- 14 hours ago
Examiner reporters Joe Colbrook and Ben Hann try out the recipe for Scotch eggs, as included in the Tasmanian Men's Shed Association's new cookbook 'Stir the Pot'. Video by Joe Colbrook
Intro music: "Samba Stings"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Intro music: "Samba Stings"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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00:00Now when you think of your local men's shed you're probably thinking of a place where old men can
00:08gather and produce and crafted items like all of this woodwork over here. But what if I told you
00:14members of Tasmania's 73 men's sheds are taking it to the kitchen with the launch of a new recipe
00:20book aimed at bringing awareness to prostate cancer. I'll tell you what Joe, the only problem
00:25for me is picking which one to cook. Should we try the scotch eggs or the jocks and frocks?
00:29Sounds good Ben. Well Joe we're in the kitchen for you know jocks and frocks, scotch eggs,
00:34take us through what we've got here. Well I don't know if you know much about the scotch egg Ben but
00:39it is basically a boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat then fried. So obviously in front of us we've got
00:45the requisite sausage and eggs available in all good grocery stores and supermarkets. We've got some
00:53flour and breadcrumbs which are for the frying part and we've also got some seasonings as
00:58recommended by the recipe book. We're looking at some oxo cubes, some mustard powder, paprika,
01:04cayenne pepper and just a bit of salt and pepper you know. Can't do without those really. Absolutely
01:10and we've got some water boiling in the background as well. Joe, we're going to be following Pete
01:15Jones from Exeter, his recipe from this wonderful cookbook, Stir the Pot made by The Men's Shed.
01:23What do I suppose are you looking forward to most in terms of what you might see out of this recipe?
01:30Oh I don't know, it's a good picnic food. The weather's lovely today. I think
01:34we might be enjoying these out in the sun in a little bit. Oh awesome, well let's get cracking.
01:39All right, now you can get the sausage meat already mushed up but Ben we're following the recipe to
01:51the letter and that calls for us to skin the sausages. So I hope you've washed your hands
01:54because we're about to get them a little bit dirty. Absolutely I have, looking forward to it.
01:59So just, I mean, taking a paring knife, slitting the skin and then just. Simple as that.
02:14Don't be shy Ben, jump on in. Yep, will do.
02:18So you've never had a scotch egg Ben, do you know much about the history of them?
02:22No, I don't. It sounds like there's, with the jocks and frocks reference,
02:26it might be a bit of a Scottish heritage there. What are we talking about?
02:30I mean, the origin of the scotch egg is almost as mysterious as the meat that went into these
02:38sausage casings. As with most of these sorts of British, almost not quite folk foods, but
02:45yeah, let's call it folk food for want of a better word.
02:47Yeah, there's a bit of debate as to who invented it and when. Some people put it in the 1700s,
02:55other people put it in the 1800s. There's some debate as to whether they're from Scotland
03:01or named for a certain Mr. Scott, who invented them.
03:05Oh, right. Yeah, right. And I know Joe, you're, you know, you do love your cooking,
03:11love your spending your time in your kitchen. I suppose what about sort of being able to prepare,
03:15make food and stuff like that is that you've enjoyed the most?
03:19I don't know. It's just, I won't say it's calming because if you've seen me in the kitchen,
03:25you'll know that I just flit around like a ball of anxious energy, but it's,
03:30it's just nice to create something. Maybe you try something different, you know, it's,
03:35it's also just nice to cook for people in the end.
03:38I've noticed in this book, there's plenty of very yummy dishes that simple things like sausage rolls
03:44and, you know, we've got some little wraps and tacos, but we've also got some, you know,
03:48prawn laxes and barbecue quail. There's a little bit of something for everyone I've,
03:52I've noticed, which is a really good, I suppose, quality to have in a cookbook.
03:57This cookbook, it was made by the Men's Shed, which is interesting really, because you don't,
04:06don't really expect culinary denials from, from that organisation. It's more woodwork and handcraft.
