Got (Leftover) Beef? How About Making Hachis Parmentier

Mom, what’s for dinner, I’m starving!  How many times have we heard this?  Here is a wonderful comfort food recipe for all seasons.  The French call it Hachis Parmentier.  In English-speaking countries, it is known as Shepherd’s Pie.  When our French Canadian friends invited us over for a simple dinner of Pâté Chinois, I was expecting some sort of Chinese dough dish (based on a literal translation of the words).  I was surprised that it turned out to be my beloved Hachis Parmentier, albeit with a layer of sweet corn added.  I still can’t figure out why it is called Pâté Chinois, though, in Quebec.

Back to the French name: Hachis Parmentier.  “Hachis” refers to anything finely chopped.  The “Parmentier” part is in reference to Antoine-Augustin Parmentier.  Mr. Parmentier was a French pharmacist and agronomist.  You see, he was a prisoner of war in Prussia during the Seven Years’ War (1756-1763).   And as a prisoner, he was given only potatoes to eat.  This was considered cruel punishment at the time since the Europeans only considered potatoes as hog feed.  

If you have read my post about the Columbian Exchange, you might remember that the potato was native to the Americas.  The Spaniards introduced the potato to Europe at the beginning of the 16th century.  However, only Spain and Ireland cultivated it for human consumption.  In the rest of Europe, it was utilized only as hog feed.  

Growing up in Germany, a dinner without potatoes could never be considered a dinner according to my father.  The main meal must have potatoes!  Heaven forbid there were no potatoes!  This brings to mind a 1940’s Fats Waller song performed by Louis Armstong and Velma Middleton titled All That Meat and No Potatoes.  My Dad loved that song!  When you come from a different culture and background, to “foreigners” the words were just pretty funny describing meals with and without potatoes.  When you take them literally, the words sound innocent enough. However, in the 1940s the title was a slur describing a plus-sized woman that was not too endowed on top.  Who knew?!  I only discovered this fact many years later.  Scandalous!  I still think, the words, not the double meaning, are pretty funny.  What do you think?

Hey Pops! What’s wrong Daddy?

You look like somethin’ botherin’ you

Ain’t nothin’ botherin’ me, honey

That a piece of roast beef can’t fix up

A man works hard then comes on home

Expects to find stew with that fine ham bone

He opens the door, then start to lookin’

Say, Woman, what’s this stuff you cookin’?

Now all that meat and no potatoes

I just ain’t right, dey like da green tomatoes

Here I’m waitin’

Palpitatin’

With all that meat and no potatoes

All that meat and no potatoes

All that food to the alligators

Now hold me steady

I’m really ready

Now all that meat and no potatoes

I don’t think that peas are bad

With meat, most anything goes

Yes, I look into the pot

I’m fit to fight

‘Cause, woman, you know that mess just ain’t right

Oh, Pops!

All that meat and no potatoes

Just ain’t right, like green tomatoes

Woman, I’m steamin’, yeah!

I’m really screamin’

All that meat and no potatoes

Say, I don’t think that beans are bad

With meat, most anything goes

I look into the pot

And what a sight!

Oh, woman, you know that without rice

Beans just ain’t right

Oh, Pops!

All that meat and no potatoes

Just ain’t right, like green tomatoes

Now, woman, I’m steamin’

And I’m really screamin’

All that meat and no potatoes

Dad just had to have potatoes with his dinner!  The only time my Mom would prepare and serve rice or pasta dishes was when Dad was traveling out of town.  Another thing that strikes me as ironic about potatoes being considered hog feed, relates to my earlier post about corn.  When we had one of our first meals in the United States and were served corn, my father was horrified.  At that time back in Germany, corn was considered as only being hog and animal feed.  So, reading that potatoes were initially considered hog food, just makes me laugh on a totally different level! 

Let’s go back to Mr. Parmentier: once he returned to Paris after the Seven Years’ War, he continued his nutritional chemistry studies.  In 1772, the Paris Faculty of Medicine declared potatoes edible and fit for human consumption based on his studies.

In addition, Mr. Parmentier studied methods of conserving food, including refrigeration.  He pioneered the extraction of sugar from sugar beets; and founded a school of bread making.  Starting in 1805 he was Inspector-General of the Health Service under Napoleon and is credited with establishing the first mandatory smallpox vaccination campaign in France.

Antoine-Augustin Parmentier is interred in the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, where his burial plot is ringed by potato plants.  Père Lachaise Cemetery is the resting place for many other famous individuals like Jim Morrison (of the Doors), Georges Bizet (composer and conductor), Oscar Wilde (novelist), Marcel Proust (novelist), Honoré de Balzac (novelist), Isadora Duncan (dancer), Maria Callas (opera singer), Frédéric Chopin (composer), Jean de La Fontaine (poet), Marcel Marceau (mime), Gioachino Rossini (composer) and Édith Piaf (singer), just to name a few.  For a list of many other famous inhabitants, click here.

Finally, as promised, here is the recipe for Hachis Parmentier

Ingredients

• 700 g ground beef (if you have any leftover beef, finely mince it and use that instead; or use half ground beef, and half leftover beef)
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
• 1 small can mushrooms, drained, pieces and stems diced (or ½ c diced fresh mushrooms)
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 t Herbes de Provence (a mixture of thyme, marjoram, rosemary, oregano, savory, and lavender)
• 1/2 c dry white wine
• salt, pepper
• 800 g (2 lbs) potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1/4 c (125ml) milk or cream
• 50 g butter
• Grated nutmeg to taste
• grated cheese (Parmesan, Compte, Gruyere, etc.)

 

Preparation

• Finely chop the onion and garlic.
• Saute in the olive oil until translucent. 
• Add mushrooms and crumble in the hamburger meat (and/or leftover minced beef).
• Stir over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes until the meat is browned all over.
• Add Herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper. 
• Add the wine. 
• Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, until the wine is reduced a bit (but the mixture is still moist).
• Meanwhile, in another pot, add the peeled and diced potatoes
• Cover the potatoes with water and bring to boil
• Turn down the heat, and cook until the potatoes are tender
• Drain the water.
• Add the milk, and mash the potatoes.
• Add the butter, salt, and pepper, continue stirring, and mashing to incorporate the ingredients.

 

Preheat oven to 200C (395F)

• Transfer the meat mixture into an oven-proof baking dish.  
• Spread it evenly across the bottom of the dish.  
• Next, spread the mashed potato mixture on top of the meat.  
• Sprinkle with the grated cheese.
• Bake 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

 

Serve with a salad.

Bon Appetit

 

PS.  For the French Canadian version of Pâté Chinois, the bottom layer will be the meat layer, the second layer consists of cooked, creamed corn, followed by the mashed potatoes and finally topped with the grated cheese.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I invite you to subscribe to my blog by completing the "CONTACT US" form and entering "subscribe" in the message body. Feel free to refer your family, friends, and associates to my blog.  You may leave me your comments in the comment section.  However, any comments that contain links to other websites or are abusive will not be posted.

Thank you.