Scouse is traditionally Mondays meal. Its not a poverty food, but a working class/lower middle class dish. You would use leftovers from the sunday roast (lamb or beef). You use Potatoes, a few carrots and the gravy or stock (made from the bones). You may add an extra potato - one of the elements of Scouse is that some potatoes dissolve to thicken the sauce and some (freshly cooked) potatoes that survive the cooking. In fact, you know the scouse is ready as the larger fresh potatoes start to crumble when a fork is pushed into them
In Norway we still eat lapskaus. Stew beef, onion, potato, leek, carrot, parsley root, celery root, herbs, sometimes rutabaga. Its fun to watch you recreate a different version of this , of course todays dish is most likely more fancy. Thank you for the awesome content you post.
I come from Liverpool, an 800-year-old port city on the west coast of England and to this day, the rest of the UK calls us "Scousers" for our traditional love of lobscouse. We eat it all the time, everybody's grandmother has a recipe. It really is our favourite dish! Best served with a crusty, buttered heel of bread, some pickled beetroot/pickled onions and a big mug of tea!
The first Townsends recipe I tried to tackle some time ago, and it was a rousing success. Made as instructed including ships biscuit, served to a fine pair of captains and marvelous crew aboard a beautiful tall ship. I had wanted to create something befitting mariners and the age of sail, and this video (and following series) made it possible. Thank you for keeping the taste of history alive, and for allowing us to savor the flavors of the 18th century on land and sea alike. Cheers you legend!
These are more like traditional uk biscuits. Ours are quite hard and crunchy. Graham crackers would be more similar to our biscuits than your cookies. I love learning about food, and the different ways each culture prepares it. Especially food of the past.
The modern Norwegian version of this (made with vegetables and salt meat, and generally thickened by letting it boil until the potatoes fall apart) is a dish you'll want to make a large pot of, and it stores very well in boxes in the freezer. If the potatoes don't fall apart, it's still a very good soup, which we generally eat with flatbread, which is dry, very thin unleavened bread. Standard vegetables, other than the aforementioned potatoes, are carrots, celeriac, leeks and rutabaga. Flatbread would generally be made in large quantities and stored in a barrel, and was a staple for fishermen when they went to Lofoten for the season.
I'm in my 50's and my grandfather made lobscouse, so did my dad. Grandpa was a merchant marine from Norway, the recipe was a chopped up ham steak, chopped onions, potatoes, and black pepper. He'd have a stale loaf of rye bread or white and he'd crumble it up and add it to the pot. Us kids thought it was great, one pot meal that tasted great. Never realized our parents made it for us when they were broke. That being said I never knew it's origins until watching this today, I've made it for my kids and I'm sure they'll do the same for their children as well. Thanks for educating me, it's great to know where the dish originated!
People from Liverpool are called scousers after this dish, its extremely popular and was made popular in the port during the 17/18th centuries by norwegian whalers its usually made there with lamb. my mum used to make it often :D its also called lapscouse...
Salt lamb or pork are the most common meats for Norwegian lapskaus, and it's a really good autumn and winter food, which is best made in a large pot so that you get lots of leftovers to freeze.
John Smith Well, apparently freezing food in your freezer ( -10 C or 0 F ) for some days will kill some of the eggs, of a few worm species. This still doesn't explain how those eggs would otherwise survive the process of baking, like it was suggested in the original comment. The proper method of killing worm eggs with cold is freezing food to -40 degrees for a period of time, like they do with fish for sushi, Because it's intended to be eaten raw.
Consider that perhaps the weevils got into the hardtack after baking. It's also possible that some weevil eggs did survive - after all, LD95 only means 95% mortality.
I want that pan with the standoffs! That is absolutely awesome! I have recently become a huge fan of cast iron, after having several "non stick" pans fail on me, even ceramic ones! I grabbed my dad's old slightly rusty cast iron skillet and gave it a week of TLC. Took about 3 days to get it clean (I was being gentle) and another 4 days to season it, giving it two runs in the oven a day. It amazes me that we gave up cast iron for teflon and this new ceramic stuff that has to be babied an used with caution. Cast iron, once seasoned, is pretty much bullet proof and takes just a bit of care after use, not to mention I actually feel proud using it! My next purchase is going to be a dutch oven, I have wanted one for a while, and you videos have shown me they have a versatility that I did not know about, like they actually fulfill their name and can be used as an oven! Keep up the videos man!
I know! What a great pan -- I'm going to commission my favorite blacksmith friend Torvald to make one. His specialty is old Norse iron work. You will LOVE using dutch ovens (the ones with legs are best for cooking on coals, and flatbottom ones will work on your stove or in the oven -- you can also sit them on a "spider" over the coals. Either one will do perfectly hung over the fire. If you want to bake anything in it use a lid that has a good deep lip on it to contain the coals on top).
It is without fail that when I am in need of something to make me smile and forget about the worries of today - I come HERE and find immediate smiles. I cannot convey with words how much it means. Even all these years later the videos have the same power and genuine flavor. Thank you
I think this dish was the inspiration for a Norwegian dish that is popular even today here in Norway. We call it "lapskaus", and it is basically a stew with potatoes, meat and vegetables that is especially popular among older people. I wonder if we invented it, or if it came from England, North Germany, or Denmark.
So. Fun random fact from a random subscriber of yours, but back in middle school, when we were studying the 17th and 18th century, my favorite teacher of all time brought those buiscuts for all of us to try. It was very dry and crunchy, but still incredibly interesting, and remained in my memory for a long time. It was me remembering that day that lead me to ur channel! And i've been hooked ever since
I had a similar teacher in middle school; he didnt bring food for a project but other students did, one brought "Tiger Dates" from Egypt. Basically dates topped with crushed nuts and drizzled with honey before being baked in the oven; very tasty. (another kid brought plain boiled cabbage. Nobody cared for that demonstration).