04:13That's it. You know, as you say, Men's Shed is probably more synonymous with what they craft with,
04:19you know, with wood and pine and stuff like that. But I think what this proves is that Men's Shed isn't
04:24really about what they make and what they produce. It's actually about the conversations, the time
04:30spent together doing it along the way. We've spoken to a number of people involved at the Men's Shed
04:36in Exeter and in Olveston, Riverside, and they all talk about how it's a great, a great safe space
04:44for them to all, you know, just open up. Absolutely. Talk about how their days are going, talk about
04:51sort of, you know, what's going on in their life and really connect with the community when, you know,
04:57a lot of these people are retired or, you know, have a lot of their time on their hands and they,
05:02they don't have that sort of automatic community that maybe you might have if you're part of a
05:06workforce. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, what better way to do that than over a plate of food? Like a
05:12communal meal is just this. One of the things, I'm a big proponent of the idea that food is made to be
05:19shared. It doesn't matter what it is, you know, just sit down, have something to eat,
05:24have a chat, you know, you don't need to start with an agenda or a conversation in mind. You
05:28just see where things go. That's it. It's such a uniting, um, part of everyone eats, you know,
05:33everyone, everyone sits down at a table. It's, it's, it's a great way to, um, set a conversation
05:39effectively. And I think that's what, what, why Men's Shed is such a great, uh, I suppose, uh,
05:44uh, uh, a source for, for, for a cookbook to come from because they know all about that, uh,
05:50importance of conversations of, of coming together and, and not feeling isolated or anything like
05:56that. Do you know how to open an oxo cube, Ben? There's a, you need to, you want to kind of crush
06:02it first. Oops. For those who can't see that has just exploded all over me in spectacular fashion,
06:08but hey, that's, uh, that's cooking. Yeah. Crush it first and then, um, unwrap it.
06:15Oh, there you go. Well,
06:21Beginner's luck, I managed to not spill too much on me. Yeah. Well, uh, what's the opposite of
06:26beginner's luck? Um, seasoned professionals misfortune.
06:34Um, so what if, I suppose besides, you know, cooking and, and, and eating
06:38with friends, do you like doing to, you know, make sure you, um, have, have a community just
06:43to spend, you know, leisure time or, or good time? A lot of my, um, not socializing,
06:49but community does, I guess, revolve around food. You know, I like having, just having people over
06:54and cooking. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Well, you've got your cricket. Yeah. I was gonna say,
06:58we've also got the luxury of work where what we do is, um, very community based. We get to speak to a
07:03lot of, um, beautiful people in Launceston and the whole region. Um, we're very lucky in that sense.
07:08But yeah, as you mentioned now, uh, a cricket player. So that's, you know,
07:13something that I, as you would well know, spend a lot of time doing. And, um, you know,
07:18I think that's part of what, what makes sport great is that, you know, there's people from
07:24all walks of life come together on a, on a weeknight or on a weekend and, um, really engage
07:30in something like cooking, like woodworking that, uh, unites us all. And it's a sort of a common goal.
07:36Um, that's what, what makes team sport such a, such a great thing. Now we're not going to fill
07:41the empty space with just idle chatter while we wait for the eggs to boil, but I will ask Ben,
07:45how do you like your yolks? Are you a running man or a, uh, solid? I think running is probably the,
07:51my preferred method between the two. I will probably, uh, eat eggs in most ways, to be honest. I think,
07:55uh, no matter how it's cooked, I'm usually pretty happy with them, but running is probably my preferred.
08:00How about you? Definitely runny. We'll see if we can, uh, swing it.
08:09Six minutes later, the eggs are done. Um, these have ended up being a little bit poached because I,
08:16I balls it up a little bit, popping them in, but that's fine.
08:18Nothing's perfect. Yeah. Well, except you.
08:22Anyway, dunk those in the ice bath, if you don't mind, Ben, that'll help, uh, peel them
08:26according to the wisdom on the internet. So just let them shock and cool for a little bit
08:33before we start to peel them. Now, do you know much about why the, uh, men's shed have devised this
08:41cookbook, Ben? Uh, no, but I'm happy for you to tell me. Well, it's to, to raise awareness of
08:47prostate cancer is the main, is the main sort of, uh, motivating factor there. Um, obviously it's the,
08:55well, I think it is the most common form of cancer that impacts men, uh, something like 30
09:00odd thousand Australian men this year will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. And it's, uh,
09:08yeah, it's a fact of life really. Yeah, absolutely. It's a, it's a terrible thing. It's a, um, sort of
09:14numbers like those encourage, you know, to help, help you encourage everyone else, you know, around them
09:19to, you know, make sure you get yourself checked and make sure you, you look after yourself because it's
09:23obviously, uh, something that no one, um, you know, wants to go through or wants anyone else
09:28that they love to, to, to go through, I suppose. Um, you know, have you, have you had any experience,
09:34um, family or otherwise? Yeah, no, there is a family history there by all accounts and that's, um,
09:43well, it's one of those things. Genetic factors are a main, main predictor of it. Are you, uh, are you aware
09:48of any family history on your part? Uh, no, not necessarily. I think we're, we're quite lucky
09:52on our part, but that is not to say that, uh, you know, someone like me should, should be, uh,
09:56making sure that they're getting checked or anyone in my family shouldn't be either. And it's, um,
10:01you know, uh, another, uh, precious reminder of, of why, uh, you know, things like med sheds are really
10:06important because when things like this unfortunately do happen and they do happen as you, as you mentioned,
10:11um, you have that community and you have that support around you. Um, obviously cookbooks like these,
10:17um, helping them, um, by buying these cookbooks, make sure that these, um, brilliant community
10:23led events can, can make sure that there are support networks around people who might be going through
10:28this. Absolutely. All right. So now it will be time for myself to get my hands dirty. That looks
10:33perfectly whipped. Thank you, Ben. No worries.
