Oxtail
“Butter Bean Throne”
The Story
If Curried Goat is the king of the party, Oxtail is the king of the Sunday dinner table — the dish that the whole family gathers around, the dish that takes all morning to prepare and all afternoon to perfect, and the dish that starts arguments about who makes it best. Oxtail was once considered a throwaway cut in Jamaica — literally the tail of the cow, bony, full of cartilage, and tough as leather. It was cheap because nobody with money wanted it. But Jamaican cooks, with their genius for transforming humble ingredients into magnificence, took that tough tail and created one of the richest, most deeply flavoured stews in Caribbean cuisine. The secret is time and heat. You season the oxtail with a paste of soy sauce, garlic, thyme, allspice, and pepper, then you brown it in screaming hot oil until every piece has a dark, caramelised crust. Then it goes into the pot with water, and you let it simmer for two to three hours, until the collagen in all those joints and cartilage dissolves into pure gelatin, turning the gravy into liquid silk. The broad beans and butter beans (lima beans) go in during the last hour — they absorb the gravy and become creamy little pillows. Miss Vie adds a splash of ketchup and soy sauce to her gravy for colour and depth, a trick she learned from the Chinese-Jamaican cooks of downtown Kingston who brought their own stewing traditions to the island. In parishes like St. Andrew and St. Catherine, a Sunday without oxtail is barely a Sunday at all. The dish is a statement: I had time, I had love, and I put both into this pot.
Where & when
Era: Colonial-era humble cuts tradition, Chinese-Jamaican fusion (1900s)
Region: Kingston, St. Andrew, St. Catherine, island-wide
The price of oxtail has risen dramatically worldwide as its popularity spread beyond the Caribbean. What was once the cheapest cut in the butcher shop is now one of the most expensive — a direct result of Jamaican and other Caribbean diaspora communities creating global demand for what was once considered waste.
What’s Inside
- Oxtail
- Butter beans (lima beans)
- Broad beans (fava beans)
- Onion
- Garlic cloves
- Fresh thyme sprigs
- Allspice berries
- Soy sauce
- Ketchup
- Scotch bonnet pepper
- Scallion
- Salt and black pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Water
- Browning sauce
Exact quantities and substitutions are in the full recipe inside the cookbook.
What You’ll Do
- 1.Season the oxtail pieces with garlic, thyme, scallion, soy s…(2 hrs to overnight)
- 2.Heat vegetable oil in a heavy Dutch pot over high heat until…(15 min)
- 3.In the same pot, add the chopped onion and cook for 2 minute…
- 4.Reduce heat to low, cover tightly, and simmer for 2 to 3 hou…(2-3 hrs)
- 5.Add the butter beans and broad beans in the last 30 minutes…(30 min)
- 6.Taste and adjust seasoning — the gravy should be rich, thick…
Detailed step-by-step instructions, timings, and chef tips are in the cookbook.
Serving It Right
Serve in a deep plate over rice and peas. Stack the oxtail pieces so the bones show, and ladle the thick, dark gravy generously over everything. Place butter beans prominently — they are part of the presentation.
Goes well with: Rice and peas, Steamed vegetables, Fried plantain, Coleslaw
Garnish: A sprig of fresh thyme and a scatter of sliced scallion
Want the full recipe?
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