Funny thing is its all still sanitary as long as its properly cooked. On a similar note one of my extra duties (in the military) is field sanitation, part of that is basic water testing and sanitation for small units (less than 100 people or so). General rule is as long as the water isn't chemically poisoned it can be rendered potable with enough chlorination and a couple hours time. Basically throw in some pool cleaner, mix it up, check chlorine levels wih a ph strip in an hour, if levels are low there's bacteria etc binding to chlorine so repeat till levels are acceptable.
This is seriously the most wholesome and relaxing youtube channel I've come across. cannot WAIT to order some of this classic cook wear and try some of these recipes out for myself when camping. LOVE IT.
From the name you'd expect it to have lobster in it. However, sailors traditionally do not like fish. Even to this day. I have cooked on several commercial tuna boats; & the only time I could get anyone to eat fresh tuna was when we ran out of red meat...
I used to know a family whose dad worked in a pizza parlour. The kids were the only children I've ever known who were like: "Aw, man! Not PIZZA!!!" I guess there's such a thing as too much of a good thing.
I made this and served it as part of an 18th century dinner. It was a huge hit, everyone loved it and no one objected to the little bits of ship's bisket. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Y'know six months on, and this has become a kind of go to dish in my household. I'll even cook the bisket in the morning just to have it for the 'scouse in the evening. Thanks for introducing us to it.
The weavels are the reason sailors used to bang them on something to knock the bugs out. It was said you could always tell a sailor in a tavern or eatery as they always banged their food on the table out of habit. I made a version of this with vegetables but also split peas (green and yellow), lentils and barely. These three things if kept dry and sealed can last decades as well. Helps to give you meat, vegetables, legumes and bread all in the one dish. I make large amounts of hard tack with wholemeal flour as it's much better for you and will last longer. I also store mine a special way. I make squares about 2.5" and wrap them in groups of four in aluminium foil then vacuum seal them and put the date on them. The sealing compresses the foil making it airtight and also blocking light which may affect the shelf life. It also keeps the bugs out and stop it from getting a stale taste. I also seal all the pemmican I make in a similar way.
I love your channel and watch every video since I discovered it. Thank you very much! I'm from Germany and I have to tell that many recipes are more or less similar to traditional german food like we have it in our everyday kitchen. This one is a typical supper in Hamburg, in the north of Germany. We serve it with a fried egg, pickeled cucumbers and a salted herring.
Matt G I know. I was just leaving a silly comment. I love this channel and watch every video and have cooked many of the dishes he shows. They are all awesome videos.
In North Staffordshire we have a similar beef stew we call 'Lobby' probably a shortened term for Lobscouse (in Liverpool they shorten it to 'scouse'). It's basically a leftover stew from the Sunday roast, plus whatever root veg you had to hand, but typically carrots, swede/turnip, onions, potato, parsnip, chopped celery stalks, fresh peas and also a handful of pearl barley, all stewed up in a beef broth. No biscuit though, the veg thickens it a little, but we always make it 'soupy' and dip bread into it. A basic one pot stew that has been made since man invented the cooking pot. We cook it the same way, stew the beef and onions for an hour or so in bone broth. My grandmother would save whatever drippings she could from the roast, but she would also make her own bone broth and often also add an 'oxo' cube or two. A unique type of bullion cube that has been popular in the UK since Adam was a lad. You can add dried herbs, your choice from Parsley, Sage, Rosemary or Thyme - like the song. Don't go nuts though, a little herbal perfume is good, but it's easy to overpower the broth. Less is more. Then after an hour, add the veg ...carrots first, then everything else 15 minutes later as they cook quicker. If you want it thick, cook it until the potatoes go into the water, but most people like it with the veg less mushy and suspended in only a slightly thickened broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Absolutely delicious. I believe the word lobscouse was originally Saxon.
I live in Liverpool in England, they have a dish here called scouse (which is where the term 'scouse' as a name for people from the city comes from) Scouse is a derivative of lobscouse brought over by Norwegian sailors. It changed later with the arrival of great numbers of Irish, and the bread was replaced with potatoes. It's typically made with (cheap cuts of) beef, vegetables and as many potatoes as you can shake a stick at. It's served with pickled red cabbage and pickled Beetroot and is absolutely divine, especially in winter.
"Do you not know that when in the service, one must always choose the lesser of two weevils?" Oh kind sir, where could one find a pepper grinder such as that?
Thanks for this one! I needed to get away from the terrible news going on in the world. This is a great channel and your presentations really chills me out. Thank you sir!
@@zhukov1943 they use chicken in Ormskirk. probably because they sourced ingredients from farmers markets rather than dock imports. My nan would go nuts if it was anything other than lamb as she was from Everton.
The gloves are a MUST! Triple thumbs up my friend!!! What you perform is so unique, so refreshing, so entertaining that it is hard to find something that really competes on this level. Thank you so much. You are the best.
As a European it's really nice to learn about American history, a lot of Swedes moved there in the 1800s when we had famines year after year. Such a great humble guy, enjoying every episode!
I am From Liverpool in the UK And the nickname that we are called by is Scousers and the reason is because Scandinavian sailors brought this dish to our city and we adopted it. It is delicious made with Breast of Lamb.
I could watch your channel for hours! We love to get a cup of tea, put our feet up, and watch the new (and old) videos. Wholesome, informative, fun, interesting....awesome!!
I know this is old, but I just wanted to share a few observations. Labskaus comes from Hamburg, Germany and dates back to at least the 1700's as a shipboard recipe. The book, "Das Hamburg Kochbuch" by C.S & I.S Dörner has a mid 18th C recipe if I remember correctly. It's mashed potato and corned beef: dressed with, typically, gherkins, beetroot slices, an egg and a pickled herring fillet. Google Translate works well enough for this, so here's a recipe from the magazine, Der Spiegel - www.spiegel.de/reise/deutschland/hamburger-labskaus-heisser-brei-mit-ei-a-712521.html
This dish have been eaten traditionaly in Norway since ca 800 ad (the viking age). i think they started to use the term Lapskaus around the middel ages. it became a popular dish among sailors and farmers. A traditional Norwegian Lapskaus consists of: Water, sheep/pig/cow meat (the fatter parts prefered), root vegetables, cabage and pepper. Enjoy :)
Lobscouse originated in Wales it is called cawl it's basically everything you can find veg wise with either lamb or beef the term Lobscouse is still used in North Wales and so I've heared, so many welsh people went over the border to England to work on ships or the docks in Liverpool and took the dish with them that it gave the citys people a nickname scousers
+Ian Daniel It is a scandinavian thing. I come from Liverpool UK. Our nickname is literally Scousers. We make a lot of it to say the least. Birmingham UK calls it Lobby. We both got it from The Nordic peeps. We use Mutton instead of salt beef
Debatable. It is certainly a famous in Northern Germany and Scandianvian countries. The word "Lobscouse" or "Labskaus" sounds way more Germanic in origin than Welsh.
