Hash (food)

An order of corned beef hash with carrots.

Hash is a dish consisting of meat, potatoes, and spices,^[1] that are mashed together into a smooth, creamy consistency, and then cooked either alone or with other ingredients such as onions.^[2]

In many locations, hash is served primarily as a breakfast food on restaurant menus and as home cuisine, often served with eggs and toast (or biscuits), and occasionally fried potatoes (hash browns, home fries, etc.). The dish may also use corned beef or roast beef.

Corned beef hash became especially popular in some countries during and after World War II as rationing limited the availability of fresh meat.^[3]

United Kingdom

In Northern England, corned beef hash is a traditional cheap and quick dish dating back many years. Corned beef (beef treated with saltpetre) is nearly always from a tin – and almost always imported from South America. Tinned corned beef was available more plentifully during war years when fresh meat was heavily rationed – and a staple food in the armed forces. The meal is made with tinned corned beef, stirred with browned onions, before having liquid added (either gravy or stock, or tinned tomatoes) then having lightly boiled sliced potatoes layered over the top before being browned under a hot grill. Alternatively cubed boiled potatoes are stirred in. It can be eaten any time – but is often eaten around Ash Wednesday (a play on words). Some recipes would add peas or carrots.

In Scotland, the dish of "stovies" is very similar to hash. There are many variations on the dish, but all consist of a base of mashed or coarsely chopped potato, with onions and leftover meat, usually minced or roast beef although there are many variations.

United States

Corned beef hash and roast beef hash were introduced in the U.S. as early as the 1950's by Hormel.^[4] In the United States, September 27th is "National Corned Beef Hash Day.^[5]

Alternatively, in the southern United States, the term "hash" may refer to two dishes:

• a Southern traditional blend of leftover pork from a barbecue mixed with barbecue sauce and served over rice. This is a common side dish at barbecue restaurants and pig pickin's notably in South Carolina and Georgia.
• a thick stew made up of pork, chicken and beef, generally leftover, traditionally seasoned with salt and pepper and other spices, reduced overnight over an open flame in an iron washpot or hashpot.^[6]

In some areas of the United States, hashing also refers to washing dishes in general.

Other countries

In Denmark, hash is known in Danish as "biksemad" (roughly translated, "tossed together food"), and it is a traditional leftover dish usually served with a fried egg, worcestershire sauce, pickled red beet slices and ketchup or Bearnaise sauce. The meat is usually pork, and the mixture is not mashed together into a paste, but rather the ingredients are coarsely diced and readily discernible in its cooked form.

In Sweden, there is a version of hash called pyttipanna^[7] and in Finland, pyttipannu. It is similar to the Danish version, but usually served with HP Sauce instead of ketchup, and sometimes with a raw egg yolk. The Swedish variety Pytt Bellman calls for adding cream to the hash and is named after Sweden's 18th century national bard Carl Michael Bellman.

In Austria and perhaps more specifically Tyrol, there exists a similar dish called "Gröstl", usually consisting of chopped leftover meats (often being pork sausage), potato and onions fried with herbs (typically marjoram and parsley) and then served topped with a fried egg.

In Malaysia, a similar dish is called "bergedil". It is usually made with minced meat, potatoes, and onions, fried until brown.

In Mexico and other Latin cuisines, there is a similar dish called picadillo. It is made with ground meat (usually beef), tomatoes (tomato sauce may be used as a substitute), vegetables and spices^[8] that vary by region. It is often served with rice or used as a filling in dishes such as tacos, tostadas, or as a regular breakfast hash with eggs and tortillas. The name comes from the Spanish infinitive verb picar, which means "to mince" or "to chop".

In Germany there is Labskaus.

See also

Food portal

• Bubble and squeak
• Garbage Plate
• Lobby
• Labskaus
• Stamppot
• Yukon Gold hash

References

1. ^ "Hormel Foods > Hormel® Mary Kitchen® hash: Varieties & Nutrition". Hormel. http://www.hormelfoods.com/brands/hormel/HormelHash.aspx#. Retrieved July 18, 2011. 
   "Hormel® 50% Reduced Fat Corned Beef Ingredients: Water Added to Reduce Fat Ingredients: Beef and Cooked Corned Beef (Cured with Salt, Sugar, Water, Sodium Nitrite), Rehydrated Potatoes, Water*, Salt, Flavoring, Sugar, Spices, Sodium Nitrite. *This ingredient in excess of that permitted in regular corned beef hash.
   
   Hormel® Corned Beef Hash Ingredients: Beef and Cooked Corned Beef (Cured with Salt, Sugar, Water, Sodium Nitrite), Rehydrated Potatoes, Water, Salt, Sugar, Flavoring, Spice, Sodium Nitrite.
   
   Hormel® Roast Beef Hash Ingredients: Beef with Juices, Rehydrated Potatoes, Water, Salt, Hydrolyzed Soy, Corn, and Wheat Protein, Flavoring, Sugar, Spice."
2. ^ Food – Recipes : Corned beef hash. BBC. Retrieved on 2011-04-09.
3. ^ WW2 People's War – Good Comes From Evil: Part 1. BBC. Retrieved on 2011-04-09.
4. ^ "About Hormel > Our Advertising > Print > 1950s Roast Beef Hash Ad". Hormel. http://www.hormel.com/about/OurAdvertising/print/1950sRoastBeefHashAd.aspx. Retrieved July 18, 2011.  "After Hormel® Mary Kitchen® corned beef hash was on the market, roast beef hash joined the lineup. Other advertisements boasted that "Mary Kitchen makes this roast beef hash the way you would fix a special dish for Sunday dinner". A gold-lined oven once roasted the beef that helped establish this roast beef hash which is still popular today."
5. ^ http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2011/09/27/breakfast-buffet-national-corned-beef-hash-day/
6. ^ South Carolina Hash
7. ^ Harding, Paul; Mark Elliott, Steve Kokker, Tom Masters (2007). Scandinavian Europe. Lonely Planet. ISBN 9781741045536. http://books.google.com/books?id=wM-EG6R03DsC. 
8. ^ Picadillo | Define Picadillo at Dictionary.com. Dictionary.reference.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-09.

External links

• 'Hashed Beef, Plain' at The Household Cyclopedia – A recipe for hashed beef from an 1800s cookbook
• Scandinavian Hash (Biksemad) recipe
• BBQ Hash Recipe at about.com – Recipe for BBQ Hash and Rice