Scouse (food) - Origin of The Term

Origin of The Term

The first known use of the term "Lobscouse" dates back to 1706 (Webster). However, it has also been indicated that pilgrims ate it on the Mayflower (1620) when they had a turn at cooking a hot meal.

The origin of the term is unknown, but there are several theories. English origin seems to be the most probable (possibly "lout’s course" via "lob’s course" to "lobscouse"). The German version of the dish, which is a bit different from the Scandinavian and English one, is called "Labskaus", and low German origin is considered the second most probable origin. Another possibility is Baltic origin. "Labs kausis" in Latvian and "labas káuszas" in Lithuanian, which both mean "good plate/bowl". Lobscouse is also popular in Norway (lapskaus), Denmark (labskaus, skipperlabskovs) and Sweden (lappskoj, lapskojs og lobskås).

Lobscouse was popular with Northern European sailors with bad teeth (sometimes caused by scurvy), who often brought the recipes home. In Norway the dish became popular in the whole country, whereas in Germany it became popular in the Northern part. In England it became popular in the Liverpool area.

A "pan of scouse" became a common meal in working-class Liverpool. A thickened stew, usually of mutton or lamb with vegetables, it was slow-cooked to tenderize the cheap cuts of meat. The shortened form of the word is "scouse" and is part of a genre of slang terms which refer to people by stereotypes of their dietary habits, e.g. Limey, Rosbif (American and French slang respectively for the English), and Kraut (an English colloquial ethnonym for a German).

Scouse is still a popular dish in Liverpool, where it is a staple of local pub and café menus, although recipes vary greatly and often include ingredients which are inconsistent with the thrifty roots of the dish. In its short form, "Scouse", the name eventually came into common English usage to describe the local accent of Liverpool, and a resident of Liverpool (as "Scouser").

The traditional recipe for Liverpool Scouse consists of a cheap cut of lamb, or in earlier days, mutton (such as breast, forequarter or "scrag end of neck"), 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. In the nearby town of St. Helens the dish is often called "Lobbies" and uses corned beef as the meat. In Wigan "Lobbies" is often made using tinned stewing steak as the meat. An even more impoverished variety of this dish is 'blind Scouse', which features no meat, although it would likely have used cheap "soup bones" for flavouring the broth (prior to WW2, such meat bones could be sold to bone dealers after being used and for the same price as originally purchased from the butcher). Either recipe should more rightly be considered a potato stew. The dish is also popular in Leigh with local residents sometimes being referred to as 'Lobbygobblers'.

A variant Lobscows or Lobsgows is a traditional dish in North Wales, normally made with beef in the form of braising or stewing steak, potatoes, and any other vegetable available. The food was traditionally regarded as food for farmers and the working-class people of North Wales, but is now popular as a dish throughout Wales. The recipe was brought by the canal barges 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, sometimes using remaining food, usually carrots, potatoes, pork sausages in slices or beef cut small and served with flatbrød (unleavened bread dating back to prehistoric times).

In Germany Labskaus is traditional in the Lower Elbe region, especially in the port city Hamburg.