In the series

Season 1

S1E1 · ~00:00:26 The kitchen's opening callout of the night — 'one scouse, two cod, one pork' — as Point North's first service gets underway

S1E1 · ~00:28:20 A plate goes out built on carrot puree and ox cheek, the pass calling it as scouse — the Liverpool stew dressed up for a menu instead of a bowl

In the series

Scouse is the dish that gives Liverpool its nickname, and it's the first thing called at the pass on Point North's opening night — a signal, before any of the drama starts, that this kitchen still knows where it comes from even while it's plating fine-dining food in London. The kitchen's investors get a version of the same conversation later in the episode, debating the name "lobscouse" for the menu — proof the show knows exactly what it's serving and why.

Ingredients

2 lb beef chuck or ox cheek, cut into large chunks

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 onions, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

3 potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

2 bay leaves

4 cups beef stock

Salt and black pepper

Pickled red cabbage and crusty bread, to serve

Method

Brown the beef in batches in the oil over high heat, then set it aside.
In the same pot, soften the onions and carrots for a few minutes.
Return the beef to the pot, add the potatoes, bay leaves, and stock, and bring to a simmer.
Cover and cook low and slow — on the stovetop or in a 300 F oven — until the beef is fall-apart tender and the potatoes have started to break down and thicken the broth, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
Season to taste. Traditional scouse is loose and hearty, not a tight braise — let some of the potato go to mush so the broth thickens naturally.
Serve in a deep bowl with pickled red cabbage on the side and bread for mopping, or plate it restaurant-style over a puree with a cleaner cut of meat, the way Point North sends it out.

Substitutions

Ox cheek: Chuck roast is the easy stand-in and behaves almost identically after a long braise. Short rib also works if you want a fattier result.
Beef stock: A stock cube dissolved in water is the honest, working-class version of this dish — don't feel obligated to make a from-scratch stock for a bowl of scouse.

Scouse

In the series

Season 1

In the series

Ingredients

Method

Substitutions

Beyond the recipe

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