Channel Islands cuisine is the cooking styles, traditions and recipes of the Crown dependencies of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

, namely the Bailiwicks of Guernsey and of Jersey. Among the islands' specialities are locally-caught seafood, rich

Channel Island milk Channel Island milk, is a creamy, light-beige coloured cow's milk from the Jersey cattle and Guernsey cattle breeds. As well as in the Channel Islands, Channel Island milk is produced in the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Denmark, the Un ...

Guernsey Bean Jar Bean jar (Guernésiais: ''moussaettes au four''; French: ''pot de haricots de Guernesey'') is a local dish of the Channel Island of Guernsey. The traditional Guernsey bean jar has been around for centuries, and is still popular today. It is a ca ...

, and Jersey cabbage loaf.

Shared

Locally-caught seafood has traditionally been important to the cuisines of both

Guernsey Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency. It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...

and

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

s (called ''moules'' locally),

scallops Scallop () is a common name that encompasses various species of marine bivalve mollusks in the taxonomic family Pectinidae, the scallops. However, the common name "scallop" is also sometimes applied to species in other closely related famil ...

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...

and

crabs Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all the ...

— especially

spider crabs The Majoidea are a superfamily of crabs which includes the various spider crabs. Taxonomy In "''A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans''" De Grave and colleagues divided Majoidea into six families: * Family Epialti ...

which are considered a particular delicacy. Ormers are conserved and fishing is restricted; they were made into Ormer casserole. A speciality is

conger ''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to 2 m (6 ft) or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during t ...

eel soup.

being very rich with a higher fat and protein content than milk from

Holstein Friesian cattle Holstein Friesians (often shortened to Holsteins in North America, while the term Friesians is often used in the UK and Ireland) are a breed of dairy cattle that originated in the Netherlands, Dutch provinces of North Holland and Friesland, and S ...

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

and

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

have played a large part in insular cooking. The "gastronomic hotspot" islands of Guernsey, Jersey, and

Sark Sark (french: link=no, Sercq, ; Sercquiais: or ) is a part of the Channel Islands in the southwestern English Channel, off the coast of Normandy, France. It is a royal fief, which forms part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, with its own set of l ...

have 16 restaurants listed in the Good Food Guide. Jersey's ''Bohemia'' restaurant has a

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

and five

AA Rosette AA Limited, trading as The AA (formerly The Automobile Association), is a British motoring association. Founded in 1905, it provides vehicle insurance, driving lessons, breakdown cover, loans, motoring advice, road maps and other services. The ...

Guernsey

Dishes traditional in Guernsey cuisine are the Guernsey ''gâche'', a rich fruit bread, ''gâche mêlaïe'', a dense apple cake, and

, a type of

cassoulet Cassoulet (, also , ; ; from Occitan and cognates with Spanish: ''cazoleta'' and Catalan: ''cassolet'') is a rich, slow-cooked stew containing meat (typically pork sausages, goose, duck and sometimes mutton), pork skin () and white beans (), ...

of pork and beans.

Jersey

Bean crock The culture of Jersey is the culture of the Bailiwick of Jersey. Jersey has a mixed Franco-British culture, however modern Jersey is culture is very dominated by British cultural influences and has also been influenced by immigrant communit ...

(''les pais au fou'') can best be described as a sort of Norman

. It is a slow-cooked pork and bean stew, most authentically containing a

pig's trotter A pig's trotter, also known as a pettitoe, or sometimes known as a pig's foot, is the culinary term for the foot of a pig. The cuts are used in various dishes around the world, and experienced a resurgence in the late 2000s. Description Pigs' t ...

, water and onions. Cabbage loaf is the traditional Jersey

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

baked between two

cabbage Cabbage, comprising several cultivars of ''Brassica oleracea'', is a leafy green, red (purple), or white (pale green) biennial plant grown as an annual vegetable crop for its dense-leaved heads. It is descended from the wild cabbage ( ''B.&nb ...

leaves, while Jersey wonders are a kind of doughnut, not filled with jam.

Jersey Royal potatoes The Jersey Royal is the marketing name of a type of potato grown in Jersey which has a Protected Designation of Origin. The potatoes are of the variety known as International Kidney and are typically grown as a new potato. History In around 18 ...

are the local variety of

new potato The potato is a starch#Food, starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial plant, perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be fo ...

, and the island is famous for its early crop of small, tasty potatoes from the south-facing côtils (steeply-sloping fields).

References

{{Cuisines British cuisine