A dish that is hundreds of years old and famous all over northern Europe is probably hard to trace back to a single origin. It just shows how interconnected Europe has always been. This dish is older than the concept of nations.
Mr. Pilgrim but it is a northern dish~ we in southern germany don't have it. I know it is because it was a sailors food and so on but I think thats so unfair! I love Labskaus but I only get it when on holiday at the baltic sea because making your own is pretty tedious in my eyes. Labskaus is by the way the only way I will eat beetroots. Only thing I skip is the traditional Korn because I don't really drink alcohol.
Certainly is! Every family here in Liverpool has their own recipe for Scouse. It can vary from a thick soup to a meatloaf style dish, but mostly its a simple stew. Traditionally it was often made from mutton and leftover vegetables, but we mostly use modern ingredients now. We tend to serve it with either pickled beetroot or pickled red cabbage.
+Josiah Graham Hi there! As a born and bred Scouser I can confirm we're named after the dish. It was brought to us by Norwegian sailors, and is called "lobby" further out into Lancashire, away from the city. Both words derive from the Scandinavian word for the recipe, which is discussed in the video.
lordmuntague Hey, I actually didn't see your comment or else I wouldn't have said anything. :P I was just taking a stab at speculating with the OP, because I got curious myself too. Now everyone ignore my post, and listen to the Scouser! *walks off the stage* Edit: Also, I wonder if perhaps the accent too is named after the food as well than! Since the food is a common thing there. It's possible that they started defining people there as Scousers for the food, thenlater used the term Scouse to define the accent as well.
In the 18th century, would they have just eaten the biscuits that had worms? Aside from being gross, do the worms actually cause a problem? I would think that if anything, they would increase the protein content.
Wouldn't dream of speaking for the experts, but I would guess that the biscuits would have to be pretty severely worm eaten to be outright inedible, especially when it's all going to be boiled thoroughly as with this recipe.
They didn't have a choice. When you are weeks out at sea from the nearest port and all the good grub is eaten up you take what you can get and make the best of it. It was a common trick to tap the biscuit on the table and try to knock the worms and weevils out as much as possible.
I think it was also a bit easier on the old sensibilities to eat them in dark or not-well-lit conditions, which I imagine ship's insides were. You can pretend it's not there if you can't see it. And as long as somebody else (the cook) prepared it in some way, you could be blissfully unaware. You'd be shocked at what goes into fast food and such nowadays, because cooking and condiments transform even substandard materials to tasty stuff.
I would really really love to see the Townsends get together with Barnwood Builders. Please reach out and contact them!! Even if you go to one of their locations and cook for them an 18th c. meal while they work on one of their awesome projects. Both your parties are so devoted to maintaining a culture which is slipping away. So much respect for your channel and their effort!!
Jon, when you describe the aromas of the dishes, I always think that I smell them too. When you take that first taste, I feel so hungry! Top quality on every level.
Thank you both - I'll start freezing my flour and adding bay leaves. That's the same reason that sushi fish has to be frozen solid and then thawed for use - the freezing kills all of the parasites. (If you ever see video of the fish auctions in Japan for sushi fish, you'll notice all of the fish are frozen solid.)
Fascinating, I look forward to trying this. I've always known this dish as "Labskaus" and it was fried like a hash with potato, onion, corned beef, and salt herring. Sometimes sometimes stock would be added for the desired consistency and extra flavor. Different spelling but pronounced the same, I'm thinking they have a common origin and have taken on different variations. Thank you for sharing.
In Germany actually in Northern Germany in there’s a dish with a same pronounced name “Labskaus” (from 1706). German Labskaus consists of pickled cucumbers, beetroot, pickled fish (herring), fried eggs, mashed potatoes mixed with corned beef.
I recently discovered Townsend's fascinating videos, and as I was born and bred in Liverpool, it was wonderful to see this video. Lobscouse, better known as scouse, was such a common Liverpool dish in the past, it provided our knickname, Scousers. Scouse is still a popular meal locally, a delicious, warming comfort food. Every family has it's own recipe, my family's is very like Townsend's, minus the ship's biscuits! There's a vegetarian option known as 'blind scouse', in which lentils or split peas replace the meat. We serve it with buttered, crusty bread to soak up the juices and have pickled beetroot on the side, others prefer pickled red cabbage. Thank you Townsends for your wonderful videos and website, true living history, delivered with style and passion.
Ean Evers my grandma and mom made this when i was young..they were from norway....but it seems the germans and english are trying to claim it as theirs..i say we conjure up some vikings and show them who is boss..
Lots of northern European ports (Baltic and North Sea) have their own variation on the dish with similar names, but the origin of the name is likely from the Latvian or Lithuanian language. Who knows who originated the recipe or how long it's been around?
Hi! Speaking as a scouser, lob Scouse was a meal without meat - when cash short but meal needed on table, certainly in my lifetime and that of my parents! Cheers and beers!
Thank you Sir. It brings back memories of eating weevils and surviving to tell the tale. They're not all bad! We've all needed protein, at some time in our lives.
All flour and uncooked flour products such as pasta have insect eggs in them. Sometimes depending on environment they hatch. Which is why you get insects in a sealed box of pasta or in a sealed jar of flour. Absolutely love this series. Watched about 12 so far tonight. Thank you very much for making them.
meslamtea When this happens, you should console yourself with the saying the natural foods health nuts use to the effect that if the bugs won't eat it, neither should you.
