10 Traditional Jersey Foods You Need To Try (+ What To Avoid)

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Are you wondering what to eat in Jersey because you’re planning a trip to this beautiful little British island? In this guide, you’ll find the best traditional Jersey food you can try during your visit. For each dish, you’ll also find local tips on how they are typically served and – importantly – exactly where to try them.

Good to know: I was raised in Jersey and lived on the island for over 30 years. This selection of the best traditional Jersey food includes traditional dishes from all over the island that I’ve tried and tested over the years.

These tasty snacks and hearty belly-filling recipes are all unique regional specialities you can only find in Jersey!

Good to know: I’ve also included the Jèrriais food names, as Jerriais is the Norman-French dialect of the Island and you might hear these traditional Jersey recipes called by their Jerriais names 🙂

Traditional Jersey food is delicious! Don’t be surprised if you get hungry when you read this. Let’s take a look!

Pin images of tradtional Jersey food including seafood platter, Jersey Wonders and Jersey Bean Crock, overlaid with text about Jersey food

Here is the very best traditional Jersey food to look out for on your trip to Jersey:

1. Jersey Wonders (des Mèrvelles)

Jersey Wonders are a sweet, crispy treat loved by generations of islanders. A little like twisted unfilled doughnuts or French beignets, they’re at their best when eaten piping hot with just a dusting of icing sugar, although they will keep for up to two weeks in a sealed tin.

Traditionally, Wonders were an Easter treat, when islanders could indulge in the sweet goodies they had abstained from during Lent. Today, you can buy them all year round.

The recipe for “Wonders” and the all-important twist varies from parish to parish and from family to family; however, all contain flour, sugar, butter and eggs. The sweet dough is shaped by hand and fried in smoking hot oil (traditionally lard) until golden brown.

Fun Fact: Historically, homemakers cooked this traditional Jersey food when the tide went out. According to local lore, making Wonders when the tide was coming in would cause the fat in the pan to overflow and up the stove!

Good to know: You can find Jersey Wonders at many cafes and landmarks around the island, including the Jersey War Tunnels. Alternatively, if you’re visiting the parish of Grouville, you can buy fresh Jersey Wonders from local baker Babs’ honesty box at Wimbow Cottage, La Rue Maraval, JE3 9HB.

2. Jersey Bean crock (les pais au fou)

Bean Crock (les pais au fou) is the most traditional Jersey food. In fact, if you’re wondering, “what is the national dish of Jersey”, it is Jersey bean crock. This belly-filling favourite is similar to a French cassoulet, with mixed dried beans, pork and onion, cooked overnight in a crockpot.! It’s hearty and filling, but there are as many recipes as there are cooks.

Traditional bean crocks use pig’s trotters to give a rich, gelatinous gravy. However, most bean crocks are made with belly pork or hocks today.

Fun Fact: Bean crock was once such a large part of the Jersey diet that English-speaking visitors called Jersey folk ‘Jersey beans’.

Good to know: You can find this traditional Jersey food in St Peter’s Garden Centre tearooms and a ‘posh’ version at the incredible Longueville Manor Hotel.

Earthenware casserole dish on an oven rack filled with tasty traditional Jersey food known as Jersey bean crock — Traditional Jersey Bean Crock

3. Jersey Royals (des patates)

Jersey Royals are unique potatoes that can only be grown in Jersey as they have a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), similar to the Champagne region.

Jersey’s rich, fertile earth, gentle climate, and use of seaweed (known locally as ‘vraic’) as a fertiliser contribute to the delicious flavour of these special potatoes.

Good to know: Jersey Royals are harvested from late March to July from steep southeast-facing cotils (fields). It’s quite a sight to watch them being harvested from the steepest cotils near the coast!

TIP: Boil your ‘Royals’ with a pinch of salt and a sprig or two of mint, then serve them tossed in a little Jersey butter. Delicious.

Warning: Jersey Royals are dangerously more-ish. It’s all too easy to polish off a whole bowl of them.

A handful of Jersey Royal potatoes freshly harvested — Freshly dug Jersey Royals

4. Black Butter (Lé nièr beurre)

Despite its rather curious name, Black Butter is totally dairy-free. It’s actually a spicy apple preserve with a long history.

Good to know: Jersey was once filled with apple orchards, and farmers paid their workers cider as part of their wages!

Farm workers made black butter by boiling cider over an open fire for up to two days in a large brass bachin (pot). Next, they stirred in peeled apples, sugar, lemon, spices and a hint of liquorice were added and used a wooden rabot (paddle) to stir the pot for many hours.

Eventually black butter making became a community event. Farm folk gathered to make this tasty spread while singing, eating bean crock, dancing and storytelling.

Good to know: You can buy jars of this very traditional Jersey food from the gift shops at La Mare Vineyards and Hamptonne Country House Museum.

Woman spreading apple-based black jam known as Jersey black butter onto toast with butter — Black butter on toast

5. Shellfish (Fruits de Mer)

The island of Jersey is the perfect place to enjoy superb shellfish! From moûles (mussels), grosses chèrvettes (prawns), crabes (crabs), pihangnes (spider crabs), crabes à co (crayfish), and honmards (lobsters), there is plenty to tempt you.

