Today, wherever you live in the UK, you’re able to sample the world’s varied cuisines, and perhaps even more so in cities such as Liverpool, with its strong international connections via its history as an international port.

Walk down Bold Street, and you can almost circumnavigate the globe, at a culinary level at least, with restaurants like Bakchich, The Italian Club, Mowgli and El Mexicana only doors from each other.

And if it’s Chinese food you’re after, then there’s a massive choice of different restaurants in Liverpool Chinatown, one of the first Chinatowns to be established in Europe.

However, there’s no need to go out to eat internationally these days. Using mobile apps or the internet makes everything much easier than the days when you could only phone the local takeaway. It’s now possible to order food from Bold Street restaurants like Bakchich and El Mexicana. Although they don’t offer in-house delivery services, their food can be ordered via Deliveroo.

While it’s great to be able to be able to enjoy such cosmopolitan meals, is there a danger of missing out on the traditional Liverpudlian foods that former generations were raised on? There’s a lot to be said for going back to your roots now and then and indulging in some comfort foods that form a strong part of the city’s heritage. Take a look at the dishes below and if you’ve not had the chance to try any of them, make it your business to do so.

Scouse

This has to be the most famous of local Liverpool dishes, though anyone who’s not from Liverpool might have assumed it’s only the nickname for the local dialect and the people, not also the name for a dish that’s considered to be a local delicacy.

Scouse is a beef or mutton-based stew, cooked with a selection of chunky veggies. According to legend, Scouse’s origins aren’t actually British, but Norwegian, and the recipe was first introduced by travelling sailors whose ships had docked in the port.

Maggie May’s in Bold Street is just one of many of Liverpool’s pubs and restaurants that have Scouse on the menu and it’s generally served with either pickled cabbage or beetroot and fresh bread.

Wet Nelly

This delicious dessert was originally a way of making use of leftover bread. Waste not, want not, as the saying goes. Like bread and butter pudding, Wet Nelly is a great store cupboard standby for something sweet at the end of a meal. Scraps of stale bread and cakes are left to soak in water and then mixed with spices, sugar, dried fruit and eggs. The usual accompaniment is custard, but cream or ice-cream would go just as well.

Bubble ‘n’ Squeak

Although it might be unfair of Liverpool to claim this leftover meal as its own, there’s no denying that it’s a regular feature on many a household’s table here. Traditionally a way of using up any vegetable leftovers following a Sunday roast, Bubble ‘n’ Squeak, usually has a potato base.

Everything’s chopped up and cooked up in a frying pan, and the name derives from the sounds coming from the pan as the meal is cooked. For some families, it’s a breakfast option; for others it’s an easy tea for a Monday night.

Whatever flavours your tastebuds are craving, it’s easy to satisfy them here in Liverpool, with its combination of traditional home-spun dishes and a huge choice of international dining options. Quite appropriately, the diversity of the city’s food truly reflects its multicultural nature.