Awesome ! This channel makes me imagine, makes me day dream. makes me yurning to live back then. Yeah.....it was no picnic,BUT living with todays high tech n fast pace world I dont know which is worse 🤔 ? A HARD Simple life vs. Keepin up with the Joneses and working 4 material items ? Me ? Beam me back Scotty ! 😎
"They're almost like little bits of meat. They have a really interesting flavor!" That's the weevils.
When you're picking weavils out of your ship's biscuit you know you're finally getting the authentic 18th century cooking experience.
Honestly in the 18th century they would have very likely left them in. Extra protein
@@vance7354 no, you rap the biscuit on the table edge fast but not TOO HARD (acquired skill) and 90+% will fallout...
Except leave them in. They add protein.
@@robaldridge6505 Unlikely: Weevils wobble, but they don't fall down...🤪
Of course, you always choose the lesser of two weevils :)
Craig Charles once described “scouse” as being made of “whatever is left over from yesterday’s scouse, plus an extra potato.”
Lmaooo hes right as well la!
Scouse is traditionally Mondays meal. Its not a poverty food, but a working class/lower middle class dish. You would use leftovers from the sunday roast (lamb or beef). You use Potatoes, a few carrots and the gravy or stock (made from the bones).
You may add an extra potato - one of the elements of Scouse is that some potatoes dissolve to thicken the sauce and some (freshly cooked) potatoes that survive the cooking. In fact, you know the scouse is ready as the larger fresh potatoes start to crumble when a fork is pushed into them
Well what was the first batch made of
@@gopnik-0012 Nobody knows…one for the Unsolved Mysteries team?
@@gopnik-0012 That’s a secret lost to the mists of time…
In Norway we still eat lapskaus. Stew beef, onion, potato, leek, carrot, parsley root, celery root, herbs, sometimes rutabaga. Its fun to watch you recreate a different version of this , of course todays dish is most likely more fancy. Thank you for the awesome content you post.
I come from Liverpool, an 800-year-old port city on the west coast of England and to this day, the rest of the UK calls us "Scousers" for our traditional love of lobscouse. We eat it all the time, everybody's grandmother has a recipe. It really is our favourite dish! Best served with a crusty, buttered heel of bread, some pickled beetroot/pickled onions and a big mug of tea!
Danyel J. Roberts
Do you still make it with the hard biscuit?
☺🖐🍻
Better a scouse than a louse
The first Townsends recipe I tried to tackle some time ago, and it was a rousing success. Made as instructed including ships biscuit, served to a fine pair of captains and marvelous crew aboard a beautiful tall ship. I had wanted to create something befitting mariners and the age of sail, and this video (and following series) made it possible. Thank you for keeping the taste of history alive, and for allowing us to savor the flavors of the 18th century on land and sea alike. Cheers you legend!
"Got some fresh biscuits here!"
*clacks biscuits together like wood*
These are more like traditional uk biscuits. Ours are quite hard and crunchy.
Graham crackers would be more similar to our biscuits than your cookies.
I love learning about food, and the different ways each culture prepares it. Especially food of the past.
@@Christina-mn7np Hardtack is nothing like UK biscuits. UK biscuits won't break your jaw if you crunch on them wrong.
@@judylin-kalff5445 I've made loads of hardback ship's biscuits, and sledge biscuits. I'll survive when SHTF
@@judylin-kalff5445 dwarf bread
😆
The modern Norwegian version of this (made with vegetables and salt meat, and generally thickened by letting it boil until the potatoes fall apart) is a dish you'll want to make a large pot of, and it stores very well in boxes in the freezer. If the potatoes don't fall apart, it's still a very good soup, which we generally eat with flatbread, which is dry, very thin unleavened bread.
Standard vegetables, other than the aforementioned potatoes, are carrots, celeriac, leeks and rutabaga.
Flatbread would generally be made in large quantities and stored in a barrel, and was a staple for fishermen when they went to Lofoten for the season.
There was a street in New York nicknamed "Lapskaus boulevard" inhabited by norwegian immigrants ^^. (Eight Avenue, Brooklyn, New York City.)
Lapskaus!
Don't forget beets..
@@TheMrhycannon In norway we use swedes instead of beets. The vegetable, not actual swedish people.
@@ostepop001 Meh, might aswell throw some Swedish people in there too, what's the harm? Everything goes on the stew anyway.
I'm in my 50's and my grandfather made lobscouse, so did my dad. Grandpa was a merchant marine from Norway, the recipe was a chopped up ham steak, chopped onions, potatoes, and black pepper. He'd have a stale loaf of rye bread or white and he'd crumble it up and add it to the pot. Us kids thought it was great, one pot meal that tasted great. Never realized our parents made it for us when they were broke. That being said I never knew it's origins until watching this today, I've made it for my kids and I'm sure they'll do the same for their children as well.
Thanks for educating me, it's great to know where the dish originated!
People from Liverpool are called scousers after this dish, its extremely popular and was made popular in the port during the 17/18th centuries by norwegian whalers its usually made there with lamb. my mum used to make it often :D its also called lapscouse...
Salt lamb or pork are the most common meats for Norwegian lapskaus, and it's a really good autumn and winter food, which is best made in a large pot so that you get lots of leftovers to freeze.
Here in Stoke us potters call it lobby, my ma still makes it every week! Delicious
@@tsa4594 I'm a scouser , Liverpool born and bred . Love this dish , raised on it and my kids love it too .
Corned beef and pickled.red cabbage! Winner every time
@@boocat8768 beetroot or red cabbage?
*CAPTAIN WE RAN OUT OF CANNONBALLS!!!*
*USE THE HARDTAC!!!*
OMOSHIROI_KUN SAN
With a hard frisbee-style throw, they’re quite deadly when the enemy vessel is nearly within boarding range.
Backup canister rounds
If you posted this in the 18th century, you would have gotten more likes.
That would be like a cannon-sized shotgun blast.
