Panaculty

Panaculty is a dish originating from the North East of England. The recipe varies a little from region to region but the basic ingredients and method are very similar. It is essentially a form of tinned corned beef (bully beef) hash, but started out as using any left over meat from the Sunday dinner and served the next day. Due to rationing during World War Two the left over meat was replaced by tins of corned beef and has stayed the same ever since.

Panaculty ready to eat

A variation known as Panaggy is made in some parts of the north, which uses much the same ingredients (with the addition of bacon) but is made into a kind of cottage pie. It is also sometimes confused with a similar sounding dish more localised to the Northumberland area of North East England called Pan Haggerty. This is an altogether different dish made in a frying pan using thin layers of potato, onion and cheese.

The origins of the dish start in Front Road, Ford Estate, Sunderland by families of Irish immigrants. Panaculty is the Wearside dish, which would use tinned corned beef, onion, sliced potatoes, stock and seasoning. Here the dish is baked in the oven in a casserole dish.

The Northumberland version is Pan Haggerty which contains sliced potatoes, vegetable stock, onions and topped with cheese.

The Teesside version of Panaculty is cooked in a frying pan with thin layers of potatoes, onions, corned beef, water, stock cube and seasoning. Sometimes, according to taste, the corned beef is left out and served separately.

Another way of cooking Panaculty is to make it in a large pan and serving as a soup. This can be left on the hob for days and re-heated as desired.