Bahtatboy

Bonjour!

If anyone could provide some assistance regarding a recipe I'm about to embark on, it would be much appreciated.

I want to make a pie, the recipe for which calls for "vegetable fat": I may be being dumb (it's happened before), but I'm not sure exactly what is meant by that, and even less so what it's going to be called in a French supermarket (Carrefour, here in Morocco).

Any ideas?

(Even if my French was up to explaining it to the staff -- which it isn't -- I'm not sure they'd understand.)

Merci d'avance pour votre aide!

https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/samosa_pie_39171

spouse of scouse

It looks like a paper/foil wrapped block of butter, but it's made from non-animal products. In France, I believe the main one sold is called “Végétaline”, it's made from coconut oil. Lard used to used widely in the UK and Europe, but as it's an animal product it's fallen out of favour (although still available).

Bahtatboy

Thanks. So butter would do?

(I never learnt how to make pastry, just in case that fact had escaped anyone's keen attention )

grannybunz

In the UK it would mean something like White Flora or Trex which is unavailable here.

I make a lot of pastry and use my Grandmother's recipe - half anf half lard (saindoux) and butter. Plain flour (not farine pour gateaux), doublt the weight of flour to fat. The vegetable fat alternative in France do not, in my opinion make decent pastry.so all butter would be better.
What sort of pie are you planning? and where does the recipe come from?

dmu

I presume samosa is English for samoussa, which is presented quite differently in France.
For the English recipe, I understand margarine as "vegetable fat" for the pastry. "Végétaline" is usually used for deep-frying chips, for example.
I'd use butter for the pastry, confirming GrannyB's advice to be sure not to use self-raising flour (farine pour gateaux).
Good luck!

Bahtatboy

Thanks all!

Grannybunz: recipe's in the BBC link in the initial post.

grannybunz

Sorry Bahtboy. I have problems with colour perception and tend not to see something printed in colour.

I always make hot water crust with lard - family tradition from coming from a family of pork butchers. I can't really see butter working unless it is clarrified.

BuckinghamshireBoy

Does your Carrefour carry pre-rolled pastry? I always cheat and use supermarket short-crust. I looked at the recipe wondering why it might be called Samosa pie, but as soon as I saw the ingredients for the filling I understood. Looks yummy!

If you can find pre-rolled, then you would need pate brisée (short crust) and not pate feuilletée (puff pastry).

If you insist on DIY then for the vegetable fat, look in Carrefour for Beurre a rôtir as a substitute.

Report back, please?

For some bizarre reason this reply editor will not let me put a circumflex accent on the 'a' of pate, whereas it will on the 'o' of rôtir.

Outrageous, I'll be flagging this as a major issue.

Bahtatboy

Regrettably not :-(

caretaker

In Canada vegetable shortening is usually right next to lard on the store shelf.
http://services.completefrance.com/f...PrintPost.aspx
"Re: Shortening - French equivalentwoolybanana 18/02/2009, 16:01
I thought the French used Guillotine for shortening"

BuckinghamshireBoy

Bummer.

In that case, if you can't find beurre a rôtir either, I'd try it with margarine.

grannybunz

You have actually chosen to make what is probably the trickiest pastry to get right. If you insist then it just has to be lard. otherwise use a roll of Pate brise or just make a shortcrust pastry according to the recipe I gave. Lard (saindoux) is usually somewhere apart from the other fats in the supermarket.
In our Le clerc it is usually in a chiller cabinet mear the deli.

Whatever you do don't try margerine. Is there a reason you don't want to use lard?

Bahtatboy

I have no objection to lard!

grannybunz

Please let us know how it goes! Good luck.

BuckinghamshireBoy

Hey Bahtatboy did you get anywhere on the pastry conundrum? I'm part way through this recipe, currently at the end of step 5, the cooling process. Couple of tweaks, I steamed the potatoes separately before adding them, same with the peas. Tasted it just before adding the cornflour, didn't seem quite 'up to the mark', so I added 2 tsp Garam Masala, seems to have brought it back to where I was thinking it should be.

Tomorrow I will bake it, but using shop bought brisée pastry; as grannybunz says "You have actually chosen to make what is probably the trickiest pastry to get right." and I don't have a very good track record on the pastry front.

Late edit: Watch the chilli flakes, depending on how hot you like it. Just tasted again, it's ok for me, but I don't think that OH will go for it...