Salt cod classics, boiled dinners and hearty fish plates

Cod and preserved fish traditions are especially central in Newfoundland & Labrador, but echo across Atlantic Canada. Dishes like fish and brewis (salt cod with hard bread and pork scrunchions) and Jiggs dinner (a boiled “Sunday dinner” of salt beef, cabbage and root vegetables with pease pudding and figgy duff) are repeatedly cited as iconic Newfoundland meals. These plates grew out of outport life, where preserved fish and salted meats needed to carry families through long winters and time at sea. Within this bucket you can include pan-fried cod, cod tongues and cheeks, fish cakes, cod au gratin, fish pies, fish and chips, and various versions of “boiled dinner” that appear in both Newfoundland and the Maritimes. It’s a strong home for one-pot Sunday suppers, fisherman’s breakfasts, hearty cod mains and all the side dishes that travel with them (peas pudding, root veg, pickles).