A row over the correct way to make shepherd’s pie ended up in court after a disagreement between two brothers turned violent.
After a day spent drinking, Michael Garvin cooked his brother John the traditional English dish for dinner, expecting a grateful response.
John, however, voiced his disquiet that the pie was not topped with a layer of sliced tomatoes.
His brother, a chef, claimed a layer of tomatoes was not the appropriate way to finish off a shepherd’s pie, and responded by hitting him over the head with a shovel.
As the argument got out of control, John threatened to petrol bomb his brother’s flat and was arrested.
He spent a night in the cells in Blackburn, Lancs, where the pair lived in flats opposite each other. He admitted a breach of the peace, and was bound over to keep the peace for 12 months in the sum of £200.
Catherine Allen, prosecuting, said the brothers had been drinking before Michael embarked on culinary duties.
She said: “The argument started because there were no tomatoes on the top of the shepherd’s pie that Michael had made for their tea and John thought this was wrong.”
John swore at his brother and then said he was going to petrol bomb Michael’s flat, the prosecutor said.
This had frightened his brother, as John had previously set fire to his own flat, the court heard.
Liz Parker, defending, said : “My client does not accept the remark about petrol bombing.
“What he does say is that Michael hit him over the head with a shovel and there was a lot of trouble over very little.”
District Judge Peter Ward told the defendant that, in his view, there was no need for a layer of tomatoes on a shepherd’s pie.
Delia Smith’s shepherd’s pie recipe makes no mention of tomatoes.
