Labskaus

People from Hamburg claim that this dish was invented here – and some towns along the Southern English coast claim the same. It’s not really clear who invented this exact version of extra tasty potato mash but variants have apparently been eaten around the North Sea for more than 300 years.

I first had Labskaus many years ago when I moved to Hamburg and it has become one of our household’s favorite dishes.

Jan Panhoff

Experience Creator

Jan Panhoff

Ingredients

10-14 oz beetroot (300-400g)
2 lbs potatoes (800g)
2 large onions, diced
2 oz butter (50g)
9 oz corned beef (250 g)
⅓ cup beef broth (alternatively: vegetable broth) (75 mL)
1 jar of pickles
salt and pepper to taste
eggs
rollmops (if you like them)

Directions

Wash the beetroots and boil in their peel for 30-60 minutes until they are soft.
Wash the potatoes and boil in salted water for 20-30 minutes until they are soft.
Once they are done, quickly rinse both with cold water and let them cool down for a short amount of time.
Peel the beetroots and the potatoes (wear disposable gloves while peeling the beetroots).
Fry the onions in a large pan with some butter for a few minutes (until the onions start to become transparent).
Add the corned beef and fry together for a few minutes.
Put one of the beetroots aside (for garnish). Mash/mince the remaining beetroots and add them to the pan.
Add the broth and 2-3 spoons of the pickle water (yes, really) to the pan and let it cook a little bit.
Mash the potatoes and add them to the pan. Stir and cook until the mash has a uniformly pink color.