Scouse (food)

The word scouse is from the word lobscouse meaning a meat stew which was commonly eaten by seamen. Lobscouse was a dish eaten by seamen throughout Northern Europe, and became popular in seaports such as Liverpool. Shortened to Scouse the name for this meat stew eventually came into common English usage to describe a resident of Liverpool.

As a type of beef or lamb stew, scouse is still a popular dish in Liverpool and is a staple of local pub and cafe menus, although recipes vary greatly and often include ingredients which are inconsistent with the thrifty roots of the dish.

The traditional recipe for Liverpool Scouse consists of a cheap cut of lamb, or in earlier days, mutton (such as breast or forequarter), removed from the bone and browned in a large saucepan, to which are added chopped onions, carrots, and water or meat stock, to which are added as many potatoes as possible. The sauce is not thickened, and it is usual to serve with preserved beetroot or red cabbage and white bread with butter. An even more impoverished variety of this dish is 'blind Scouse', which features no meat. Either recipe should more rightly be considered a potato stew.

Named "Lob Scows", the recipe is popular in Holyhead and the west of Anglesey, normally made with beef in the form of braising or stewing steak, potatoes, and any other vegetable available, this recipe was brought by the canal bargies to Stoke-on-Trent where it is called "Lobby" the shortened version of "lobscouse"

In Norway, which had a long sea-trading association with the Northern English seaports, the dish (known locally as "lapskaus") is virtually a national dish using the weekend's remaining food, usually carrots, potatoes, pork sausages in slices or beef cut small and served with "flatbrød" (unleavened bread dating back to Viking days). Under the name "Labskaus", derived from the English lobscouse [Duden, das große Buch der deutschen Sprache, 2000 ] , the North German version is traditional in the Lower Elbe region, especially in the port city Hamburg.

See also

* Scouse (dialect)
* Labskaus
* Lancashire hotpot
* Irish stew
* Scotch broth

External links

* [http://www.merseysidetoday.co.uk/scouse.php - Merseyside Today] has a recipe for scouse together with a colour photo of a bowl of scouse.
* [http://www.recipe-source.com/ethnic/europe/welsh/00/rec0028.html - recipe-source] Welsh lobscows
* [http://www.recipezaar.com/15119 - recipezaar] Labskavs
* [http://culinary.senses.com - Culinary.Senses.com] has two recipes for Scouse. The 43613 Country Fare - Liverpool Scouse proposes beef instead of the traditional lamb.

References