Labor Day Delight

Labor Day just was. One thing I always enjoy food wise on Labor Day is hash. Now, according to Webster, Noah or a reasonable substitute, hash is a dish of diced or chopped meat and often vegetables, as of leftover corned beef or veal and potatoes, sautéed in a frying pan or of meat, potatoes, and carrots cooked together in gravy. However, the definition according to the folks I grew up with in the Piedmont area of South Carolina this is not quite the same. My ancestors are of strong Scots-Irish stock and make hash a different way. We do not use leftover meat but fresh from the butcher pork and beef. Usually the only vegetables added are white potatoes what we called Irish potatoes and onions.


The cooking process is different as well. A cast iron wash pot is used, one or more depending on how much hash is to be cooked. It is a long and time consuming process usually about twelve hours or more. It all begins with the selection of meat. Cap’n jack said always use a combination of beef and pork. He, my father, preferred one quarter beef to three quarters pork. Boston butt for the pork, and I don’t know why the shoulder of a hog is called a butt except maybe the people of Boston have some kind of anatomical identity problem. The meat is put into the pot and the fire started and the usual firewood is seasoned hickory or oak. Then begins the long night of keeping the fire burning and stirring the meat so it doesn’t burn. The meat is cooked until it falls apart. Some people actually pull the meat apart and some perform the ultimate desecration of the meat by grinding it. Potatoes in half-inch cubes are added with chopped onions in this late cooking process. As dawn approaches all the hunting and fishing stories have all been told and some of the fellas have taken a little drink from a half pint bottle of spirits to better to welcome the new day. It was also time for the final seasoning of the hash. I’ve seen all sorts of things added, vinegar, butter, hot sauce, red and black pepper, salt, and various spices. Seasoning hash is a very personal thing. My preferences are salt, pepper, vinegar, sage, red and black pepper.

When I was growing up this was always a dish for a celebration, a holiday, a family reunion, or a big meal at the Lodge hall. It was usually served in small cardboard trays with sweet pickles and sliced white bread with plenty of sweet iced tea to wash it down. Maybe it’s a Southern thing?