Lobscouse

Lobscouse is a thick stew made of meat and potatoes common to multiple Northern European maritime countries.^[1][2]

Lobscouse

Type	Stew
Region or state	Northern Europe
Main ingredients	Meat, potatoes, occasionally other root vegetables and spices

It is particularly well known in a nautical context in the age of sail, when a long voyage might require the sailors to eat and drink whatever limited rations were available.

Numerous maritime memoirs and naval logbooks refer to the dish, and such fiction as Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin adventure series.

Lobscouse is called "Scouse" in north-western England, especially Liverpool, hence the name of their accent, and the nickname "Scouser" for Liverpudlians.

Background

There are many variations of lobscouse. The dish may be made of fresh or leftover meat (usually beef or lamb, but sometimes also chicken, pork, or ham) and potatoes. Other typical ingredients are vegetables (such as carrots, onions, leeks, celery root, and rutabaga), spices (such as pepper or ginger), salt, and herbs.^[2][3]

Lobscouse is likely to be linked (historically and etymologically) to the Welsh word lobsgows, a variety of Cawl, which is inherently connected to scouse, a European sailors' stew or hash strongly associated with major ports such as Liverpool and Hamburg. Similar dishes include the Norwegian Lapskaus, Danish Labskovs, Swedish Lapskojs, Finnish Lapskoussi, or the German Labskaus.^[3][4]

The dish also figures in other North European cuisine.^[2] In 1970, lapskaus was part of "the official menu for the seamen's mess" of the Norwegian America Line.^[3] Until the 1980s, Brooklyn's Eighth Avenue (particularly between 50th and 60th streets) was known as "Lapskaus Boulevard" in reference to the high Norwegian-American population in the area.^[5][6][7]

See also

• Food portal

• List of meat and potato dishes