to stay for three years but three years turned into a lifetime. Along the way, I became passionate about the benefits of creating value-added products and not simply exporting raw ingredients abroad—such as sugar, our “green gold”, and Blue Mountain Coffee. Out of that came the creation of Busha Browne’s Company Ltd.—I assumed responsibility for running the company in 1987.

You’ve also acted in several movies.
Yes, I have a little flirtation with acting. I’ve been in The Harder They Come, Cool Runnings and, more recently, One Love, working with Bob Marley’s son Ky-Mani. For the most part I play myself.  

For many people, Jamaican cuisine is closely tied to jerk seasoning, but there is some confusion about what exactly is “jerk.” Could you explain?
The term has been used loosely. We’ve been working with the World Trade Organization and registered four foods for marks of protection including Jamaican Jerk Seasoning. Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meats (traditionally pork, but now including chicken, fish and sometimes even tofu) are dry-rubbed with a fiery spice mixture (called Jamaican jerk sauce) and then cooked in a pit, on a grill or on an open fire (an oven will do in a pinch). Jerk refers to the technique, the spice mixture and the finished product.

In addition to your sauces, jellies and chutneys, are there new products in the pipeline?
We work with 164 farmers and if we hear about a farmer who is doing something, we try to use it. I am also beginning to work on what I loosely call Busha Browne’s luxury line for the high select and gift market. We want to be true to our history and are looking at products using our local ingredients.

What are some of your other interests?
One of my passions is primary education and I’ve been chairman of the board of one of the leading schools for 26 years. I believe strongly in having the foundation in place for children in a world that has long ceased thinking about literature, geography and history and all the good things that make us who we are.   

If you knew it was going to be your last meal, what would you eat?    
I would a start with a lovely mango called Sweetie-Come-Brush-Me. Then I would go on to have a Yellow Heart Jamaican Breadfruit, roasted and stuffed with ackee and codfish, a little piece of jerk chicken, and a wonderful Jamaican Simmons Avocado Pear, cut in two and served with a pumpkin or black bean soup. I would wash it down with a shandy, an ice cold Red Stripe beer mixed with homemade ginger beer. For dessert I would have a warm sweet potato pudding topped with a rum butter sauce and then finish with a hot cup of 100% Blue Mountain coffee.—Susan Segrest