Article: Jamaican, no fakin': With Joan Witter's jerk chicken, beans known as peas, and perfect plantains, a Philly block party was never so island-fragrant - or genuine.

Byline: Craig LaBan

Sep. 13--Joan Witter strides along Walnut Street just east of the bustling 52d Street corridor and stops at a facade painted with Caribbean flags.

"You can smell the islands in here," she tells me eagerly. And as she opens the door to the Walnut Supermarket, a breeze tinged with salt fish, ripening plantains and exotic spice greets my nose like a trade wind.

As we head inside this sprawling market, it's clear that it caters to a broad clientele, with bulk bins of gari (cassava meal) from Ghana, bags of giant smoked shrimp, and jars of Senegalese peanut butter for the African crowd.

But we have come on a quest for ...

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