Quezi

Farmhouse hash (photo by adactio - CC-BY)

Where Sunday dinner is the special meal of the week, people often eat leftovers on Monday. Of course, if a ham or roast was served on Sunday, there could be enough meat left to reheat and serve as such, but often and in many countries there are very loose recipes for using leftovers, and they have a variety of names.

In the Scandinavian countries it is called pyttipanna (Swedish, similar in Norwegian and Finnish). The expression always reminds me of the army name for hash on toast, and it looks a little like that, but it only means “bits in the pan.” It consists of diced onion, potato, any kind of meat or sausage, and possibly vegetables, and is often served topped with a fried egg. The Danes call it biksemad and give it a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

The British will probably immediately recall bubble and squeak, a very similar concoction, but only one of several in Great Britain that traditionally also include cabbage. The Scots enjoy rumbledethumps, and stovies, which is cooked all day in the oven. The Irish have a great affection for colcannon, which is Gaelic for white cabbage, a basic ingredient. They even have a song about it, the refrain reflecting their love for the dish:

Yes you did, so you did, so did he and so did I.
And the more I think about it sure the nearer I’m to cry.
Oh, wasn’t it the happy days when troubles we had not,
And our mothers made Colcannon in the little skillet pot.

The Dutch eat something called stamppot, similar to the Belgians’ stoemp. In Tyrol, they cook Gröstl, which is served with a fried egg, as in Scandinavia. In Catalonia, a similar dish is trinxat, and in Portugal, Roupa Velha (Portuguese for “old clothes”), often made from leftovers from Cozido à Portuguesa. The Colombians seem to prefer their leftovers for breakfast, calentado, which means “heated.” It has to include rice and potatoes, beans by choice, but no cabbage.

In Malaysia, where Sunday dinner may not be so important, they also prepare something similar, bergedil, usually made with minced meat, potatoes, and onions, fried until brown, apparently served as a patty.

I am confident that most other countries have a similar meals.