10:39Have you done much fried food at all? Like, you know, or bread crumbed or anything like that?
10:43Uh, yeah, bits and pieces. I've, uh, when I used to live, uh, in university dorms,
10:49I used to do a bit of stuff like that and eat as a whole group. Um, just cause it was much easier
10:56as, as university students to only prepare a few meals rather than everyone individually.
10:59Yes. Yes. We've all, we've all been there.
11:02Yeah. First, first time living out of home, I think you try and keep it simple rather than go too complicated.
11:07But, um, yeah, I mean, bread crumbing is always a fantastic way, I feel like to make, to improve
11:13a dish and, um, you can use, you know, obviously with chicken and fish and all sorts of things.
11:17So. Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So what I'm doing here is I've just got some cling wrap down on the bench
11:23and flattening out the, uh, sausage meat because that makes it easier to coat the eggs by all accounts.
11:31So. I guess we'll see. Yes. And if it's not easier to coat the egg,
11:37I'm going to take the wrap for that because, uh, I think Pete from Exeter knows what he's doing.
11:45That's it. That's it.
11:49We're getting there. Yeah, no, I think you're doing a good job here, Joe.
11:52I, I, as I said, I'm perfectly happy to take the wrap for, uh,
11:56uh, any difficulty in this because, well, one of my hands is sticky. The other hand is, uh, oops,
12:05holding the cling wrap. Well, there we go. That is the sausage on the egg.
12:11Now it's time for dredging. So just into the flour.
12:17Make sure it's nicely coated. Yeah.
12:19And hopefully it doesn't fall off the, the sausage meat doesn't fall off the egg.
12:27Give it a nice little dunk in the egg.
12:32So this is the wet part of the dredging. Yes.
12:36What gave it away?
12:39And then once more into the panko crumbs.
12:43And yourself, what's your own experience with scotch eggs? Do you, do you, have you made a few yourself before?
12:49Or just, just the once, um, there was a girl. I invited her on a picnic. I made sausage rolls and
12:57scotch eggs, believe it or not. Wow. Wow. How, how lucky. Oh, it's what every, every young,
13:04young woman dreams of, I think. Absolutely.
13:07So that's our six scotch eggs, coated and bread crumbed. And now guess what, Ben?
13:15You have to tell us, Joe. It's time for the fryer.
13:18Now we're using stainless steel cookware. It's, uh, already been preheating. So now it's just a matter of
13:26getting these things in the, getting the oil in the pan and then getting these things in the oil.
13:32They are all coming together here, Joe. That is a little bit smoky.
13:36Now I'm not really an expert in frying things. I mean, I did, did do a few shifts, you know,
13:42grilled back in the day, but, uh, that's all temper controlled and that sort of thing.
13:47Pan frying is a completely different kettle of fish or pan of eggs.
13:51Yeah, pan of scotch eggs. Uh, no, that's right. And I think that's the beauty of what we're doing here
13:56today. I don't think many people who are, you know, using this cookbook are going to be,
14:00um, you know, the, the biggest experts in the kitchen necessarily, but I think that's,
14:04um, why it's so, uh, handy is that I think probably has a little bit built into it. Um,
14:10the fact that everyone who's making these things, uh, you know, maybe trying things out.
14:14Yeah, absolutely.
14:15There we have it. Scotch eggs.
14:20Only a matter of minutes. And certainly by the time you've watched this,
14:23it would have only been a few minutes.
14:24Yes. Um, magic of editing and all that.
14:27Should we give this one a try?
14:29Absolutely. I cannot wait.
14:31Rightio. Cheers.
14:32To your health.
14:34Absolutely. Look after yourself, Joe.
14:35And you too.
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