So you read The Shipping News and your appetite is whetted for a taste of  Newfoundland. A true Newfoundlander will tell you in no uncertain terms that Newfoundland has a unique culture and one of the trappings of any culture is the food. In traditional Newfoundland cuisine, fish, particularly cod, is often the centerpiece of the table.

Every part of the cod is eaten.  Only the bones and skin are discarded, though there are craftspeople who cure and make leather from the skin. Still others use the otoliths, two small, white bones from the head (locally known as cod's ears) to make jewelry.

The tongues, cheeks, heads, britches (female gonads) and sounds (swim bladder) find their way onto someone's plate. Cod liver oil is an excellent source of vitamin D.  In fact cod is very nutritious, with a high concentration of protein compared to other fish.  When cod is dried it is more than 80 %  protein.

One of the quintessential Newfoundland dishes is Fish n Brewis (pronounced broos). Usually it's served for breakfast, but it could be eaten any time. There are more than a few variations, but here is one I'm most familiar with:

Fish N Brewis----
Break up and soak in cold water overnight four cakes of hard bread, also called hard tack.  This is actually a type of ship's-biscuit and has been a sailor's staple for centuries.  It's a thick, oval-shaped coarse biscuit, baked without salt and kiln dried.  It's also as hard as stone, thus the overnight soaking.

By morning all or most of the water should be absorbed, in which case you add a little more to keep the biscuit from burning.  Place to boil and add a half-tsp. of salt.  When the water boils up all through the bread drain it and break into pieces with a fork.

Next you'll boil a pound or two of well-watered (soaked) salt cod for twenty minutes. Strain. Flake into pieces and remove the bones.  Then combine the fish and the bread.

Take a piece of fat back pork (about half a pound).  Cut the pork into small bits and fry until it's crisp and brown.  Pour the bits and the pork fat over the fish and bread.  This pork fat is called scrunchins in Newfoundland.

In my home my father was the brewis cook and he added a couple of potatoes to the boiling, and an onion to the frying and it made all the difference.

After you've scoffed (eaten) the fish and brewis you'll want something for desert.  I  recommend a Figgy Duff.  All boiled puddings in Newfoundland are called duffs and figs are raisins.

Figgy Duff--
Combine four cups of bread pieces that have been soaked in water with 1 tbs. of  butter, 1 cup of raisins, 1/2 cup of molasses, 1/4 cup of sugar, 2 tsp. baking powder and 1 cup of flour.  Put all the ingredients into a cloth pudding bag.  Place the sealed bag in a pot of water with some root vegetables and boil for about two hours.  After boiling, remove the pudding from the bag and serve.  For a truly traditional experience wash the whole lot down with well-brewed tea or something stronger.

If you follow the recipe you should come up with something even tastier than the squid and chips Qouyle loved to eat at the Sea Anchor Lounge or The Tickle Motel.  In any case you can be almost certain E. Annie Proulx has had more than a few traditional Newfoundland meals.