Shepherd's Pie and all that!

So the editorial board decided to adopt the suggestion and write about food - not too seriously -  just the fun side of food. Ideas were posted and choices were made. I went for the "Shepherd's Pie"  suggestion, the angle being whether an Anglo-Saxon can eat Middle Eastern? That is just up my street - or should I say in my kitchen - as is the Shepherd's Pie from time to time.

Indeed food has had to play an important part in my life as my other half happens to be a Sephardic-born food aficionado. From the beginning of our relationship he wanted to prove his passions and skills to me and on his first visit to my home he arrived with carrier bags of fresh foods to prepare. I too wanted to prove to  him that even though British born, I could cook tastily. We then had our first disagreement - over the fish. He wanted to prepare it in a piquant stew with garlic, herbs and tomatoes, but thinking of my two children who would be eating with us, I knew that would not go down well with them and insisted that I would bake it. My first error of cuisine in his eyes was when I dared to spread a film of tomato ketchup over the fish before popping it into the oven to bake along with some roasting sliced potatoes that the little ones loved. Eventually I came to the conclusion that he enjoyed eating the food he prepared rather than mine so I just let him get on with it. I would clean and he would cook! That was some 38 years ago - a period of time before television programs, glossy books and numerous magazines put an ever-increasing focus on food preparation and gourmet food.

Our visits to the home of his parents introduced me to a plethora of cooked and well seasoned side dishes of vegetables served before and with the main course, to the supping of soup after the main course, to glasses of sweet mint tea and a platter piled with delicious small pastries filled with flavored almond pastes. Conversation centered on food. Our visits to the home of my parents only proved that gefilte fish, borsht, chopped or Danish herring and the housekeeper's traditional Shepherd's Pie were never to be prepared in our kitchen. Conversation centered on golf and business.

Over the years I always wanted to prove to him that I really could cook - after all I had attended an introductory course at the Cordon Bleu in Paris when I was a student there. Work took him away from home regularly and then eventually transferred us from Israel to Scotland. To fill some of the lonely hours when he was away working, I would experiment with a wide variety of imaginative recipes, invite friends and neighbors to lunch or dinner, and ask for their feedback on my food.

When he was at home and we entertained, I then began to insist on taking part in the planning and in the preparations; menus became a basis for long and heated discussion. I will let you into a secret -  that at times some of our unsophisticated Scottish guests found my offerings more palatable than his. The squid spaghetti with a black ink sauce was a bit of a disaster but his adafina (Spanish style cholent) served for winter's Saturday lunch always went down a treat.  One of our neighbors, a very reputable local butcher, was the one to bring up Shepherd's Pie when discussing what we could each make for a collective meal on Hogmanay (New Year's Eve). "It's just the thing," he enthused. "I'll have some super lamb in for the holiday season..."

"Lamb," echoed my spouse, "why use lamb? And anyway I can't stand that dish - had it once in Barbara's parents home years ago. Ugh!"

"Of course it has to be lamb - why the hell d'ye think it's called Shepherd's Pie?" exclaimed the butcher, "I love it, so do the others, and it will be perfect for the meal."

"You're quite right," I appeased, "and I'd like to do it."

But do you think I got my way? I ended up doing sticky toffee puddings for dessert while the traditional Shepherd's Pie was transfigured in my spouse's hands as it went Sephardic. However, it proved to be delicious even with beef and not lamb and the recipe has been copied by those who tasted it at our table.

However, the breaking point in our battle of the cuisines came with Master Chef, a very popular television series in the U.K. We were watching the final program of the season which was very competitive and appeared extremely professional as the three contestants each prepared their delicious offerings. The program closed with a request for applicants wishing to compete in the next season's contest.

"Why don't you enter for it? You'd make a really interesting participant - go on." I began to encourage him.

"Do you really think I've time for all that? You go." And he yawned as he picked up the Sunday Times Supplement.

The years of trying to prove myself in our kitchen flashed before my eyes. I thought it through. This could be my chance. "You know what - I will."

"You will what?"

"I will go for Master Chef."

A smile lit his face as he declared, "Good for you, go for it - that will surely be interesting."

As so it was. I managed to represent Scotland, cooked on camera, and to his delight my international cuisine menu did include some of those traditional Sephardic dishes I had learnt from him. But this article is only supposed to be based on Shepherd's Pie and Master Chef is another story.

Moshe's Alternative Shepherd's Pie

   Ingredients:

   500 gms. minced beef of a mixture of turkey and beef

   1 large onion

   3 hardboiled eggs

   1 kg. potatoes

   1 tsp. each nutmeg, turmeric, cumin and paprika

   vegetable and olive oil

   sugar and salt to taste

   Method:

   1. Peel and chop onion and brown lightly in vegetable oil

   2. Stir in meat and season with salt, paprika, half a tsp. nutmeg and cumin. Mix thoroughly.

   3. Cook lightly for 8 - 10 minutes on low heat stirring well from time to time.

   4. Meanwhile peel and boil or steam quartered potatoes till cooked - be careful not to overcook.

   5. Mash potatoes and add 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, turmeric, nutmeg, 1 dessert spoon sugar.

   6. Shell and slice eggs.

   7. Grease a 9 inch oblong casserole. Add a layer of mashed potato, press down well, then spoon in the meat mixture. Top with sliced eggs and cover with the remainder of the mashed potato. Furrow lightly with fork and sprinkle the top lightly with olive oil

   8. Bake at 200C. for approx. 30mins. until the top is golden and crusty.

   9. Hope that  the Shepherd is not turning in his grave - and enjoy!

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About the author

Barbara Abraham

Barbara Abraham was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Her studies include: Cours de Civilisation Francais, Sorbonne Paris; Queens University Belfast - B.A; Dundee University - Creative Writing cou...
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