If it wasn't water soluble they would have used it as armor as well
I love this show. I swear it's the Bob Ross of Cooking Shows
But without happy little Accidents (wich i love)
@@SilentStormOne cooking tends to be a bit less than forgiving of happy little accidents.
high praise indeed
Not at all
I love the comparison ;) very true
This man literally has me drinking apple cider and eating brown bread watching these
Gotta eat something to make the day watching experience more immersive! Eat some cheese to go with your bread and beer!
smart seamen choose the lesser of two weavels
Dan Means excellent...thanks for the laugh
I like the reference
😌🎃
May I trouble you for the salt?
And dirty weavels love semen!
The weevils come as eggs in the flour. Freezing your flour for 24 hrs will kill the eggs and things will last longer. Else - yum, extra protein!
and of course when confronted with a pair, you must strive to take the lesser of two weevils. Haw haw haw!!
Suzanne Cooke
Common sense is not your strongest side, huh?
( 0 F does not kill worm eggs, 400 F does )
Kavetrol You are very rude for someone who is totally wrong. jee.oxfordjournals.org/content/72/4/476.abstract
John Smith
Well, apparently freezing food in your freezer
( -10 C or 0 F ) for some days will kill some of the eggs, of a few worm species.
This still doesn't explain how those eggs would otherwise survive the process of baking, like it was suggested in the original comment.
The proper method of killing worm eggs with cold is freezing food to -40 degrees for a period of time, like they do with fish for sushi, Because it's intended to be eaten raw.
Consider that perhaps the weevils got into the hardtack after baking. It's also possible that some weevil eggs did survive - after all, LD95 only means 95% mortality.
I want that pan with the standoffs! That is absolutely awesome! I have recently become a huge fan of cast iron, after having several "non stick" pans fail on me, even ceramic ones! I grabbed my dad's old slightly rusty cast iron skillet and gave it a week of TLC. Took about 3 days to get it clean (I was being gentle) and another 4 days to season it, giving it two runs in the oven a day.
It amazes me that we gave up cast iron for teflon and this new ceramic stuff that has to be babied an used with caution. Cast iron, once seasoned, is pretty much bullet proof and takes just a bit of care after use, not to mention I actually feel proud using it! My next purchase is going to be a dutch oven, I have wanted one for a while, and you videos have shown me they have a versatility that I did not know about, like they actually fulfill their name and can be used as an oven!
Keep up the videos man!
What's TLC?
Sorry for the newbie question.
***** Tender loving care.
Nolansykinsley I see. Thank you, my good sir.
My favourite pan is a cast iron one thats 50 years old now! Never has anything stuck to it!
I know! What a great pan -- I'm going to commission my favorite blacksmith friend Torvald to make one. His specialty is old Norse iron work. You will LOVE using dutch ovens (the ones with legs are best for cooking on coals, and flatbottom ones will work on your stove or in the oven -- you can also sit them on a "spider" over the coals. Either one will do perfectly hung over the fire. If you want to bake anything in it use a lid that has a good deep lip on it to contain the coals on top).
It is without fail that when I am in need of something to make me smile and forget about the worries of today - I come HERE and find immediate smiles. I cannot convey with words how much it means. Even all these years later the videos have the same power and genuine flavor. Thank you
this guy is fricken awsome
Right?! This is one of my favorite channels, so informative and wholesome. Love, love, love!!!
I think this dish was the inspiration for a Norwegian dish that is popular even today here in Norway. We call it "lapskaus", and it is basically a stew with potatoes, meat and vegetables that is especially popular among older people. I wonder if we invented it, or if it came from England, North Germany, or Denmark.
When I’m trying not to eat out I watch this and realize that i totally do “have food at home “ 😂
😆
I made hard tack for a project in 8th grade and someone broke their braces wire on it.
Job well done! 👌
If the teeth didn’t break along with it then it’s not good enough
@@onetrucksizedsalmon2962 Me and my friends had fun trying to hit it against the tables to break one or the other, at most the hard tack just chipped.
@@EvelynH-tj1qt in light of new evidence it is acceptable
I once bit into hardtack and hit something soft.
You might ask if it was a worm, but no, it was a ten penny nail! LOL!
So. Fun random fact from a random subscriber of yours, but back in middle school, when we were studying the 17th and 18th century, my favorite teacher of all time brought those buiscuts for all of us to try. It was very dry and crunchy, but still incredibly interesting, and remained in my memory for a long time. It was me remembering that day that lead me to ur channel! And i've been hooked ever since
I had a similar teacher in middle school; he didnt bring food for a project but other students did, one brought "Tiger Dates" from Egypt. Basically dates topped with crushed nuts and drizzled with honey before being baked in the oven; very tasty.
(another kid brought plain boiled cabbage. Nobody cared for that demonstration).
I’m going back thru the old vids and still love them
Thanks for making all of them townsends I love this channel
there are so many innuendos that can be taken out of context in this video... i love it
"That don't look like they have too many worms in them."
o_O I'd say one worm is too many, but then I'm spoiled by the 21st century.
lolololol!
extra proteine
lol they think their 21st century food doesn't have bugs in it, cute
don't ever eat canned mushrooms, jelly beans, certain cheeses or figs if you want to avoid bugs
Funny thing is its all still sanitary as long as its properly cooked.
On a similar note one of my extra duties (in the military) is field sanitation, part of that is basic water testing and sanitation for small units (less than 100 people or so). General rule is as long as the water isn't chemically poisoned it can be rendered potable with enough chlorination and a couple hours time.
Basically throw in some pool cleaner, mix it up, check chlorine levels wih a ph strip in an hour, if levels are low there's bacteria etc binding to chlorine so repeat till levels are acceptable.
This is seriously the most wholesome and relaxing youtube channel I've come across. cannot WAIT to order some of this classic cook wear and try some of these recipes out for myself when camping. LOVE IT.
I applaud you keeping these old recipes alive.
Me and my grandmother have trying some of these dishes as a good way to pass the time
I thought it was full of lobsters... was disappointed xD
Soon as i seen the title i was on it to see lobster 😥 im dissapointed so came to the comments haha
I'm guilty of thinking this had lobster too! 😂
Im guilty as well. . LOBSTER!!😫😫
Same here!
Me too!
