Hash (food)

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This article is about the food. For other uses, see hash.
A typical order of corn beef hash, hashed with potatoes and carrots.
A typical order of corn beef hash, hashed with potatoes and carrots.

Hash is a mixture of beef (often leftovers of corned beef or roast beef), onions, potatoes, and spices that are mashed together into a coarse, chunky paste and then cooked either alone, or with other ingredients.

In Denmark hash is known in Danish as "biksemad" (roughly translated, "tossed together food"), and it is a traditional leftover dish usually served with a fried egg, bearnaise sauce, pickled red beet slices and ketchup. The meat is usually pork, and the mixture is not mashed together into a paste, but rather the ingredients are coarsely diced and readily discerneable in its cooked form.

In Sweden there is a version of hash called pyttipanna. It is similar to the Danish version, but usually served without sauce.

Alternatively, in the southern United States hash is a blend of leftover pork from a barbecue mixed with barbecue sauce and served over rice. It is a common side dish at barbeque restaurants and pig pickin's in South Carolina and Georgia.

Hearty meals have been cooked in large, cast iron pots since the Middle Ages. Variations are endless and limited only to the imagination of the maker and palate of the consumer. In South Carolina, hash takes the place of honor held by Brunswick Stew in nearby Georgia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Usually served over rice, hash is more than a mere accompaniment to barbecue and maintains an important role as a congregational food. Hash is a community-based tradition, cooked in big pots for large numbers of people. Recipes are far from consistent, with variations built around techniques that spring from rural folklife. Like other southern stews, hash developed out of a need to turn leftovers, scraps, and whatever one could find into a palatable one-pot dish. While hash variations are countless, three very loosely defined geographic regions can be identified. Lowcountry hash can consist of hogsheads and organ meats like pork liver, cooked down in a stock favoring vinegar and ketchup. Vegetables can include onions, corn, and diced potatoes. Hash from the Midlands typically consists of leaner pork cuts combined with onions, cooked in a mustard-based stock. Finally, upstate hash is largely beef-based with onions, butter, and no dominant ketchup, vinegar, or mustard base. These regions are largely historical and today the most enduring regional difference rests in the sauce or stock. Recipes perpetuated by hash masters are a source of immense personal and local pride and makers go to great lengths to retain the uniqueness of their hash recipes and cooking techniques. While many rural fire departments, agricultural clubs, and other civic organizations cook hash for community fundraisers, the most prolific producers are locally owned barbecue restaurants, many of which developed from family “shade tree” cooking traditions. While hash might have been born out of necessity, this one-pot treasure has long since made the transition to a “comfort food.”

Saddler Taylor, Curator of Folklife & Research at McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina

[edit] See also

Hash Brown

[edit] External links

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