Eating Out In Jersey

admin · 28-10-2007, 05:26 PM

A quick flick through the pages of any good food guide will show you how important eating out is in Jersey.

One recent guide listed more restaurants worth a mention in Jersey than in Manchester, Newcastle or Bournemouth. Local residents eat out more on average than they do in the UK, but the real demand comes from tourists who consider good food a very important part of their holiday. The style and quality of restaurants have also changed as the tourism business has changed.

A few years ago most tourists who came to the Island would have been on full board and would rarely eat outside their hotel. Now most people want to sample the Island's restaurants and so there is tremendous choice ranging from fast food outlets, such as Macdonalds to top class restaurants such as Longueville Manor. In between is a whole host of unpretentious restaurants where the emphasis is on fresh ingredients and imaginative cooking.

Seafood
Not surprisingly, the Island is particularly well known for its seafood. If you sit down to dinner of Dover sole or sea bass, the fish was probably only caught that morning. Local chefs are particularly fussy about their fish and many have a close working relationship with fishermen who supply them with whatever is in season. This will include mackerel, turbot, bream, monkfish and a host of other varieties.

Shellfish is another delicacy you should not ignore. Oysters, moules and scallops are all farmed locally and if you go for a low-water stroll off the south-east coast you will probably come across the bags of oysters being gently matured in plastic sacks. If you do go for a stroll at low tide, when the Island effectively doubles in size, make sure you know the times of the tides, as many people get stranded every season and such an experience may leave you high and dry without your dinner for an uncomfortable few hours. Scallops are also hand gathered by specialist divers and have become a regular feature of most eateries. If you spend any time at all down at Bouley Bay you'll not only see the recreational divers setting out, but possibly see huge bins of scallops being landed on the granite slipways as well. And fresh scallops, lightly fried, are one of the great gastronomic flavours of the Island.

The ormer is a highly regarded, indigenous Jersey shellfish, related to the marine snail known worldwide as the abalone. Fishing for ormers is currently banned to ensure the protection of the species. Although, even when it wasn't, you would have been unlikely to find ormers on the menu at a local restaurant or in Beresford Market as they are so scarce. If you do discover them however, they resemble large limpets and taste more of meat than fish, also they have to be beaten with a mallet before cooking.

The principal species targeted by Island anglers are bass, which are found in large numbers, wrasse, which grow to record-breaking sizes, rays of many species, conger, pollack, black bream and grey mullet. The offshore banks also produce turbot and brill and wreck fishing yields big ling and the occasional large cod.

Local Specialities
As an agricultural force in global terms, Jersey has lost out to the big international growers but still produces a lot of its own vegetables. The famous Jersey Royal, which is available from March, is a superb versatile new potato but it is probably best eaten with just a little mint and butter.

Jersey has a real abundance of fresh food and is known worldwide for its top quality, creamy Jersey milk and its delicately perfumed Jersey Royal new potato. There are other, lesser-known, stars of the Island's land and sea, like its milky bass and sumptuous scallops, its juicy Royale tomatoes and earthy mushrooms.

The Island, having had to fend for itself for so many centuries, can feast on what it catches and grows. However, Jersey men and women have always been adventurers and the Island has been subject to a vast range of influences as Channel Islands have gone off to discover new places and returned inspired to reinterpret the Island staples. So in addition to conger soup, we have cod, prawn and mussel chowder. Simple dishes like lobster with a Jersey Royal new potato salad are complemented by the more complex pan-fried scallops with a basil and pesto dressing.

Old Island dishes, such as conger head soup and Jersey bean crock are hard to come by on the menu today, so if you want to find a real Jersey delicacy you might have to seek out the Jersey Wonder, a deep fried pastry that is supposed to be made on the falling tide. Or perhaps it's the rising tide - there is some debate among the superstitious as to which is best.

Further Afield

While Jersey has a fine local cuisine, based on the abundant fruit of the land and sea, its repertoire has also benefited from the influence of people coming to the Island from further afield. Two countries which have had the most profound influence are France and Portugal.

Many local families trace their roots back to France and Islanders are frequent visitors to Brittany and Normandy, bringing back with them carloads of fine French produce. In the early part of the 20th century, Breton farm workers brought with them their love of red wine and cider, crusty bread, meats and unctuous cheeses. This love of France and its cuisine keeps the Island's many excellent French restaurants in business and whether it's a simple plate of charcuterie, or a strapping hunk of tender Limousin beef you're after, it's available.

In recent years, the Island's large Madeiran community has also introduced Jersey to bacalhau, or salt cod, gooey, custard-filled pastries and thick black coffee served sweet and hot.

Madeiran specialities include espetada, or kebabs; cataplanas which take their name from the copper dish in which everything is cooked; bacalhau dorado, salt cod scrambled with eggs and potato; and pork and clams marinated in paprika and white wine. Fish is very popular, and you'll see sardines, hake, squid, clams and the black scabbard fish on the menus of many Portuguese restaurants.