Two cultures, one meal... it's fusion to make the angels sing!

I love jamming two cultures together, combining flavors and textures of meals that I love, that I know for sure my husband will love, AND that I can easily turn into a vegetarian meal without compromising anything. Shepherd's pie - or parmentier - is such a dish. The city I was born - Ghent in Belgium - was historically a very important port in northern Europe, one where exotic spices were part of the trade. Add in the refined abbey brews and a need for cheaper cuts of meat among the working class and it should be no surprise these ingredients found their way into a stew that has kept its reputation as a delicacy throughout the centuries. Since the first published recordings in the 1800's, the recipe has not changed indeed, it probably hasn't since centuries before that.

The secret to a delicious Flemish beef stew is the complex spice mix, a dark beer that is little hopped, slightly acidic and spiced, and a good quality mustard. I have found these flavours work beautifully in an English shepherd's pie with mince meat, or in a shepherd's pie where the meat is replaced by a mixture of veg (I use green beans, carrots, courgette (zucchini), mushrooms, and endive in my vegetarian version) - and I really hope you will give this a try.

Serves 4 to 6

• Mashed potatoes for 4 to 6 people (I mash my potatoes with butter, milk, egg yolk, salt, pepper, a little of nutmeg until smooth and buttery)
• 1 to 1.5 kg Brussels sprouts boiled in salted water until fork tender
  • OR the traditional peas and carrots
  • OR any veggies you prefer
• 1 bottle of Leffe brun or Westmalle dark beer
• About the same amount of  water as the beer bottle
• 1 large onion, chopped
• Carbonade à la Flamande spices (Belgian recipe e.g. from Ducros)
  • 20gr per 500gr of meat = about 5 even teaspoons
• 1 tablespoon of potent mustard (like Amaro brand or Maille Dijon)
  • in a pinch you can also use a teaspoon of red wine vinegar
• 1 sprig of dried thyme
• 500 grams of minced meat (I used 30% veal with 70% pork which I prefer; but you can use minced chicken or turkey, or beef, lamb, or pork)
• flour
• salt and pepper
• butter

How to make your own carbonade spices:

• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed powder (or ginger powder)
• 1 teaspoon of all-spice (= 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ground cloves, 1/4 ground nutmeg) 
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/8 teaspoon bayleaf powder

• Prepare mashed potatoes as you would normally (keep warm)
• Prepare veg to fork tender (keep warm)
• Melt butter in a skillet (hot)
• Sauté chopped onions to caramelized
• Add minced meat and beef stew (carbonade) spices, salt and pepper to taste, and brown together.
  • Break up the meat with a wooden spoon
• When meat is browned, add a couple of tablespoons of flour
  • incorporate well
  • sauté for a minute or two more
• Use half beer/ half water to top the meat or a little more
  • of course you can also use all beer but the taste will be more intense
  • if you don't want to use beer, use beef broth
• Pour the same amount of water into the skillet as the beer
• Simmer until the sauce thickens (5 minutes or so)
• Taste for salt and pepper

Assemble

• Preheat oven to 180c
• Pour the meat and sauce mixture in the bottom of an oven dish
• Arrange veggies on top of the meat
• Spread the mashed potatoes as a top layer
• Using the tines of a fork, make grooves in the mashed potatoes
• Top with a few cubes of butter
• Bake the shepherd's pie for about 25 minutes at 160c until bubbly and the potatoes are golden

Enjoy!
Bren