Book review Curried goat pie


The Pack Horse


By Luke Payne £35, Meze Publishing


The Pack Horse, a handsome brick building on the edge of the Peak District, is an archetypal village pub serving roast sirloin on a Sunday. But chef and owner Luke Payne also brings a more adventurous sensibility to his modern, seasonal and sustainable gastropub menus and to the recipes in his debut cookbook, with dishes influenced by North Africa, the Mid- dle East and India, including the pub’s popu- lar ‘Chicken Ruby’ based on a Dishoom recipe. Payne’s eclectic style is perhaps due to his unusual path to success. In an autobiographical introduction he describes working as a pot- wash in a chain pub near Huddersfield that served awful food, and becoming head chef of a ‘ping and sling’ pub in Sheffield. Disillusioned, Payne nearly ended up managing a supermarket before he stumbled on the Pack Horse in 2016. Since then, and with no experience in high-


end restaurants, Payne has found his culi- nary identity and achieved recognition from Michelin, The Good Food Guide and Harden’s, achieved 18th place in the Top 50 Gastropub list and won rave reviews from The Sunday Times and Financial Times. Some of the dishes high- lighted in those reviews appear in the book, including asparagus with poached egg served with a Café de Paris emulsion, and a vegan rec- ipe for harissa roast carrots, pickled carrots, split pea purée, carrot top dressing and dukka. As Payne comments in the book’s ‘Meet the suppliers’ feature, “the rolling hills of the Peak District supply some of the finest outdoor graz- ing space in the country for cattle and sheep”, of which he makes good use in signature reci- pes such as rack of lamb, pressed lamb shoul- der potato and pickled morels. But the book is as much a celebration of the Peak District’s landscape as the produce Payne sources from it, with stunning landscape photography and five illustrated walks to take from the pub. With a highly individual approach incorpo-


rating everything from classic chicken liver pâté to squirrel ragu pappardelle, Payne has produced a cookbook that takes a fresh and inspiring look at what gastropub food can be. By Andy Lynes


36 | The Caterer | 26 January 2024


This was one of our Covid-19 comeback dishes, as well as part of our Pack Horse At Home boxes, which we provided during lockdown. I have James Whet- lor to thank for this, for introduc- ing me to a sustainable meat that we should all be eating more of, and for pointing me in the right direction when it comes to cook- ing it well! James left River Cot- tage to set up Cabrito Goat Meat, an ethical meat company which puts billy goats born into the dairy industry back into the food chain. His work has transformed the industry and our consumption of goat meat, and it’s a pleasure to play a small part in that.


Serves 6


500g pie pastry (I recommend hot water pastry) 2 egg yolks, beaten


For the marinated goat 1.2kg diced kid goat 250ml plain yogurt 3 cardamom pods 2 cloves 2 star anise 1 cinnamon stick 1tbs cumin seeds 1tbs coriander seeds 1tbs paprika 2tsp sea salt 1tsp curry powder 1tsp cayenne pepper


For the curry sauce 2 red onions, roughly chopped 2tsp garlic paste 1tsp ginger paste Stalks from 15g fresh coriander 50g unsalted butter 1tsp curry powder tsp garam masala 2tbs tomato paste 400g tinned plum tomatoes Rapeseed oil


For the marinated goat Lightly toast the cardamom, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, cumin, and coriander in a frying pan until aromatic, then leave to cool. Mix the diced goat with the yogurt, toasted whole spices,


PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAN BURNS


paprika, salt, curry powder and cayenne pepper. Leave to mari- nate for at least two hours, but preferably overnight.


For the curry sauce Heat some oil in a pan and then add the onion, garlic paste, ginger paste and coriander stalks. Cook slowly until soft, then add the butter, curry powder and garam masala. Cook for a further 10 minutes before blitzing to a rough paste and turn- ing the heat right down. Preheat your oven to 240°C.


www.thecaterer.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48