From the name you'd expect it to have lobster in it. However, sailors traditionally do not like fish. Even to this day. I have cooked on several commercial tuna boats; & the only time I could get anyone to eat fresh tuna was when we ran out of red meat...
@Raven Poe unless you eat it every day at work on the boat
I used to know a family whose dad worked in a pizza parlour. The kids were the only children I've ever known who were like: "Aw, man! Not PIZZA!!!"
I guess there's such a thing as too much of a good thing.
@Santina Murphy As someone who had Lobster before I can say right now I would prefer to eat anything other than it.
I think it was more of the lob as in throw, so they would lob in whatever they had on board. Thats my take on the name.
Crazy!
I made this and served it as part of an 18th century dinner. It was a huge hit, everyone loved it and no one objected to the little bits of ship's bisket. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
These videos are therapeutic! Thank you!
Y'know six months on, and this has become a kind of go to dish in my household. I'll even cook the bisket in the morning just to have it for the 'scouse in the evening. Thanks for introducing us to it.
How do you get the worms in just one day?
@@kwodell8694 just gotta buy the mealworms separately, grind them into a fine powder, sprinkle the powder into the dish, boom you’re good to go
5:24 I swear I thought he was going to say "I'm going to pick out a pound of worms"
I love the authenticity and honest nature of this channel. It is quite refreshing.
The weavels are the reason sailors used to bang them on something to knock the bugs out. It was said you could always tell a sailor in a tavern or eatery as they always banged their food on the table out of habit. I made a version of this with vegetables but also split peas (green and yellow), lentils and barely. These three things if kept dry and sealed can last decades as well. Helps to give you meat, vegetables, legumes and bread all in the one dish. I make large amounts of hard tack with wholemeal flour as it's much better for you and will last longer. I also store mine a special way. I make squares about 2.5" and wrap them in groups of four in aluminium foil then vacuum seal them and put the date on them. The sealing compresses the foil making it airtight and also blocking light which may affect the shelf life. It also keeps the bugs out and stop it from getting a stale taste. I also seal all the pemmican I make in a similar way.
I love your channel and watch every video since I discovered it. Thank you very much! I'm from Germany and I have to tell that many recipes are more or less similar to traditional german food like we have it in our everyday kitchen. This one is a typical supper in Hamburg, in the north of Germany. We serve it with a fried egg, pickeled cucumbers and a salted herring.
Survey says that 9 out of 10 spouses will not eat the Lobscouse if you point out the ships bread has worms in it :-)
+PCShogun yep just watched the vid and that was the first thing out of my wifes mouth
hahaha but he did say he was using biscuits "without too many" worms hahah if that is some comfort
Matt G
I know. I was just leaving a silly comment. I love this channel and watch every video and have cooked many of the dishes he shows. They are all awesome videos.
Can't say the man's not dedicated. I wouldn't eat worms for UA-cam.
Extra protein!
In North Staffordshire we have a similar beef stew we call 'Lobby' probably a shortened term for Lobscouse (in Liverpool they shorten it to 'scouse'). It's basically a leftover stew from the Sunday roast, plus whatever root veg you had to hand, but typically carrots, swede/turnip, onions, potato, parsnip, chopped celery stalks, fresh peas and also a handful of pearl barley, all stewed up in a beef broth. No biscuit though, the veg thickens it a little, but we always make it 'soupy' and dip bread into it. A basic one pot stew that has been made since man invented the cooking pot. We cook it the same way, stew the beef and onions for an hour or so in bone broth. My grandmother would save whatever drippings she could from the roast, but she would also make her own bone broth and often also add an 'oxo' cube or two. A unique type of bullion cube that has been popular in the UK since Adam was a lad. You can add dried herbs, your choice from Parsley, Sage, Rosemary or Thyme - like the song. Don't go nuts though, a little herbal perfume is good, but it's easy to overpower the broth. Less is more. Then after an hour, add the veg ...carrots first, then everything else 15 minutes later as they cook quicker. If you want it thick, cook it until the potatoes go into the water, but most people like it with the veg less mushy and suspended in only a slightly thickened broth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Absolutely delicious. I believe the word lobscouse was originally Saxon.
Forgot to mention, add suet dumplings for a real family filler.
I live in Liverpool in England, they have a dish here called scouse (which is where the term 'scouse' as a name for people from the city comes from)
Scouse is a derivative of lobscouse brought over by Norwegian sailors. It changed later with the arrival of great numbers of Irish, and the bread was replaced with potatoes.
It's typically made with (cheap cuts of) beef, vegetables and as many potatoes as you can shake a stick at.
It's served with pickled red cabbage and pickled Beetroot and is absolutely divine, especially in winter.
You are a wonderful. This is so good. Thank you for your work....
Its crazy how close these recipes are to my great great grandparents.
Jon, you and your lovely videos are helping me get through this pandemic. Thank you for being your wonderful self.
I just love how far deep into it he is when he says "a classic diary"
"Do you not know that when in the service, one must always choose the lesser of two weevils?" Oh kind sir, where could one find a pepper grinder such as that?
We don't carry the small grinder anymore but we still have the larger version: jas-townsend.com/brass-coffee-grinder-p-690.html
I love the Patrick O'Brian reference!
Aubrey, Can I trouble you for the salt?
Love this guy's ❤️ content... So relaxing
I really love your passion about Our Heritage! In today’s world it is a welcome sight
Thanks for this one! I needed to get away from the terrible news going on in the world.
This is a great channel and your presentations really chills me out. Thank you sir!
its a traditional welsh dish, to this day residents of liverpool are nicknamed "scousers" because of its popularity there years ago
Scouser here and scouse is still very popular in Liverpool
ahh but do you make it with lamb, beef or chicken? seems to depend where in liverpool your from.
@@andrewjames1190 Always lamb or beef never chicken
@@zhukov1943 they use chicken in Ormskirk. probably because they sourced ingredients from farmers markets rather than dock imports. My nan would go nuts if it was anything other than lamb as she was from Everton.
And Lobbies was and is eaten in the Wigan area.
"There may be worms in the biscuits..."
Later - "The biscuits have a really interesting flavour!"
