Meaning
A hearty stew of red peas (kidney beans) cooked down with coconut milk, salted pig's tail or salt beef, and small flour dumplings called 'spinners', usually served over white rice. Rich, thick, and deeply savoury, stew peas is a classic Jamaican comfort meal, the beans simmered long until the gravy is creamy and full-flavoured with the salted meat and coconut. Filling, cheap, and warming, it is a beloved one-pot dinner, honest home cooking that turns humble beans and a bit of salt meat into a satisfying, soul-warming plate.
Examples
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Mumma cook stew peas wid pig tail an spinners.
Mum cooked stew peas with pig's tail and spinners.
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Stew peas an rice a real belly-full food.
Stew peas and rice is real filling food.
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Di stew peas thick an rich wid coconut milk.
The stew peas are thick and rich with coconut milk.
Origin
'Peas' in Jamaican usage means beans; 'red peas' are kidney beans, stewed down into this staple dish.
How it’s used
Note 'peas' = beans in Patois. A staple one-pot meal, distinct from rice and peas.