As part of Jersey's International Christmas campaign, the team contacted various local chefs and organisations, who helped us shape what festive foods were a must to include.
Jersey’s International Christmas
As part of Jersey's International Christmas campaign, the team contacted various local chefs and organisations, who helped us shape what festive foods were a must to include.
The National Trust of Jersey officially became an organisation following the States of Jersey Act on February 11th 1937, which stated:
The Trust shall be established for the purposes of securing the permanent preservation for the benefit of the island of lands and tenements (including buildings) of beauty or historic interest, and as regards lands, for the preservation (so far as practicable) of their natural aspect, features, and plant life.
Part of this preservation includes the Christmas experience held every year at 16 New Street. Families from around the island visit the Georgian building to visit Father Christmas, and most importantly stir the Christmas pudding. This traditional dish is prepared and cooked by National Trust member, Dian Mezec, pictured with the Christmas pudding she prepares each year.
Dian commented that her favourite memory of the dish is welcoming all the children and adults who visit New Street’s kitchen and ensuring that they all get a chance to stir the pudding and make a wish.
Dian expressed that it was wonderful to share Jersey’s Lé Podîn d'Noué recipe with other cultures in Jersey saying that within her role as the National Trust New Street cook, she gets to enjoy meeting a variety of people from other countries who love sharing their own festive food traditions.
Try out Dian’s recipe using the Lé Podîn d'Noué recipe card.
Established in 1976, the Jersey Irish Society was created with the aims and objectives of promoting social and friendly connections amongst members of the society alongside the general community of Jersey. The society also encourages and promotes the preservation of Ireland’s history, folklore, language, literature, sport, music and of course food, as seen with the Irish Christmas cake.
Additionally, the society takes pride in assisting their members during times of adversity and helping to aid both benevolent and charitable organisations whilst remaining non-partisan in politics and religion.
Anne Holdridge,a key member of Jersey’s Irish Society, is renowned for her homemade Christmas cake, which she bakes for members of the society and friends and family located within Jersey.
Anne shared her delicious recipe full of currents and zests so that other communities could try the traditional Irish Christmas Cake for themselves.
Make sure to try out Anne’s recipe using the Christmas cake recipe card.
Vilança Rodrigues, a Portuguese chef who works at the Savoy Hotel, kindly aided the Jersey Stamps team with our Christmas campaign photoshoot. With the exception of the Christmas cake, which was baked by Anne Holdridge, Chef Vilança took the recipes the Philatelic team gathered from various individuals and turned them into delicious and photo-ready dishes.
Vilança shared his traditional Portuguese Christmas Eve dish Bacalhau da Consoada, otherwise known as Christmas Eve cod. The recipe Chef Vilança used came from his Grandmother and is thoroughly enjoyed by his family over the festive season.
In Portugal the cod is ingrained into the culture and is carefully prepared around December, having to be slow-cooked in order to avoid the cod becoming too dry. Traditionally, the meal is enjoyed after attending church on Christmas Eve.
During the photoshoot, Chef Vilança expressed that he was delighted to be able to share part of his culture through food, and said; “Sharing the dish with other cultures is what food should be all about - sharing and getting to know people through food.”
You can cook Bacalhau da Consoada using the recipe provided within the Christmas recipe cards.
Corina Rodrigues is a Romanian chef, married to Vilança Rodrigues, who shared her traditional recipe of the festive Romanian dish Sarmale. The recipe Corina uses each year has been passed down through her family.
Her version of Sarmale includes traditional ingredients, such as pickled cabbage, minced pork, and rice. The family twist she uses each year is the addition of thyme, which she noted gives a final touch to the meal. As Corina observed was customary in Romania, the meal is prepared and enjoyed on Christmas Eve, as unlike in the British Isles, Christmas Eve is when the celebrations are predominantly enjoyed.
When asked about any additional customary sides served alongside Sarmale, Corina recommended using sour cream, as it will create a nice contrast with the sweetness of the Sarmale. She noted her favourite element of the dish is that she has yet to meet anyone who doesn’t enjoy it and finds it an excellent way of bringing everyone together.
Traditions her family enjoy around the festive period include going caroling alongside her family’s neighbours on Christmas Eve. You can try Corina’s Sarmale recipe using the cards found here.
Chef Jacques Pienaar kindly provided his recipe for traditional glazed gammon, which is enjoyed as a main dish in South Africa during the Christmas festivities. Jacques commented that a key element to the dish is the glaze itself which consists of mustard and onion. A key tip he gave when cooking the glazed gammon is to ensure the glaze has a good sticky consistency before removing from the oven
For the photoshoot, traditional Brussel sprouts, carrots and salad was used to compliment the dish, however Jacques noted that in South Africa, you could serve it alongside various additional meats such as ox tongue.
Traditionally, festivities in South Africa begin around 4pm on Christmas Eve and finish at the end of Christmas Day. Due to the climate, his family usually have a game of cricket before sitting down to enjoy a full Christmas meal.
The glazed gammon recipe Jacques used comes from his Grandmother, who he noted would always cook the dish as part of the main meal for the holiday and is partially why he chose to become a chef.
Jacques was happy to share the recipe, with the island’s community and looked forward to trying out the other dishes found in the issue.
Representing the Polish community within the island, is Jersey Post’s local postie, Przemek Dziegiel. Przemek shared one of the traditional polish dishes to be enjoyed on Christmas Eve, the Barszcz czerwony, otherwise known as beetroot soup. As shown within the image, the soup is usually enjoyed with a side of mushroom dumplings or cabbage rolls.
Przemek mentioned that it is customary to decorate the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, with the lights being switched on from the dinner table, in order to mark Wigilia (Christmas Eve dinner), which is to start when the first star appears in the sky.
As well as Barszcz czerwony, 11 other dishes are prepared and enjoyed during the Christmas Eve dinner. Each of the dishes includes traditional and seasonal products available during winter representative of both the 12 Apostles and 12 months of the year.
Przemek’s wife kindly shared her traditional dumplings recipe, that can be enjoyed alongside the Barszcz czerwony, which can be found within our Christmas recipe cards. During preparation of the dish, Chef Vilança, added spinach to the pastry giving the dumplings a bold contrasting green.
Alliance Française
Celebrated by the festive dish Bûche de Noël, which features as the local letter stamp in Jersey’s International Christmas, the recipe was chosen to represent the French community within the island. The Jersey Philatelic team contacted local charity, Alliance Française, who were established in 1996 as part of the wider network of 850 Alliance Française around the world.
Alliance Française provides various French courses and cultural events to promote the language and customs of the country. As Jersey is located 14 miles from the coast of France, it's important for the charity to bring a wider understanding of France and Francophone cultures.
They suggested the Bûche de Noël as a recipe for the issue, due to its cultural significance in bringing people together. The cake purposefully is baked and decorated to look like a yule-log, to represents the age-old practice of burning a yule log on Christmas Eve, a custom that dates back centuries, symbolising light, warmth and bringing people together in celebration.
The Alliance Française prides itself on values such as celebrating cultural diversity, community, sharing their culture with others and using innovative methods to spread awareness. You can read more about their work here: https://www.afjersey.com/who-we-are/