Lobscouse
{{Short description|Meat and potato stew}}
{{use mdy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Lobscouse
| image = Lobscouse, Lobby, Scouse.jpg
| image_size = 230px
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| region = Northern Europe
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| type = Stew
| served =
| main_ingredient = Meat, potatoes, occasionally other root vegetables and spices
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Lobscouse is a thick stew made of meat and potatoes common to multiple Northern European maritime countries.{{Cite web |title=Lapskaus: a Hearty Norwegian Stew |url=https://nordicnibbler.blogspot.com/2010/11/lapskaus-hearty-norwegian-stew-recipe.html |access-date=2020-03-01 |website=Nordic Nibbler|date=November 8, 2010 }}{{Cite book |last=Sandvold |first=Irene O. |title=Gudrun's Kitchen: Recipes from a Norwegian Family |publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society Press |others=et al. |year=2011 |pages=87–89}}
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. Thus almost anything might be thrown into the stew, including any available meat such as the ship's cats or rats.
Numerous maritime memoirs and naval logbooks refer to the dish, and such fiction as Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin adventure series.
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.{{Cite book |last1=Chotzinoff Grossman |first1=Anne |title=Lobscouse & Spotted Dog: Which It's a Gastronomic Companion to the Aubrey/Maturin Novels |last2=Grossman Thomas |first2=Lisa |publisher=W.W. Norton |year=1997 |pages=18–19}}
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 {{lang|da|Lapskaus}}, Danish {{lang|da|Labskovs}}, Swedish {{lang|sv|Lapskojs}}, Finnish {{lang|fi|Lapskoussi}}, or the German {{lang|de|Labskaus}}.{{Cite web |title=Lobscouse |url=https://nordicdiner.net/norwegian-lobscouse-stew/ |access-date=2020-03-01 |website=Nordic Diner|date=February 11, 2016 }}
The dish also figures in other North European cuisine. In 1970, lapskaus was part of "the official menu for the seamen's mess" of the Norwegian America Line. 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.{{Cite web |title=Lapskaus Boulevard, a tale about Norwegians in Brooklyn, NY |date=November 7, 2011 |url=https://blogs.transparent.com/norwegian/lapskaus-boulevard-a-tale-about-norwegians-in-brooklyn-ny/ |access-date=2020-03-01 |publisher=transparent.com}}{{Cite news |last=Yarrow |first=Andrew L. |date=1991-03-17 |title=In Brooklyn, Wontons, Not Lapskaus |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/17/nyregion/in-brooklyn-wontons-not-lapskaus.html}}{{Cite book |last1=Benardo |first1=Leonard |title=Brooklyn by Name: How the Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks, Bridges, and More Got Their Names |last2=Weiss |first2=Jennifer |publisher=New York University Press |year=2006 |page=145}}
See also
{{portal|Food}}
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{Cite book |last=Lurie |first=April |title=Dancing in the Streets of Brooklyn |publisher=Dell Yearling |year=2009 |isbn=978-0385729420}}
- {{Cite book |last=Scott |first=Astrid Karlsen |title=Authentic Norwegian Cooking |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-0963433978}}
- {{Cite book |last=Sinclair |first=Charles Gordon |title=International Dictionary of Food and Cooking |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |isbn=978-1579580575}}
{{Potato dishes}}