In the British West Indies of the nineteenth century enslaved Africans cooked ox which a planter divided among his or her slaves during the Christmas along with “an extra allowance of yams, and flour or cornmeal, and a measure of rum,” observed one traveler. The mention of ox in the source reminds me of a conversation I had at a Caribbean Restaurant in Poughkeepsie. According to one of the owners, oxtail remains a favorite Christmas dish among Jamaicans today. “Here we have it on the menu every day, but back home it’s too expensive for most folks. So they only make it on holidays like Christmas.”