Good to know: The best places to see and buy local shellfish are in lé Marchi ès Paîssons (the Fish Market), in St Helier, and Faulkener Fisheries on the western-most end of the island in St Ouen.

TIP: The absolute best way to enjoy Jersey’s abundant shellfish is with a ‘fruits de mer’ platter, piled high with every type of shellfish you can imagine. All you’ll need to go with it is homemade mayo, some crusty bread and butter, and a bottle (or two) of chilled white wine. Alternatively, order a plate of locally farmed oysters or mussels when they are in season 🙂

Good to know: Bistro Rosa in the fish market and the Oyster Box in St Brelade’s Bay are great places to enjoy a seafood platter if dining out. The views from the Oyster Box are incredible!

Delicious platter of jersey seafood — Jersey Seafood platter

6. Mackerel (du maqu’sé)

You’ll find plenty of different locally-caught fish in Jersey’s restaurants, from d’la héthique (haddock) and du bar (bass), to du mouaine (monkfish) and du cônet (squid).

TIP: Simply grilled on a BBQ, oven-baked or pan-fried, nothing beats a tasty plate of mackerel bought straight off the boats in the harbour!

Fillets of mackerel fish in a baking dish with sprigs of fresh herbs — Jersey Mackerel

7. Cabbage Loaf (du pain sus eune fielle de chour)

Cabbage loaf is a round loaf of bread originating from Jersey. It is made with plain flour, yeast, sugar, margarine, salt, and water or milk. After proving, when the dough has doubled in size, the loaf is wrapped in greased cabbage leaves, lightly tied, and baked in the oven. The cabbage leaves give this traditional Jersey loaf a unique flavour and look.

Good to know: You can buy freshly baked cabbage loaves from the Vienna Bakery in the Central Market or the Holme Grown farm shop in Grouville.

Round loaf baked in two cabbage leaves — Traditional Jersey Cabbage Loaf/ Wikimedia Commons

8. Jersey Milk

Jersey’s honey-coloured cows are famous worldwide for the rich, creamy milk they produce. With a higher butterfat content than other milk, it’s completely delicious – as a cold drink, in shakes, coffees and ice cream.

TIP: Jersey cows are incredibly photogenic, so you’ll want to stop off and grab a few shots of “the golden girls” when you see them!

Jersey Cow in a field — A pretty Jersey cow

9. Vraic Buns (Gâches à Vrai)

Vraic buns are large sweet buns with raisins, similar to rock cakes. They were traditionally eaten when men went out vraicing (collecting seaweed at low tide to fertilise the fields). The tang of salt in the air added to their flavour, as did the jugs of homemade cider that would be consumed with them!

Good to know: You might be able to try vraic buns at the amazing Hamptonne Country Life Museum, run by Jersey Heritage. Alternatively, here’s an authentic recipe you can use to bake your own!

10. Nettle Soup (La Soupe d’s ortchies)

Nettle Soup is a traditional Jersey food that’s a little less well-known and certainly harder to find on restaurant menus. The thick, vegan soup is made from tender nettles and Jersey Royals, seasoned with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.

TIP: I like to add a few chilli flakes to my nettle soup recipe to give it a bit of a kick!

Good to know: Nettle soup is a healthy treat, as foraged nettles contain the same amount of iron as spinach, and they are one of the greatest sources of vitamin K!

Bowl of bright green nettle soup — Jersey Nettle Soup

Traditional Jersey Food To Avoid!

Almost universally, food in Jersey is excellent, as it’s made with the freshest of local ingredients. If you experiment with some of the traditional Jersey food in this guide, you’re in for a real treat.

But…

There are two traditional Jersey foods that I really can’t recommend (unless your tastebuds have taken a leave of absence or you love eating salty rubber).

These are the two dishes I don’t recommend you try:

Ormer (Abalone)

I’ve only ever tried ormer once – in a posh restaurant, where it cost a small fortune and was presented as a huge delicacy. My dining companion (a crashing bore) snootily described it as an “acquired taste”. If acquiring the taste for Ormer means having to chew my way through even one more mouthful of this salty, rubbery abomination, it won’t be worth it!

On the bright side, ormers have the prettiest shells – with a lustrous mother-of-pearl appearance inside!

Beautiful ormer shells — Pretty Jersey ormer shells

Conger Soup

The cool waters around Jersey teem with conger eels, which generations of frugal Jersey housewives have used to make a very traditional Jersey food – conger soup.

I’ve tried this several times, and honestly, I found it ghastly every time! With a peculiarly oily flavour that’s not even disguised with bucketloads of garlic, I’ve no desire to torture my tastebuds with conger soup ever again!

Conger eel on a stony beach — Would you want to eat this conger eel? © Copyright Roger Cornfoot/CC-BY-2.0

So, this is our list of the very best traditional Jersey food. I hope that this inspires you to try some of the island’s traditional food when visiting Jersey.

As you can see, Jersey has some truly delicious traditional dishes (and a couple of absolute stinkers). So next time you see “Jersey Bean Crock” or “Black Butter” on the menu, you really should give it a try.

More tips for your trip to Jersey: