Global Scouse Day takes place on 28 February each year and celebrates the food called Scouse, which gave its name to the people of Liverpool in the UK. In honour of that day, here is this Researcher's recipe for the dish.

Ingredients

This recipe provides four good-sized portions of Scouse. The recipe can be scaled up - more people could be served, or extra portions could be kept in the fridge to reheat and enjoy within three days. The dish is also suitable for freezing.

• 1lb (2.2kg) lean¹ stewing steak, diced
• 4 carrots, cut into rounds
• 4 potatoes², cut into chunks
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 beef stock cube
• Ground pepper  to taste

Method

Put all the ingredients except the stock cube and pepper into a large saucepan or soup pan and add enough cold water to just cover everything. On the hob, bring the water to the boil then cover the pan and turn the heat down to a simmer. Simmer for 3 hours and stir it every hour. Then add the stock cube and pepper and simmer it for 1 hour, stirring it every 20 minutes.

After that, if the broth is still thin, raise the heat to boil the mixture fast until the sauce thickens up. If the sauce is already thick, the Scouse is ready. Serve it in a soup bowl with a side dish of pickled red cabbage and a bread roll to mop up the gravy.

Variations

Blind Scouse is Scouse made with no added meat - if a vegetable stock cube is used then Blind Scouse is suitable for vegetarians.

Lamb can be used instead of beef, or a mixture of beef and lamb - a lamb stock cube would be used in that case.

Some people prefer pickled beetroot as the side dish rather than pickled cabbage - or even some of each.

Salt and pepper should be available on the table in case anyone wants to add more than is already included in the recipe.

Scouse

The dish Scouse is linked to the similar-sounding Lobscouse which is popular in North Germany and Scandinavia. Lobscouse travelled to Liverpool in the 18th Century when the city was a busy port. The dish gained great popularity in Liverpool, being nourishing but relatively cheap and easy to cook, so it went on to become the name of the city's dialect and also led to the people of Liverpool being known as Scousers.