Meaning
A small, thin dumpling rolled between the palms into a little twist or spindle and dropped into soups and stews. Lighter and quicker to make than the flat 'dumpling', spinners are near-essential in a good oxtail, a Saturday soup, or a pot of stew, cooking soft and soaking up the gravy. Named for the spinning, rolling motion of the hands that shapes them, they are a humble but beloved part of the one-pot cooking that fills the Jamaican kitchen, and no proper soup is quite complete without a few.
Examples
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Roll di spinner an drop dem inna di soup.
Roll the spinners and drop them into the soup.
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Di oxtail nice wid spinner.
The oxtail is lovely with spinners.
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She spin di dumpling small an quick.
She twisted the dumplings small and quick.
Origin
Named for the way the dough is 'spun' between the palms into a thin, twisted dumpling.
How it’s used
Smaller and thinner than a flat dumpling. A standard companion in Saturday soup and oxtail.