Labskaus - A German regional speciality

German cuisine perhaps is not the most refined in comparison to the French, but its national dishes are definitely just as famous as boeuf bourguignon and confit de canard: Schweinshaxe, Eisbein, Sauerkraut and of course a huge variety of wurst. Bratwurst, Currywurst, Fränkische Bratwurst to name but a few.

Labskaus, a Northern speciality delicacy and is especially common in Hamburg, probably is a lesser known dish in the European culinary scene. I first came across this dish when watching Rick Stein's German Bite on BBC 2 back in August, in which he showcased a number of less renown Germanic dishes and Labskaus was one of them (4 minutes or so into the video below):

At first I did not know what to make of this rather gloopy looking dish but curiosity took the better of me and I have decided to make and taste it to form my own opinion on this dish.

Serves 2

Knob of butter

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

Medium onion, chopped

A tin of corned beef

A pack of ready-to-eat cooked beetroot, chopped

Reserve the beetroot juice from the packet

2 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed

300ml beef stock

Handful of gherkins, chopped

2 free range eggs

Salt & pepper, to taste

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water, drained, mashed and season to taste.

2.  Heat the butter in a large frying pan and cook the crushed garlic and chopped onion until soft.

3. Stir in the corned beef and chopped beetroot, cook for 10 minutes.

4. Mix in the potato mash and slowly pour in the beef stock and the reserved beetroot juice. Fold the mixture well and cook for 20 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, use a smaller frying pan, heat some oil and pan-fried the eggs.

6. Serve the Labskaus with a sprinkle of chopped gherkins and fried eggs on top.

It is incredibly easy to make and to my surprise, I thought it was rather nice if you can overcome the baby-food like consistency. Perhaps just think of it as a really think soup.....

Enjoy!