Sorry, couldn't help myself :-D
Meaty he said. 😉 Makes sense!
The gloves are a MUST! Triple thumbs up my friend!!! What you perform is so unique, so refreshing, so entertaining that it is hard to find something that really competes on this level. Thank you so much. You are the best.
Lapskaus, very common in Norway still, used together with flatbread with butter.
They still eat a stew called Scouse in the North of England, mainly Liverpool.
It’s just stew.
I love looking back and watching these old episodes.
I needed a trip back in time today. Thanks!!!!
As a European it's really nice to learn about American history, a lot of Swedes moved there in the 1800s when we had famines year after year. Such a great humble guy, enjoying every episode!
In Norway this is a traditional dish and we spell it like this: lapskaus
I am From Liverpool in the UK And the nickname that we are called by is Scousers and the reason is because Scandinavian sailors brought this dish to our city and we adopted it. It is delicious made with Breast of Lamb.
Really Good Video. Thank You. Excellent depiction and description of the food.
Here in northern germany we it is a traditional dish. It is different now but still extremly good
I agree. I looks absolutely revolting and sounds disgusting in theory, but it tastes so good! Best part of the regional cuisine, for sure.
Jas
"it was common in the 18th century"
Townsend.
I could watch your channel for hours! We love to get a cup of tea, put our feet up, and watch the new (and old) videos. Wholesome, informative, fun, interesting....awesome!!
A great video. A culinary treasure to be sure!
“A Classic Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue” is like today’s Urban Dictionary
I know this is old, but I just wanted to share a few observations.
Labskaus comes from Hamburg, Germany and dates back to at least the 1700's as a shipboard recipe. The book, "Das Hamburg Kochbuch" by C.S & I.S Dörner has a mid 18th C recipe if I remember correctly.
It's mashed potato and corned beef: dressed with, typically, gherkins, beetroot slices, an egg and a pickled herring fillet.
Google Translate works well enough for this, so here's a recipe from the magazine, Der Spiegel - www.spiegel.de/reise/deutschland/hamburger-labskaus-heisser-brei-mit-ei-a-712521.html
Thanks! I knew, somehow it was German. It did have pickles in it, if memory serves. There was a youtuber out there who did it like you said.
This dish have been eaten traditionaly in Norway since ca 800 ad (the viking age). i think they started to use the term Lapskaus around the middel ages. it became a popular dish among sailors and farmers. A traditional Norwegian Lapskaus consists of: Water, sheep/pig/cow meat (the fatter parts prefered), root vegetables, cabage and pepper. Enjoy :)
yum, sounds good
ah, sweet hometown^^
John, you are a well of knowedge and I LOVE your videos. Thank you so much.
Professional, interesting, historical, educational, entertaining. I love your productions. Been watching since beginning
Lobscouse originated in Wales it is called cawl it's basically everything you can find veg wise with either lamb or beef the term Lobscouse is still used in North Wales and so I've heared, so many welsh people went over the border to England to work on ships or the docks in Liverpool and took the dish with them that it gave the citys people a nickname scousers
+Ian Daniel It is a scandinavian thing. I come from Liverpool UK. Our nickname is literally Scousers. We make a lot of it to say the least. Birmingham UK calls it Lobby. We both got it from The Nordic peeps.
We use Mutton instead of salt beef
burnster321 fair play, same here mutton or lamb, still tasty stuff though nomatter where it originated
Debatable. It is certainly a famous in Northern Germany and Scandianvian countries. The word "Lobscouse" or "Labskaus" sounds way more Germanic in origin than Welsh.
lobsgows in welsh north walian welsh
A dish that is hundreds of years old and famous all over northern Europe is probably hard to trace back to a single origin. It just shows how interconnected Europe has always been. This dish is older than the concept of nations.
This remind me of something we make in norway where i live, lapskaus.
In Germany, it's "Labskaus" - just shows the influences in American cuisine from all the immigrants.
Mr. Pilgrim but it is a northern dish~ we in southern germany don't have it. I know it is because it was a sailors food and so on but I think thats so unfair! I love Labskaus but I only get it when on holiday at the baltic sea because making your own is pretty tedious in my eyes. Labskaus is by the way the only way I will eat beetroots. Only thing I skip is the traditional Korn because I don't really drink alcohol.
Kira Andou I'm from Austria, so I'm even further away from anything even resembling Labskaus, so... :P
I love this show. So informative and interesting...and well done.
So a light cook of the biscuits give them a crouton-like texture...Awesome! It look's & sounds delicious!
The 'interesting flavor' of later-added hardtack in the stew must be due to the worms.
Extra protein
Is this why people from liverpool are called 'scousers'? It is a port town.
Certainly is! Every family here in Liverpool has their own recipe for Scouse.
It can vary from a thick soup to a meatloaf style dish, but mostly its a simple stew. Traditionally it was often made from mutton and leftover vegetables, but we mostly use modern ingredients now.
We tend to serve it with either pickled beetroot or pickled red cabbage.
I think it may actually be because of the accent that they use in liverpool being called Scouse. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scouse
+Josiah Graham
Hi there! As a born and bred Scouser I can confirm we're named after the dish. It was brought to us by Norwegian sailors, and is called "lobby" further out into Lancashire, away from the city. Both words derive from the Scandinavian word for the recipe, which is discussed in the video.
lordmuntague Hey, I actually didn't see your comment or else I wouldn't have said anything. :P I was just taking a stab at speculating with the OP, because I got curious myself too. Now everyone ignore my post, and listen to the Scouser! *walks off the stage*
Edit: Also, I wonder if perhaps the accent too is named after the food as well than! Since the food is a common thing there. It's possible that they started defining people there as Scousers for the food, thenlater used the term Scouse to define the accent as well.
Do you have a recipe? Is it anything like Irish Stew? Thank You!
Just came across your channel, love learning about the old stuff.
Always delightful and educational
In the 18th century, would they have just eaten the biscuits that had worms? Aside from being gross, do the worms actually cause a problem? I would think that if anything, they would increase the protein content.
They also taste better than the biscuits.
