This upcoming Sunday, I’ll be helping
cook a traditional Newfoundland Jigg’s Dinner for the largest crowd I have ever
cooked for to date - alongside my friend Allan, Newfoundlander and fellow
foodie.
Allan had approached me earlier
last year to see if I would be interested in cooking a Newfoundland themed
dinner with him. We shot around a few
ideas, Jigg’s Dinner being one of them, but hadn’t made any solid plans. Then, Sean McCann, founding member of the
Celtic inspired Newfoundland band Great Big Sea contacted me through one of the
organizations I volunteer with to inquire about hosting a local show. It felt like synergy was at work, so Allan
and I jumped on the opportunity.
My friend Morgan first introduced
me to Newfoundland cuisine couple of years ago, when she hosted Tibb’s Eve
(another wonderful Newfoundland tradition). On the menu was salt beef, the star
of Jigg’s dinner – and it was incredible to say the least. She tells me that Jigg’s Dinner is something
that her family had every Sunday back home.
It’s a meal that’s usually prepared for large groups of people, because
there is always family and company around the table on Sundays. Jigg’s is also
intended to create lots of leftovers so it can be fried into hash the next day
and served along side fried bologna.
Similar to a New England style boiled
dinner, Jiggs is a variation of traditional Irish cuisine. Jiggs is made with salt meat (pickled fresh
meat intended to last throughout winter), typically made with beef navel or
short ribs. The ribs tend to be less
fatty, though Allan tells me that for some, the fat is part of the draw.
Roasted chicken with summer
savoury is often served with Jiggs as well, but isn’t always necessary – it’s
all about the salt beef. Other
condiments include pickled beets and sweet mustard pickles. A gravy made with
browning is something that some people also like to serve as well, though like
the chicken, it’s not necessarily included with the dish.
Recipe courtesy of Janice Bearns (or as Allan affectionately refers to as "Mudder").
Recipe serves 5-7
Ingredients
- 1 kg (about 2-3 pieces) of salt meat or ribs
(depends on how
many you are cooking for)
- 1 head cabbage, quartered
- 1 medium turnip, peeled and cut into large pieces
- 5 carrots, peeled and quartered
- 2 parsnips, peeled and quartered
- 6-8 potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 1 (225 g bag) split yellow peas for pudding
- dash of pepper
Directions
The
night before Jiggs, soak the peas in cold water (at least 3 times as much water
to peas). You want the peas to soak for a minimum of 8 hours, though no longer
than 12. Once the peas have soaked, rinse them, and place peas in a “peas
pudding bag” (layered cheesecloth will also work).
Start with a large stock pot. Drain salt beef, and add beef to stock pot, filling
with cold water to halfway. Add peas pudding (in peas pudding bag) to pot,
tying it on the side so that it doesn’t touch the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium
for about 2 hours. Taste as you go to
check the saltiness of the broth.
After 2 hours, drain half of the broth, and then fill
back up again with water and bring back to a boil. After it comes back to a boil, add carrot and
turnip, then boil for about a half hour.
Add cabbage (cut into 4 quarters).
Bring back to a boil for another half hour, and then
add the potatoes. Boil potatoes for
about 30 min then done, also you can drain the water again for saltiness to
taste.
The longer you let your salt meat boil before adding
the veggies the more tender the beef will be.
Enjoy!
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