State dinners often consist of, but are not limited to, black tie or white tie dress, military honor guards, a four or five course meal, musical entertainment, dancing, and speeches made on behalf of the head of state hosting the state dinner as well as the foreign head of state.
Jerky is lean meat that has been trimmed of fat, cut into strips, and then dried to prevent spoilage. Normally, this drying includes the addition of salt, to prevent bacteria from developing on the meat before sufficient moisture has been removed.
A plate of jerk chicken (right), with rice, plantains, carrots and green beans. Jerk is a style of cooking native to Jamaica in which meat is dry-rubbed or wet marinated with a very hot spice mixture called Jamaican jerk spice. Jerk seasoning is traditionally applied to pork and chicken. Modern recipes also apply jerk spice mixes to fish, shrimp, shellfish, beef, sausage, lamb, vegetables, and tofu. Jerk seasoning principally relies upon two items: allspice (called pimento in Jamaica) and Scotch bonnet peppers.