WK_Jersey

Jersey has a thriving gastronomic scene and the islanders are spoilt for choice. Within its 45-mile (70km) radius there are around two hundred restaurants, including several listed in the Michelin Guide. A vast array of fabulously fresh seafood and fish is caught around the shores, and that’s not the only local produce. Jersey produces its own vegetables, fruit, herbs, beef, pork and even cheeses. Not to mention the famous Jersey Royal potatoes and the rich creamy milk from Jersey cows.

For the islanders fishing has always been a way of life. In the Middle Ages the abundance of conger eel, which was salted, dried and shipped to England, led to the nickname “Isle of the Congers”. From the sixteenth century fortunes were made from the cod banks of Newfoundland. Conger numbers have declined, but lobsters, scallops, crabs, bass, mackerel and grey mullet are still fished from Jersey shores, and around 4 million oysters are farmed annually at the Royal Bay of Grouville.

The Jersey Ormer

The indigenous ormer, related to the abalone, is now so rare that fishing is only permitted between October and April on the first day of each new or full moon, and the five days following. Ormers cooked in a casserole with belly of pork, shallots and carrot used to be a daily dish, the mother-of-pearl shell used as an ashtray or thrown away. Occasionally you’ll see locals scouring the rocks for the prized molluscs, but long gone are the days when they featured on restaurant menus.

A hearty bowl of traditional Jersey bean crock.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications

The island works hard to promote its food with an annual food festival and the two-month Tennerfest in October-November when over one hundred restaurants offer fixed-price menus. Prosperous resident financiers and lawyers keep the upmarket restaurants in business, and even the discerning French come across the Channel to indulge their palates. St Helier boasts the Michelin-starred Bohemia and excellent Samphire, among others, at Beaumont there’s the Bib Gourmand-awarded Mark Jordan at the Beach; St Aubin, St Brelade and Gorey all have excellent choices, from smart seafood restaurants to beachside cafés serving home-made cakes and Jersey cream teas. Even in tiny Rozel, right up in the north, you can choose between a legendary crab sandwich at the Hungry Man kiosk or hand-dived scallops at The Rozel. Meanwhile, at Green Island Beach in the southeast you’ll find the Mediterranean-influenced Green Island, which makes the most of the island’s seafood and seasonal ingredients and might just lay claim to being the southernmost restaurant in the British Isles.

The iridescent ear-shaped shell of the ormer.

iStock

A few island favourites survive from bygone days. The misleadingly named black butter (du nièr beurre) is an apple preserve that used to be made in vast quantities every autumn. Typical recipes comprised 700lb of apples, 10 gallons of cider, 20lb of sugar, 24 lemons and 3lb of spices. Cooking carried on all day and night, with family members stirring the huge pot and making merry with song and dance. La Mare Vineyards make their own black butter and sell it at their estate and at St Helier market.

Just occasionally you come across Jersey bean crock, a variation of the French cassoulet, comprising five different kinds of dried beans, pig’s trotter, belly of pork or shin of beef, carrot and onion. The hearty dish is served with cabbage loaf, a crusty white bread baked in large cabbage leaves. At festivals and other island events look out for les mèrvelles or Jersey Wonders, doughnut-like cakes in the shape of an 8 – traditionally cooked as the tide goes out.

Cider used to be the island tipple, and large quantities were exported from the mid-seventeenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. One of the few places where cider is made today is La Mare Wine Estate, which produces a sparkling form, similar to the Normandy cidre bouché. La Mare is on the same latitude as Champagne and produces the very palatable sparkling white Le Mourier, using the méthode traditionelle.

Eating Out Price Guide

Prices are based on a two-course meal for one person, including a glass of wine.

£ = under £25

££ = £25–40

£££ = over £40

Jersey cows provide many tasty local treats.

Mockford & Bonetti/Apa Publications