Hobo cuisine is as simple as it is delicious.

Hobos were the itinerant workers of the industrial revolution who roamed the United States by jumping onto passing freight trains. From the 1920s to the start of the 1940s, they looked for work, dreamed of whiskey lakes and candy mountains and scavenged meals wherever they could get them.

These men and women were not welcome in most upstanding communities, so they created their own, known as hobo jungles. They figured out how to make the most delicious food with the most inexpensive ingredients they could find.

Beer, potatoes and sausage are all great on their own, but a hobo never knows when the law bulls will bust up the local jungle. So brilliant hobo cooks invented a way to save time and space and combine all the ingredients into one dish.

The gist of this recipe is to infuse the flavor of your favorite beer into some potatoes and a sausage.

While you could use “light-flavored” beer, I recommend trying out one of the darker seasonal beers cropping up this time of the year. I used Redhook’s seasonal, Winterhook, which won’t flavor-stomp your tongue but has a comfortable beer taste and comes in a box that looks like a sweater. Redhook is usually also a bit cheaper than other craft brewers, a fact appreciated by frogskin-counting hobos and students.

The original version of this beer-steamed spuds dish required tin foil and a campfire, but I have adapted it for a kitchen with a medium-sized pot and a stove.

Ingredients/Equipment

• 1 medium pot or saucepan with a lid
• 4-5 small red potatoes
• 1/2 cup of a tasty beer
• 1 whole pre-cooked sausage
• A pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions:

Chop the potatoes and sausage into chunks no bigger than your largest toe. Put the sausage and spud chunks in the pot and pour the half cup of beer into the pot.

Heat on low to medium until simmering (not boiling). Put the lid on the pot and cook for 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Check it once halfway through and add more beer if the pot looks dry. Savor the rest of your delicious beverage.

When the potatoes are soft enough that you can easily pierce them with a fork, pour the sausage and potatoes into a bowl along with any remaining liquid.

Season with salt and pepper or sprinkle some cheese on top.

As you prepare this dish, consider looking up a poem by hobo poet Mindbender Steve. Hobos respected very few laws, but their poems always had to rhyme.

Tip: Substitute cabbage, carrots or other veggies for the sausage.