The Beatles were always big in our school when I was a kid in Birmingham. I think it had something to do with some of the band having Irish parents or grandparents and were from a tough working class environment as were we. The people from Liverpool call us Brummies "Posh Scousers," and I don't know if that is a compliment or an insult. Do you know why people from Liverpool are called Scousers? Scouse was brought to Liverpool by Northern European sailors, it was originally called Labskause. This was finally shortened to Skause and over time the spelling changed to the more Anglicized version we have today, Scouse. The people who ate Scouse were all generally sailors and their families and eventually all sailors within Liverpool were referred to as Scousers. Time has now taken its turn and everyone from the region of Liverpool is known as a Scouser. There are records showing that it was also served to the inmates of the Birkenhead workhouse way back in 1864. The recipe was much simpler then than today's refined version but was predominantly the same staple ingredients - meat, vegetables and potatoes. SCOUSE INGREDIENTS lb lamb, cut very small 4 large king Edward potatoes, sliced 3 carrots, sliced 1 small turnip, diced salt and pepper 1/3 pint lamb stock METHOD Pre-heat the oven to 150. Heat up some low-fat cooking spray on the hob and stir-fry the lamb until it is browned on both sides. Transfer to a lidded casserole dish. Use this juice from the lamb to stir-fry the carrots and turnip until just starting to soften. Add to the casserole dish. Pour in the stock. Cover and cook in the oven for an hour. Towards the end of the cooking time, par-boil the potatoes for about 5 - 10 minutes. Add to the casserole dish with salt and a generous amount of pepper and cook at 150 for a further 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir. The potatoes should have gone all mushy and sludge-like. At this point, if you're impatient, you could eat the scouse as it is. But it's much better if you transfer it from the casserole into a slow cooker and leave it on medium for about 4 - 6 hours. The flavor will intensify and the lamb will be coming apart,. Serve with crusty bread. All we are saying is Give peace a chance