The Empire Strikes Back
Colonial shepherd’s pie goes global By Rob Mifsud
Image credit: Felix Wedgwood
No one likes to cook for a chef, especially one with a reputation as illustrious as that of Greg Couillard, the wildly inventive executive chef of the Spice Room. But pastry chef David Kozicky was eager to show his boss that he can make more than a stellar rosebud crème brûlée or orange blossom japonnaise and bravely extended an invitation. Kozicky, who first learned to cook from his Sri Lankan mother, needn’t have worried. Couillard loved his colonial shepherd’s pie—updated with flavours from the subcontinent—so much, he added it to the menu at Manyata, the Spice Room’s sister restaurant. The two refined the dish, reinventing the English staple with an ingredient list from across the former British Empire: whole roasted cumin seeds and madras curry from India, Canadian potatoes and Jamaican calabaza squash. Couillard regularly searches the world for inspiration. This time around, he went no further than his friend’s dining room table. $12. Manyata, 55 Avenue Rd., 416-935-0000.
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