Partridgeberry Jelly Salad has become a family staple for every holiday meal
Partridgeberry Jelly Salad? Oh, back to the 70’s you say? That was the era of the jelly salad explosion, wasn’t it? I was there. I should know.
I hadn’t had made or eaten a jelly salad for over 20 years, but this bejewelled globe is completely irresistible and such a lovely compliment to rich dark turkey. I made it last Christmas for the first time, after being gifted with a generous amount of partridgeberries by my gal pal, Emily Mardell.
Visiting Newfoundland in 2014, I was introduced to the Partridgeberry by Tineke Gow at the Artisan Inn in Trinity NL. She actually sent me home with a jar of her famous Partridgeberry Jam. I yet to write about staying at her dreamy property. Sometimes the most precious memories are the most difficult to convey.
Emily and I bonded last year over our shared passion for the Partridgeberry. We spend a day in the kitchen with her mom, Joy, and daughter, Cela, making jam, the famed and delicious Newfoundland White Bread, Toutons and Fried Cod Tongues. During that time, I learned of this esteemed family recipe that traditionally accompanies all turkey dinners “at home”. When Joy sent me the recipe, I giggled. So simple. Can it really be “that irresistible”? Oh, yes it can. Ask my mom. Ask my daughter. Ask me. We love the sparkle, bounce, and sassy little-unexpected burst of tart Partridgeberry zest that pairs so perfectly with our turkey dinner. Thank you, once again, Emily, for providing me with enough berries for the Christmas Salad, the Easter Salad and the Thanksgiving Salad to come. Emily’s GetJoyFull “Fill up on Family Time” is a favourite of mine! Below, Cela is foraging Partridgeberries on a trip home to see Nana and GiGi.
I just LOVE this salad, and I always get some to take home,.My daughter is an amazing cook and I get invited every Sunday for the most delicious dinners and always a take home care package.Thanks Val ❤️
You silly – I always have to “fight with you” to get you to take home anything!
OXOX
Hi, two questions. Partridge Berries — do you mean Wintergreen berries? Pinkish red verylow to the ground, small oval leaves, dark & glossy? The berries are edible & the leaves chewed for their minty flavor? That was
what my Grandmother called them. They grew profusely around our Northern New Hampshire farm.
Saskatoon berries, are they in the blueberry family? Low Bush or High Bush? Your pie looks very close to the
Blueberry Pie.we made. I have spent several hours on your web site. It is very nostalgic. So many memories it
has brought back. Our area was very French Canadian. My Mother was French Canadian, 2nd generation US.
Haven’t gotten into your recipe files much yet. Have you ever featured Tortiere Pie? I might be messing up the spelling, it’s a Meat Pie with ground beef & pork, served at Christmas by those from Quebec? I make a
Bread stuffing very similar to yours. My Mother made a special Holiday Stuffing from Hamburger, Onion, celery, saltines, Bell’s Seasoning & something else, my sister & I have been trying to reproduce it for over the
20+ years she has been gone. Tortiere filling is the closest I’ve come, but still falls short. I watched her make it so many times but never caught the difference. I can no longer have turkey, they add some injectable stuff supposed to make it more tender & juicy! Hah! If you roast Turkey properly, it is tender & juicy! However I had a severe reaction, the aftermath lasted for days! I’ve been wanting to try an organic bird, where adding stuff is illegal, but our Meat CSA, Whole Foods, & Amazon wanted $125.00 for a 10-12 lb. bird, totally out of budget for Hubs & me! So we had steak again instead with bread stuffing & mashed potatoes pumpkin & mincemeat pie! The high prices, they say, are caused by a disease sweeping the poult flocks, with a severe death rate. Oh well maybe in a few years! I’ve had a lovely time here & will be back. Thank you! MA
Hi MaryAnn,
Wintergreen berries may look similar and grow in a similar fashion to the partridgeberry but they are definitely not the same berry. The partridgeberry is similar to a lingonberry and a wintergreen berry is also called a teaberry. One is fruity and tart and the other spicy and menthol. A blueberry is as different from a Saskatoon berry as a strawberry is from a raspberry. You just have to taste them. The flavour is nothing alike. They are both delicious, but I am in Saskatoon country, so I grew up with them and prefer them in all baking. Farmed Blueberries are usually better raw but that is only because farmed Saskatoon berries are not wildly grown and definitely not sold in supermarkets. They are fabulous raw, too. The wild Saskatoons are the best for cooking and a little less juicy raw, though still delicious. Depends upon the amount of water in the wild that season. Wild blueberries are now cultivated in the East of Canada and fabulous both raw and cooked… but I remain a Saskatoon berry gal with a love for all Canadian berries… all berries, actually!
I am touched that you have been able to connect with the nostalgia within my stories. My heart is warmed. I have made tortierre. I haven’t written about it as we didn’t grow up with it here in the west and the predominant flavour of cloves in the pie is a bit off-putting for my palate. I do have a recipe which is fabulous on my site for the Acadian meat pie – very similar, but different enough. A close cousin, shall we say. Still, don’t make that too often as it wasn’t part of my family repertoire. I do always buy the bloody organic turkeys. That is why I sell Thermomix machines. Haha. So I can afford the ridiculous price of the turkey 3 times a year. I find it so worth it and get so many meals out of the bird. It is just not an option here, but such irony that we have to pay so much to have a turkey the way everyone used to grow them.
Big hug from me to you, MaryAnn!
XO