Wednesday 30 April 2014

JIGGS’S DINNER






Mom and Dad always made Jigg’s dinner on Sunday. Now, Dad is the only one who likes it and there is only so much he can eat. We have the turkey and veggies but that is about it. I’ve never personally made Jigg’s dinner and when Aunt Barb mentioned she was having it, I made a point of asking her to photograph it for me. I’m so excited to be able to share this Newfoundland tradition with you.

This is the normal Sunday dinner (lunch) at my house. Usually it’s my whole family, and there’s 12 of us.
There’s a little routine we have fallen in to. My husband peels the potatoes, turnip and carrot, sometimes the night before and I’m up bright and early Sunday morning to get everything started.
The first in the pot is the salt beef, when that starts to boil, in goes the bag of split peas and the bag of cut up cabbage.
In the oven goes the stuffed roasting chicken (or roast, or turkey).
Since all of this is started by 7 am, I take the opportunity to go back for a few extra zzzzzz’s.
To eat by 11:30, the turnip and carrot are added to the pot around 10:30 and the potatoes 20 minutes later, and continue cooking until everything is ready.
Put the split peas in a bag and boil along with everything. The pease pudding is removed from the bag and a little butter is stirred in. The cabbage is also taken out. I then dump everything else in a large colander to drain.
Smother with gravy and enjoy!