Wouldn't dream of speaking for the experts, but I would guess that the biscuits would have to be pretty severely worm eaten to be outright inedible, especially when it's all going to be boiled thoroughly as with this recipe.
They didn't have a choice. When you are weeks out at sea from the nearest port and all the good grub is eaten up you take what you can get and make the best of it. It was a common trick to tap the biscuit on the table and try to knock the worms and weevils out as much as possible.
I think it was also a bit easier on the old sensibilities to eat them in dark or not-well-lit conditions, which I imagine ship's insides were. You can pretend it's not there if you can't see it. And as long as somebody else (the cook) prepared it in some way, you could be blissfully unaware. You'd be shocked at what goes into fast food and such nowadays, because cooking and condiments transform even substandard materials to tasty stuff.
If they were actual worms there'd be no real problem. They are maggots though which might transfer really bad germs and tiny creepies
is the hat you're wearing an 18th century version of a chef's toque?
It's a workman's cap of the time period worn by all kinds of workmen, cooks included.
I would really really love to see the Townsends get together with Barnwood Builders. Please reach out and contact them!! Even if you go to one of their locations and cook for them an 18th c. meal while they work on one of their awesome projects. Both your parties are so devoted to maintaining a culture which is slipping away. So much respect for your channel and their effort!!
Jon, when you describe the aromas of the dishes, I always think that I smell them too. When you take that first taste, I feel so hungry! Top quality on every level.
I think it more likely they would use a belay pin to pound the biscuits. A marlin spike is not well suited to crushing
It's good for stabbing, though if that's your thing.
either the pin or a fid.. good catch :)
You use the spike to kill the bigger weevils.
If you freeze your flour and oats for a few days it kills the weevil eggs.
+John Schroeder bay leaves are another way as well
i keep them in all my flour containers and no bugs!!
Thank you both - I'll start freezing my flour and adding bay leaves. That's the same reason that sushi fish has to be frozen solid and then thawed for use - the freezing kills all of the parasites. (If you ever see video of the fish auctions in Japan for sushi fish, you'll notice all of the fish are frozen solid.)
U guys ... they're still in there just not moving... lol
i would have thought baking the biscuits would kill the eggs
@@zaphenath6756 indeed. How are these eggs surviving multiple bakes?
Fascinating, I look forward to trying this. I've always known this dish as "Labskaus" and it was fried like a hash with potato, onion, corned beef, and salt herring. Sometimes sometimes stock would be added for the desired consistency and extra flavor. Different spelling but pronounced the same, I'm thinking they have a common origin and have taken on different variations. Thank you for sharing.
These videos are perfect for break time at work
Where do we find the skillet with the legs? I didn't see it on the website. Thanks!
Here you go: jas-townsend.com/spider-skillet-p-1206.html
awesome, thanks! Guess I just missed it!
The worms are the meat my friend.... XD
In Germany actually in Northern Germany in there’s a dish with a same pronounced name “Labskaus” (from 1706).
German Labskaus consists of pickled cucumbers, beetroot, pickled fish (herring), fried eggs, mashed potatoes mixed with corned beef.
I recently discovered Townsend's fascinating videos, and as I was born and bred in Liverpool, it was wonderful to see this video. Lobscouse, better known as scouse, was such a common Liverpool dish in the past, it provided our knickname, Scousers. Scouse is still a popular meal locally, a delicious, warming comfort food. Every family has it's own recipe, my family's is very like Townsend's, minus the ship's biscuits! There's a vegetarian option known as 'blind scouse', in which lentils or split peas replace the meat. We serve it with buttered, crusty bread to soak up the juices and have pickled beetroot on the side, others prefer pickled red cabbage. Thank you Townsends for your wonderful videos and website, true living history, delivered with style and passion.
This probably comes from the original Lapskaus, which is a traditional Norwegian dish.
Ean Evers my grandma and mom made this when i was young..they were from norway....but it seems the germans and english are trying to claim it as theirs..i say we conjure up some vikings and show them who is boss..
Lots of northern European ports (Baltic and North Sea) have their own variation on the dish with similar names, but the origin of the name is likely from the Latvian or Lithuanian language. Who knows who originated the recipe or how long it's been around?
You say worms, Sailor says "fresh protein". Just eat it in the dark.
Or don't be a wimp.
Hi! Speaking as a scouser, lob Scouse was a meal without meat - when cash short but meal needed on table, certainly in my lifetime and that of my parents! Cheers and beers!
I've only ever heard that called "blind scouse", always has lamb or beef to my knowledge
Thank you Sir.
It brings back memories of eating weevils and surviving to tell the tale.
They're not all bad!
We've all needed protein, at some time in our lives.
Its german: labskaus. Traditionell dish in the Hamburg region
Aaah, everybody beat me to it ...the lesser of two weevils joke. :0( Have you heard why the shortest watch is called the dog watch ???
Ney... why? 😊
@@raimohoft1236 because it is CUR-tailed....CUR Tailed !!!!! Hahahahaaaa
All flour and uncooked flour products such as pasta have insect eggs in them. Sometimes depending on environment they hatch. Which is why you get insects in a sealed box of pasta or in a sealed jar of flour. Absolutely love this series. Watched about 12 so far tonight. Thank you very much for making them.
meslamtea When this happens, you should console yourself with the saying the natural foods health nuts use to the effect that if the bugs won't eat it, neither should you.
I love your channel. You are the ultimate optimist. I've never heard food called, "sturdy" before. Cracked me up! Cheers.
those weevils won't touch bleached white processed flour...lol, they know whats good!!
They will if it's all that's available. We had a huge issue with them in our cupboards a while back. v.v it was so annoying.
Awesome ! This channel makes me imagine, makes me day dream. makes me yurning to live back then. Yeah.....it was no picnic,BUT living with todays high tech n fast pace world I dont know which is worse 🤔 ?
A HARD Simple life vs. Keepin up with the Joneses and working 4 material items ? Me ? Beam me back Scotty ! 😎
This looks absolutely fantastic
I am big on food anthropology. Thanks for the videos.
I thought it would be made with lobster.
Me too. 😀