IN Liverpool every day is potentially scouse day, but once a year the entire planet is treated to the meat and two veg stew.
Really? Well it is called Global Scouse Day and one of the organisers is a globetrotting adventurer from Liverpool.
That would be Graham Hughes, the first Earthling to visit 193 United Nations member states by terra firma alone, no planes. It got him into the Guinness Book of Records.
Now in its second year, GSD takes place this Saturday (Feb 28) and the whole world is invited to take part via hashtag. But not corned beef hashtag. Heaps of local restaurants and bars are lobbing scouse on the menu for the day and if you buy a bowl, £1 of the sale will go to the homeless charity The Whitechapel Centre.
The word scouse, don't you know, comes from labskaus, a stew commonly eaten by Baltic sailors and imported here before your time. Which way do you swing? Beef? Mutton? Or a bit of both?
Berry and Rye will be hosting a scouse inspired cocktail competition tomorrow afternoon (Weds, from 4pm-7pm) and a "Berry Bake Off" on Sunday (March 1)
Meanwhile, Maggie Mays, which sells scouse in tins, will be offering samples out and about in town.
Global Scouse Day has won the backing of Virgin Trains, Liverpool and Everton FC, and City Central BID.
“The day was founded by Graham Hughes, a scouse adventurer and world record holder who is currently living in paradise after winning an international competition run by tech giants Samsung,” it says here.
Graham said, from paradise: “Everybody has their own idea of what scouse should be, and by using social media to make this a global event we’re hoping to see versions of scouse from Mexico, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Fiji, Botswana... and everywhere in between.”
The Irish American, John Street New York; Canyon Coffee House, Zillah, USA; and Sekforde Arms, Clerkenwell, USA will all be adding Scouse to their menus, say organisers.
But closer to home, the flagship event on Saturday is the “Scouse-Off” in the Liverpool One Bridewell pub judged by Ricky Tomlinson, comic Chris Cairns and the Lord Mayor Erica Kemp.
Make your scouse at home, turn up at the pub between noon and 5pm, they will reheat it and give a verdict.
The first prize is a Scouse Passport which includes all sorts of dinners and lunches at various scouse venues, a night’s stay at the Malmaison (which used to do excellent scouse) and a hairdo from Voodou. There is also a pair of first class Virgin train tickets to go someplace, presumably, where there is no scouse at all.
#GlobalScouseDay
