Angus Murray
Here in the United States, regional nicknames are common. If you’ve ever heard the words Hoosier, Buckeye, or Tar Heel, you probably know exactly where that person came from—and maybe the sports team they cheer for, too.
Regional surnames are most prevalent in the United Kingdom, where a single town may have half a dozen different surnames. Liverpool, home of this year’s Open Championship in the North West of England at Royal Liverpool, has a nickname with a unique origin. Liverpool residents are proudly known as “scouse” or “pants”. Where did this name come from? natural food.
The savory, soup-like dish, ‘lobscouse’, was a favorite during Liverpool’s heyday as a major port city, and remains a local staple to this day. Iterations vary, but basic ingredients generally include potatoes, carrots, onions, a root vegetable such as kale, and a protein such as lamb or beef. Some describe the dish as a mixture of traditional Irish stew and soupa Scandinavian soup based on meat and potatoes, which also supports the scouse’s historic maritime connection.
It’s a dish that’s hard to describe and maybe a bit polarizing. Tour player Tommy Fleetwood, who was born about 20 miles north of Liverpool, in Southport, is somewhat ambivalent about the dish.
“I’ll eat scouse, yeah,” he said at this year’s PGA Championship in Oak Hill. “Scouse is all the good stuff for leftover dinners, and you put it all together in a skillet. It’s kind of like a stew.”
As to whether he would look for him when he was home, Fleetwood demurred.
“It’s not something I necessarily have, but a lot of people do.”
For Liverpool residents and visitors looking for a meal of traditional fare, there is one establishment that stands out from the rest: Maggie May’s, a café in the heart of Liverpool that has been a mainstay in the city for nearly 30 years.
Recipe director Andrew Lea that Maggie May’s staff uses is courtesy of his grandmother, and thus stays close to the vest, but Lea describes the secret as being more about the process than the ingredients. For home cooks looking to replicate the wisdom at Maggie May’s, Lea offered one thing of wisdom: It takes time.
“After you do that, leave it overnight,” says Leah. “The second day is what makes it. You want it to thicken, where the potatoes kind of fall apart, the flesh falls apart. It takes you back to when you were a kid and brings up those memories. It’s about passion. The love of your city and the people. The relationship people have with each other. Unique.”
With additional reporting by Angus Murray and Jack Hirsch.