Hash is a culinary dish consisting of chopped up meat, potatoes, and onions fried. The name is derived from hacher, meaning "to chop". It originated as a way to use up leftovers. By the 1860s, a cheap restaurant was called a "hash house" or "hashery." Canned corned beef hash became especially popular in countries such as Britain, France, and the United States, during and after the Second World War as rationing limited the availability of fresh meat. Hash may be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. When served for breakfast in the United States hash may come with eggs, toast, hollandaise sauce, or even baked beans. High-end restaurants offer sophisticated hash dishes on their menus. Modern preparations can be made with unconventional ingredients such as lamb, fish, venison, turkey, chicken, shrimp, or steak.
United States
"Hash" of many forms was part of the American diet since at least the 18th century, as is attested by the availability of numerous recipes and the existence of many "hash houses" named after the dish. In the United States, September 27 is "National Corned Beef Hash Day." Classic American corned beef hash originated in the New England region of the United States as a way to use up the leftovers from a traditional boiled dinner of beef, cabbage, potatoes, and onions. A red flannel hash is made with beets instead of potatoes. You can also find salt cod hash or fish hash in New England. Corned beef and cabbage dinners is an Irish-American tradition from the 1800s that is now commonly observed across the United States on St. Patrick's Day. Corned beef hash is also commonly served on St. Patrick's Day, as well as around American Thanksgiving and Christmas. In the Midwest it was common to bind a hash together with a white sauce thickened with flour. Alternatively, in the southern United States, the term "hash" may refer to two dishes:
In Texas, a thick stew made up of pork, chicken and beef, traditionally seasoned with salt and pepper and other spices, is reduced overnight over an open flame in an iron washpot or hashpot.
Some areas in the South also use the term hash to refer to meat, such as wild game, that is served as barbecue or pulled meat that is boiled first.
UK
As early as the 14th century, English people were making hache or hachy. According to cookbook authorSteven Raichlen, "The English diarist Samuel Pepys waxed grandiloquent about a rabbit hash he savored in 1662", and during World War I, American GIs consumed a steady diet of corned beef hash, which they christened “corned Willie.”
Other countries
In Denmark, hash is known in Danish as "biksemad", and it is a traditional leftover dish usually served with a fried egg, worcestershire sauce, pickled red beet slices and ketchup or Bearnaise sauce. The meat is usually pork, and the mixture is not mashed together into a paste, but rather the ingredients are coarsely diced and readily discernible in their cooked form. In Sweden, there is a version of hash called pyttipanna and in Finland, pyttipannu and Norway, pyttipanne. It is similar to the Danish version. The Swedish variety Pytt Bellman calls specifically for beef instead of other meats and adding cream to the hash. It is named after Sweden's 18th centurynational poetCarl Michael Bellman. In Austria and perhaps more specifically Tyrol, there exists a similar dish called "Gröstl", usually consisting of chopped leftover meats, potato and onions fried with herbs and then served topped with a fried egg. In Slovenia it is called haše and very often used as a spaghetti sauce. It is made out of minced pork and veal meat, potato sauce, onion, garlic, flour and spices. In Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American cuisines, there is a similar dish called picadillo or carne moída. It is made with ground meat, tomatoes, vegetables and spices that vary by region. It is often served with rice or used as a filling in dishes such as tacos, tostadas, or as a regular breakfast hash with eggs and tortillas. In Brazil and Portugal, it is used as bolognese sauce for pasta, and also used as a filling for pancake rolls, pastel, empadão and others. The name comes from the West Iberian infinitive verb picar, which means "to mince" or "to chop". In Germany, Labskaus is made with beef or corned beef minced with onions and boiled potatoes and fried in lard. Beetroot and herring may be added, or served as a side dish.
