This Cajun bacon hash is a dish from the Southern USA. Hash is often perceived as an American dish but it actually harks backs to much older French cooking traditions. It's also a great way to make a delicious meal from leftovers.
One potato, two potato...
It's not really a surprise I hustled this one up on a UK Bank Holiday Monday. I first encountered it in Georgia, cooked by a woman who swore blind it was an original Cajun recipe. I have my doubts. Nonetheless, she appears to have done her homework because certain quintessentially French Louisiana cooking elements are there—such as the celery, spices and parsley—that one seldom encounters in the numerous forms of hash experienced across other regions of the USA. It is often served as a hearty breakfast—a bit akin to British bubble-'n-squeak—but I find that it also makes a delicious, quick supper.
In the English-speaking world, hash has been associated with "pioneer" cultures; cowboys or loggers making simple, filling fare out on the frontiers. Indeed, in the USA, cheap restaurants catering to working people were widely known as "hash houses" by the 1860s. And, in Britain and France, it has the connotations of wartime austerity, the infamous bully beef hash; a response to rationing.
France is key here. The name is derived from hacher, the French word meaning "to cut up" or "to chop up". As Larousse Gastronomique points out, it has a long tradition in the Old World, long before it reached later distant continents. But, that only circles us back to French linguistic culture in the Americas. The terms "hash house" and "hashery" were widely used in English as early as the 18th century. One can't help think of the francophone culture of the North—Quebec—or that of the South—Louisiana—and wonder whether both the word and the concept originated there.
Whatever empirical history or not, this one has an overt Louisiana vibe. This recipe, however, is not the original version I was taught. That used both oil and butter in quantities that would veritably alarm us today.
I tend to make it when I have potatoes sitting around I don't want to waste—I'm not a massive potato eater despite the genetics. But, as Larousse also points out, it's a tradition usually made with leftovers. This recipe calls for par-boiled potatoes, something you don't have to do if you have them as leftovers. Not to mention that if you're using leftover roast potatoes, all the better: you can just shrug your shoulders and pretend their delicious crispy fat content had nothing to do with how you cooked the dish...
I'm doing the simplest version with bacon here. But, it was cooked for me with slices of different types of spicy sausage and even shrimp in Savannah, by a woman with an history as a "shady lady"in New Orleans. Treating it as mix-'n-match works well. Your choice.
Similarly, I'm doing it here with fried eggs—in this case fried with one of those low-fat alternatives to butter or oil. But, one of my favourite alternatives is to do it with poached eggs; poached at approx. 60°C, so that they are lovely and "runny".
I'm using sunflower oil here because it tends to crisp the potatoes more effectively than oliv oil. Up to you...
I'm also doing it here with a version of American "ranch dressing" that veritably makes Europeans turn away in pooh-pooh, disdain. Your problem kids: it's delicious.
The portions here are for 2 diners. Scale proportionally. NB: the images here are only indicative.
Shopping list
for Cajun bacon hash
Approx. 600g potatoes; par-boiled and roughly cubed
1 medium onion (brown or red), finely cubed
1 stalk of fresh celery; washed and finely sliced
1 large fresh bell pepper (yellow, red or orange); cubed
1 egg per dinner; fried or poached
7 or 8 rashers of smoked back bacon; cut into fairly large pieces; fat-on
2 tspns chopped smoked garlic (or equivalent in fresh garlic)
A generous clutch of fresh parsley; finely chopped
3 tspns of Cajun spice mix (equal measures of paprika, ground cumin, ground dried chilli, dried basil and a pinch of cayenne pepper; crushed and mixed)
Sour cream with flaked crushed chipotle chillies (optional)
2 shots of bourbon (optional)
Approx. 3 tbspns sunflower oil
Salt and pepper to taste
for the salad with Southern ranch dressing
Little gem lettuce, washed, torn and drained
½ a cucumber, sliced
1 medium fresh ripe tomato, sliced into batons
1 tbspn mayonnaise
1 tbspn soured cream
the juice of ½ a fresh lime (or 1 tbspn white wine vinegar)
finely diced rocket (cilantro)
¼ tspn of sweet paprika (pimentón dulce)
½ a tspn coarse mustard
1 tspn of fresh parsley, finely chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Cooking method
the Cajun bacon hash
Unless you already have your potatoes as leftovers, peel and par-boil them for approx 7 to 8mins, depending on size. Once cooled, cut into rough cubes
In a large pan, heat ½ a tbspn of oil on a medium-high heat and sauté the bacon until cooked, but not yet crisped. Remove from the pan using a sieve spoon and place to one side
Add 1 tbspn additional oil to the pan containing the bacon fats and juices. Heat gently only a low-medium heat and add the onion. When the onions begin to simmer and soften, add the celery, patiently sautéing on a low-medium heat
When the onions and celery soften, add the bell pepper and stir in. Increase to a medium-high heat and add the smoked garlic. Stir constantly as it simmers. Add 2tspns of the Cajun spice mix and stir in. Add the bourbon (if using) and cook off
Add the cubed potatoes only once the mix of onion, celery and bell pepper is soft, possibly even caramelising. Stir in. See what it needs—add oil, little by little as needed, increasing the heat. Add the additional 1tspn of Cajun spic mix and stir in
When the contents of the pan—particularly the potatoes—show signs of crisping on the edges, add the bacon into the pan and stir in
Cook until you have achieved the desired level of crispiness in the potatoes and bacon
Remove from the heat and add the chopped parsley. Stir in, cover and rest while you cook the eggs
Cook your eggs in the desired manner, then plate and dress with a little soured cream mixed with flaked chilli. Take to table with the salad
the salad
Make your dressing first, mixing together all the "wet", "dry" and "fresh" ingredients for the dressing: this is an unapologetically "Southern" dish. Whisk gently together
Create your salad in individual salad bowls or in a larger dish; the lettuce leaves, cucumber and tomato
Dress and take to table with the main dish
Alternatives
It's easy to turn this into a lacto-vegetarian dish simply by leaving out the bacon. It's equally simple to turn this into a vegan dish by using bacon alternatives—such as crispy tempeh or more contemporary faux bacon—and leaving off the sour cream dressing. Both actually taste great—and, yes, I've tasted them.
Pairings
Yeah, you can do this with beer. And, that's a really good choice. Or you can do it with sparkling mineral water with a slice of lime or lemon. Again, another top choice. Hell, you can even do it with coffee given its breakfast origins.
But, I recommend you actually do it with red wine; nothing fancy, just enough to put you back in the saddle. Mostly, I love it with a reasonable cabernet sauvignon. It doesn't matter exactly where it's from: Chile, Argentina, California or the Cape. It doesn't have to be pretentious—in fact, it shouldn't be overworked. Any red that gives you cajones is perfect with this dish. Let's face it, it's a rough, rustic dish and it works wonderfully with a rough-edged red that kicks back.
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