I only know the phrase “jugged fish” from the Monty Python sketch about the Church Police (“There’s a dead bishop on the landing!”). And a google search just turns up stuff about that sketch. Is there even such a thing as jugged fish? I did find a recipe for jugged hare: http://thefoody.com/poultry/juggedhare.html Not clear why it’s called that – no jug is used in its preparation. (Unless British vernacular usage of “jug” is broad enough to include “flame-proof casserole dish”.)
My OED gives one definition of “jug” as “to stew or boil in a jug or jar.”
Etymology and a tasty recipe:
http://www.greatbritishkitchen.co.uk/recipes_result.asp?name=juggedhare
And here I always thought it was a synonymn for “potted”, as in cooked, chopped/shredded, covered with fat, left to set (in the old days, in a clay crock or pot) - either coarse (confit) or fine and spreadable (rillette) - I love the stuff, esp. duck confit when I’ve had it (twice in my short life. I’ve gotta move to the Perigord…).
I saw those two fat ladies make “jugged kippers” once.
At least that recipe uses a jug.
What about “potted”? As in “potted meat.” What does it mean to “pot” something?
In Lindsey Davis’ Marcus Didius Falco mysteries – set in Rome during the reign of Vespasian – a minor character, one of Falco’s brothers-in-law, sells something called “potted salads.” Apparently this means the vegetables or whatever are pressed into some kind of mold. I’ve never heard of such a thing – did it exist in ancient Rome? Does it in modern Britain? And does the word “potted” mean the same thing here as it does in “potted meat”?
See my two wikipedia links above, that’s basically the same thing - cooked in fat which then sets. Although you can also buy canned “potted meat” (search on it)- it’s basically like spam.