The Taste Bud: Cheap Jamaican Meat Patties for Everybody

Lots of sodium and calories, but also plenty of flavor. Photos by Kevin Gibson

Many years ago, when I first started writing The Taste Bud as a feature for LEO Weekly, I spoke with my editor about what a “taste bud” topic would be. We agreed it might be a specific dish or product, or just a cheap lunch or meal deal.

Well, I may have located the ultimate Taste Bud item: the Jamaican meat patty from Golden Krust.

I first saw these a few weeks back when I stopped at Family Dollar to pick up some cereal and OJ (hey, it’s quicker than Kroger). I was curious and dubious at the same time – the package referred to this product as a Jamaican Spicy Beef Patty. Its price? $1.25. Yeah, I knew it had Taste Bud written all over it.

Of course, for a buck and a quarter, I figured it would be a bland, disgusting blob, like a frozen bean burrito you’d get from a gas station. I stuck the thing in my freezer and forgot about it for a couple of weeks, but one day as I was searching for a quick lunch, I saw it, and I knew: It was time.

To cook one of these things, you just open the end of the package, pop it in the microwave and set it for two minutes. When it’s done, you just dump it on a plate and go to town. When the smoking-hot sandwich thing hit my plate, it didn’t smell bad but I remained dubious as to what culinary mayhem lay inside.

The spicy chicken version of a Golden Krust patty.

I cut into one end with my fork and found the edge to be pretty tough to get through. Strike one. I chewed the yellow-ish first bite and it was about what I had expected: not much to love, but the flakiness of the crust was nice. And then I cut into the pie-like thing further and reached the filling, which just looked like a brown mush. But it smelled really good. So I took a healthy bite – and my palate was hit with a burst of Jamaican-style, savory flavors. I took another bite, and I realized that a spicy finish was beginning to take hold. Meanwhile, the crust had become pliable and no longer chewy. Halfway through, I thought, “How can this be $1.25?”

The next time I stopped in Family Dollar, I decided to get another one, just to make sure I had dreamed the experience. But they were gone, having been replaced by a spicy chicken version and a Jerk chicken version. I bought one of each, tried them both. Both equally full of flavor.

And again, just a buck and a quarter. Is it a filling lunch? Nah. They aren’t much bigger than the aforementioned frozen burritos. But they are quite tasty for what they are. And once you get past the textures, you kind of forget it’s crappy frozen stuff from a discount store.

And yeah, it’s not what you’d call a healthful lunch; I carefully studied the “nutritional” data on the back of the package. Calories? 330. Fat? 11 grams. There’s 10 milligrams of cholesterol in there, too, as well as a sodium content that I almost hate to bring up – 530 milligrams, or nearly a quarter of a day’s recommended sodium intake. Oof.

I decided to look up the product to see if I could find more info, and sure enough, the company’s website tells the story. Golden Krust pies date back to 1949 and a bakery in Jamaica called Hawthorne & Sons. Later all grown up and living in America, some of the children of the original owners pooled their savings and opened a family bakery called Golden Krust in New York in 1989. By 1993, they had a manufacturing plant and had started opening more locations, hitting 100 stores by 2005 (you can even franchise one). And in 2011, they started freezing and packaging their signature product.

And that’s why my neighborhood Family Dollar has these tasty little meat pies. For $1.25.

Oh, and the Golden Krust restaurants have full menus of Jamaican fare, from callaloo and saltfish to oxtails and curry goat. I’d be keen to hit up a Golden Krust if I ever get near one (they’re all over the Bronx and Brooklyn), because if their frozen pies are this tasty, the fresh stuff must be darn delicious.  Meanwhile, I guess I’ll have to settle for the savory snack patties, which come in more than just the three flavors I’ve tried. Those flavors include: mild beef and chicken, spinach, mixed vegetables, pizza (!?), and even two versions of Beyond flavors.

Oh, and yes, I do like mine with a bit of hot sauce to add some additional zing. Try the chicken versions with Green Dragon from Trader Joe’s. Delicious pairing. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have $1.25 to spend and an appetite.