Edward Le Quesne: Local Food: Production and Mealtimes

Edward Le Quesne (1882-1957) was elected a Deputy for St Helier No 2 district in 1925 and held the seat until he stood successfully for the new office of Senator in 1948. This is an extract from a journal he wrote entitled “50 Years of Memories”, written sometime around 1949.

Local Food: Production and Mealtimes

Agriculture in the early part of this century was entirely different from that of to-day. Large orchards could be seen all over the Island and wheat, oats and rye were grown in large quantities. The apples were mostly used for making cider, and so many were grown that I have seen many a shipload being sent to the mainland to be mixed with English-grown, again to be made into cider.

  
The wheat was ground at the local mills, and most of the farms had ovens in which the flour from the home-grown wheat was converted into delicious home-made bread.

Every farmer again grew vegetables, both for his own use and also for sale in the Markets, for the importation of daily used vegetables was entirely unknown. Again, apart from an occasional load from Binic in Britanny or from Plymouth, all potatoes for winter use were grown on the local farms. To a large extent Jersey was self-contained, as far as food was concerned, and the sight of a Saturday in the Markets was entirely different from that of to-day, for 90% of all goods offered for sale were of local origin, as against the small percentage of local produce ‘ en evidence ’ to-day.

We fed quite differently in the early days of this century. Breakfast generally consisted of a plate of porridge and bread and butter and jam, both butter and jam being local produce. Dinner, at 12 or I o’clock usually started with soup and a plate of either boiled or roasted meat and vegetables.

Tea was generally bread and butter and jam, with occasionally either toasted or fried codfish or the cold conger that had formed the basis of the conger soup we had had for dinner. A slice of bread and jam was usually eaten before bed-time.

  
Many families, in order to save fuel, had their mid-day meal cooked at the nearest bake-house and at mid-day processions could be seen of women carrying home a dish covered with a cloth and containing the meat and potatoes for the family dinner. [The photo is a London scene but Jersey would have seen something similar]

Of a Saturday evening it was usual to take a pot of pork and beans to the bakehouse. These were left in the baker’s oven overnight and fetched of a Sunday morning. and I can think of little more appetising and filling than we partook of at home at those Sunday morning breakfasts.