As I am working as a full-time personal chef for a significant diplomat here in Jerusalem, my food column is pretty much limited to what I cook and create for his personal and entertainment needs. I have little spare time and energy to spend on cooking additional dishes aside from the dishes I cook for work. Those of you who have been following this column can see the changes in the ‘menu’ as one employer is replaced by another with different demands and tastes and needs.
This week’s offering is a traditional Middle-Eastern delicacy hailing from Alexandria in Egypt. “Egyptian” meat-filled phyllo packages are both quick and super simple to combine and add a bit of class to that overflowing ‘porno’ meat platter being passed around at the Mediterranean table. The platter filled with kebabs, shish-kebab skewers and shawarma needs a more sophisticated addition to which the Egyptian phyllo is perfectly suited.
I am not sure what exactly is Egyptian about this dish as the ground beef or lamb with pine nuts is pretty routine throughout the region, and as I have indicated in a previous post, phyllo has very strong Greek origins. In fact, Egypt was the centre of the Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom which ruled most of the Eastern Mediterranean for around 300 years, coming to its end with the death of Cleopatra, whom we all know, around 30 BC. Ptolemy the first was one of Alexander the Great’s generals who veered off after conquering half the known world and decided to set up on his own.
Egyptian Phyllo Packages
Ingredients
- Frozen package of phyllo thawed in fridge overnight
- Beef or lamb mince or 50/50 mix, 500 gram
- One medium onion peeled and diced fine
- 2 cloves of garlic crushed
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
- 200 ml of chicken or beef stock
- One stick of celery diced fine
- Pinch of chilli flakes (mind you don’t touch your eyes with your fingers)
- 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 1 bunch of parsley washed and chopped well
- Zest of one lemon or preferably a quarter of a pickled lemon chopped fine
- Handful of pine nuts lightly toasted
- Shluck of olive oil for cooking (Knob of margarine or butter if you’re not that way inclined)
- Handful of flour for thickening
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Oil for brushing the phyllo leaves
Method
Heat a large frypan, add a shluck of olive oil; when hot add onion and reduce to medium heat, add the celery and chilli flakes, add two tablespoons of tomato paste, add the parsley, toss and mix for a minute then add the mince. Use a spoon break the mince up then add cinnamon, cumin, pickled lemon or zest, salt and pepper; add the stock and on a low heat simmer ensuring the mince is cooked through.
When almost cooked through, add the margarine/butter, garlic and pine nuts, ensure it is well mixed, then add the flour by sprinkling lightly over the top as you mix. When flour is well mixed in and has visibly disappeared the mixture should be thicker. Set aside to cool.
Take a baking tray; using a brush, oil the surface, place a sheet of phyllo on the oiled surface, oil the surface of the phyllo sheet, place a second sheet on top of this and oil its surface.
Now there are multiple ways of wrapping phyllo around the contents. You can use three or four sheets on the bottom, pour in the contents and three or four on the top and put into the oven, then cut into serving portions. I try to be a bit more interesting and make phyllo parcels.
Back to manufacturing dinner. Using a sharp knife or pizza wheel cut the phyllo into two halves, place a large spoon of the cooled mince into the middle, lift the sides up and twist the top. Place on a baking sheet-covered oven tray. Repeat this until you have enough phyllo parcels to feed your table.
Put into a preheated oven at 170°C for about 17-20 minutes or until it goes golden brown. Great with rice as a side and an Israeli/Arab salad.
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