Scouse the Food: Origins and Recipe
Elsewhere on the site you can read about Scouse as an accent, but it isn’t just about how people speak.
The word ‘Scouse’ will usually be a reference to the accent that people from Liverpool have, but that isn’t the only thing that you need to think about when you’re discussing Scouse.
As those from the city know only too well, it is also a much-loved food dish that people will often pass a recipe for down through their family, with each having its own unique style and flavour.
In spite of this, it is something that not everyone will know much about.
The Origins of Scouse
Did the name for people from Liverpool as ‘Scousers’ come first, encouraging them to make the foodstuff, or was it the Scouse dish that resulted in people from the area being named after it? It is almost certainly the latter, with Scouse as a dish finding its basis in ‘lobscouse‘. The stew was commonly eaten throughout northern Europe by sailors, often made from leftover meat and some potatoes. It is almost certainly linked to the Welsh word ‘lobsgows’, which is a variety of the Welsh dish Cawl; itself a soup with the modern world meaning any soup or broth.
Tywydd lobsgows 😋 pic.twitter.com/mmVqCGdZ0C
— Anna Thomas (@CymraesBalch) September 20, 2023
There are other dishes that come from the same origins, such as the Danish one known as labskovs. The Swedish have their own version, called lapskojs, whilst the Finnish dish is known as lapskoussi. In Germany, a similar dish there is called Labskaus. There are also North European iterations on the same theme, with the ‘official menu for the seamen’s mess’ on the Norwegian America Line in 1970s featuring lapskaus. The high level of Norwegian-American people living in New York resulted in Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn being known as ‘Lapskaus Boulevard’.
Part of the reason behind Scouse as a dish in Liverpool was the fact that Lancashire began growing potatoes before other parts of the country. As a result, the potato-based dish had become a staple in the region by the end of the 18th century. The first known use of the term ‘Lobscouse’ was in 1706, with Tobias Smollett then referring to it in 1750. Although the roots are unknown, you can see from the numerous similar words used across Europe where it is likely to take its genus from, with Latvians referring to ‘labas káuszas’ as ‘good plate’.
A Fairly Broad Recipe
If anyone tells you that they know the definitive recipe for Scouse then you can feel free to call them a liar. It is a broad recipe, with each creator of Scouse coming up with their own version of it. In fact, tradition suggests that it should be made of leftovers as well as whatever veg is in season at the time.
It is similar in nature to a Lancashire hotpot or an Irish stew, with beef tending be the main ingredients instead of lamb. There are, though, some things that are considered to be essential to the making of a good Scouse:
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Onions
- Chunks of Meat
The idea is that all of the ingredients will be simmered together for a number of hours in order to allow for the flavours to mix. It isn’t frowned upon for the meat to be seared before being entered into the pot, reserving it whilst some of the potatoes are boiled.
As the potatoes break up, that is the point at which the meat and the rest of the potatoes are added as the stew will have been thickened up. In 2018, the Liverpool Echo did a survey that confirmed some people like to add a stock cube to the ingredients in order to add some flavouring.
I’ll try that out.
Scouse is an ancestor of skause. We still eat it in Liverpool.
Here’s a link to a recipe: Enjoy.
delishably.com/soup/How-to-…— Justin Kelly (@newjustinkelly.bsky.social) 23 November 2024 at 14:24
It also found that different people added their own ingredients to personalise their Scouse. Some like to add peas, for example, whilst others would put in lentils. Some like to favour sweet potatoes over the normal kind, which would give the Scouse an entirely different flavour profile.
The addition of herbs like basil, parsley and rosemary is also a matter of personal opinion. The majority of people will use beef rather than lamb, but even chicken is used by some people who prefer it as a meat in general. The fact that it was originally designed as a ‘thrift dish’ means that it is about adding in whatever you’ve got, keeping it as cheap as possible.
A Dish Born Out of Hardship & Resilience
It will come as little surprise to those that know Liverpool well that the dish was born out of hardship. Whilst the city experienced a period of vast wealth when it was one of the most important ports in the world, even then there were significantly more poor people just trying to get by then there were rich ones.
Liverpool has always been a city known for its resilience and its refusal to simple bow down and give in. As a result, the dish that it is best-known for can be seen as the perfect representative of the people and the city itself.
@jadecarolanfitness There’s not many things better this time of the year than a big bowl of Scouse with crusty tiger bread 😍Top tier comfort food x Click save and tag somebody who needs to make this for you💁🏼♀️ If you want to lose fat but struggle to feel full enough to stick to a deficit, this is the type of meal I’d recommend meal prepping. Super filling but low in calories! Follow for more recipes @jadecarolanfitness Macros👇 Calories 336 Protein 27g Fat 9g Carbs 41g Macros with 45g crusty tiger bread and 20g butter👇 Calories 581 Protein 32g Fat 25g Carbs 62g Ingredients (4)👇 400g diced beef @musclefooduk ad 3 carrots 500g potatoes 2x white onions 1/2 cabbage 1tbsp olive oil 1tbsp mixed herbs 2 tbsp plain flour 2 litres of beef stock (8 oxo cubes) Salt & black pepper Parsley Peel and chop up the veg. Add olive oil to a pan over a high heat. Add the diced beef, season with salt, pepper, and herbs. Fry for a few minutes until brown before adding the veg. Turn the heat down. Coat with flour then mix it through before adding in the beef stock. Bring to a boil then turn back down to a medium low heat and leave to cook for 1.5 hours. Enjoy x – – – – #comfortfoodrecipes #highproteinrecipes #lowcalorierecipes #mealpreprecipes #fatlossmeals #weightlossmeals #foodcontentcreator #foodinfluencer ♬ run for the hills – Tate McRae
Working in areas like Bootle, Wallasey, Birkenhead and the Dingle, people needed to get something eat to keep them going whilst they were engaged in back-breaking work that would be hearty without being too expensive. It is from that world that Scouse was born, meaning that each spoonful of the stew is something that can be linked back to the very formation of the modern day city.
Like the people, it is resilient and designed to make people feel good. It is celebrated every February 28th when Global Scouse Day takes place around the world, but especially in the city of its birth.
