Where can I try traditional scouse?

Jade Wright: Every Liverpudlian knows where the best scouse is — in their mum’s kitchen. It’s a simple, hearty stew originating from the ports of Northern Europe, where sailors would warm their bones with brimming bowlfuls. Lobscouse, as it was originally known, also gave Liverpudlians their nickname, scousers.

Most of the ingredients in this dish are relatively affordable: meat, potatoes and other vegetables. While most people use lamb, some swear by beef, but there’s also ‘blind’ (meatless) scouse for vegans and vegetarians. Regardless, it’s always served with chunks of bread and pickled red cabbage or beetroot.

Maggie Mays on Liverpool’s Bold Street has been serving minced beef scouse for decades; the dish is so popular it’s now even sold in tins, so the Liverpudlian diaspora can always enjoy a taste of home. Piazza Cafe at the Metropolitan Cathedral dishes up steaming bowlfuls of scouse, while The Welsford restaurant at Liverpool Cathedral serves a rich lamb and vegetable version. In the hip Baltic Triangle district, Fodder offers three varieties of scouse, and Skaus Kafe holds its own, too.