Jiggs dinner is the Sunday tradition in every Newfoundland kitchen, and it came across the ocean with the Irish and English settlers who brought their salt beef and their one-pot cooking to the Rock. Some say the name comes from Jiggs, the comic strip character who was forever dreaming of corned beef and cabbage, and honestly, the image fits — this is a meal worth dreaming about. In the old days the salt beef was the only way to keep meat through the winter, and a big pot of it with the garden vegetables was the reward after a long week.
What makes it great is the way one pot feeds the whole crowd and fills the house with a smell you can’t mistake. The beef turns meltingly tender, the vegetables soak up all that salty goodness, and the pease pudding — yellow split peas simmered in a cloth bag right in the same pot — is the surprise that makes this dinner special. Serve it with mustard and a splash of the cooking broth, and save every drop of that liquid for tomorrow’s pea soup.
