Recipe for skipper stew
Skipperlabskovs is a good, old-fashioned dish that might have been somewhat forgotten. It’s a shame because it tastes fantastic!
The list of ingredients is short, which means that the flavor of each individual ingredient truly stands out. It’s a really easy dish to make, especially when cooking for many people! And kids love it.
I think skipperlabskovs is purely Danish, but no countries really claim it! If you look it up in the Danish dictionary, it says that the dish comes from northern Germany, where it is allegedly a genuine regional dish. However, the Germans say it comes from England, and the Norwegians claim the same. The English won’t take credit for skipperlabskovs either; they say it’s a Nordic dish. So, we all stand in a circle, pointing at each other! It’s kind of funny.
You might hope that the name would provide some clues, but it doesn’t make things much clearer. In German, labskaus means “stew,” while in Norwegian it means “hodgepodge.” So both the German and Norwegian meanings of the word are very descriptive of the dish.
This is the recipe for the classic skipperlabskovs with slow-simmered beef and “potato mash,” just like grandma used to make it. Serve the dish with cold butter and a sprinkle of chives on top, along with a slice of good coarse rye bread and delicious homemade pickled beets.
Skipperlabskovs Recipe
Skipper Stew
Ingredients
- 600 gram Shoulder Knuckle or chuck
- 1 l Water
- 10 pcs. Bay Leaf
- 20 pcs. Peppercorns
- 1200 gram Baked Potato or another starchy variety that easily breaks down
- 4 pcs. Onion
- 75 gram Butter
- Spices salt and pepper
- 15 gram Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 bunch Chives
Instructions
- Remove tendons and large pieces of fat from the meat and cut it into cubes of approximately 2 x 2 centimeters.
- Peel and chop the onions and cut them into rough chunks.
- Heat a large pot with the butter and brown the meat in it for a couple of minutes.
- Add the onions and sauté them until they are translucent.
- Pour water into the pot until the meat and onions are just covered, then add bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt.
- Put the lid on the pot and bring it to a boil.
- Let the dish simmer on low heat for about 1 hour.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into 2 x 2 centimeter cubes. Add them to the pot with the meat, put the lid on, and let the dish simmer for another 1 hour.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Stir well so that the tender potatoes slightly mash into the meat and thicken the dish.
- Season to taste with vinegar, salt, and pepper, and serve with ice-cold butter, finely chopped chives, coarse rye bread, and pickled beets.