Lets get this out of the way first, in the UK:-
SHEPHERDS pie uses LAMB minced or diced because Shepherds have access to plenty of Lamb or mutton? Possibly!
COTTAGE Pie uses BEEF minced or diced because Cottage dwellers have access to plenty of Beef !? Shepherds also live in cottages so that might not follow 🙂
Because I’m a sad person, I’ve spent many an hour trying to find out why a “cottage Pie” is called “cottage pie” and haven’t come up with anything conclusive 🙁 Both Shepherds and Cottage Pie seem to have their roots / origins in the North of England but is also found in Ireland and Scotland and the main theme seems to be the provision of a low cost and tasty meal, using left over “meat”.
Originally, it appears that the “pie” was (created) to make a tasty meal using left over meat; which would be minced up / diced. Left over vegetables with herbs and garlic etc would have been added but mashed potato (a.k.a. Spuds) would be used instead of a pastry crust and quite often this would be the bulk of the “pie” because spuds are cheap!
It isn’t clear why the use of beef means it has to be called “Cottage Pie”. You can’t really mince up a cottage and the thatch would get stuck in your teeth 🙂 I’m quite sure you could use whatever meat you have to hand, including Wild Boar, Venison or even Pork or maybe even Turkey or Kangaroo; The naming of the pie would be interesting, maybe “Sty Pie” or maybe “Herders Pie” or maybe “Gobbler Pie” or “Skippy Pie” or why not “cottage pie” 🙂
What about “Fish Pie”, that also has mashed potato as a “lid”. Would that be better known as a “Fishermans / Anglers pie”!
I like to think that the mash spuds are used to represent (or maybe it reminded someone of) a “thatched roof” but this guy takes it a giant step further with his genius Tiled Roof, I’m going to have to come up with a way to have a pitched “thatched” roof using mash 🙂
Over the years (in the UK) “Shepherds pie” became the name where Lamb and quite probably mutton was used. It seems Shepherds had a diet consisting of a lot of lamb / mutton so that’s easy enough to fathom. The “Pie” would be off cuts or left over bits of lamb or mutton and would be left (slow) cooking while they went about their business. Mashed potato would be added to “top off” the Lamb and veg to give a tasty and low cost meal.
Cottage pie seems to be the use of any other meat (left overs) along with vegetables and again topped with mashed potato.
To add to the confusion, “Pie(s)” are usually made with a “Pastry” top and sometimes along with bottom (casing). So the use of “Pie” (as in Shepherds or cottage, which use mashed potato instead of pastry) is a bit of a conundrum.
There are plenty of other similar “dishes” that use potato (as a topping) but the potato is sliced and not mashed e.g. Lancashire hot pot.
It is possible that “Pie” is used because after the “mashed potato” topping is added, it is usually put back in the oven to “brown off” (get a crust), which would resemble a pastry crust (sort of). I don’t think we will ever get a definitive answer as to why it called a pie, when we use mashed potato instead of pastry.
The very thought of say an “Apple pie” with mashed potato instead of pastry is a definite no no 🙂
An interesting article When is a Pie not a Pie is a good read as is A Shortcrust history of pies so a pie has pastry not mashed potato!
The Shepherds pie I made today went very quickly and had some lovely comments, I trawled the web to get a feel of the recipes that different people were using. Here’s mine :-
INGREDIENTS. (if doing a “Cottage Pie use whatever other meat)
Serves 3 or 4 people, depending on how much veg is used to bulk up!
- 2 or 3 sticks Celery.
- 1 or 2 Red Onion.
- 3 cloves of garlic or more, depending on your taste!
- Carrots, diced.
- Olive oil (or Rapeseed or whatever you prefer.)
- Dried Rosemary, use fresh if you want.
- Mint – optional but it does go with lamb quite well.
- Other herbs, instead of mint or also! (Italian herb mix works well, Oregano, thyme, basil, sage, rosemary)
- 500g LAMB Mince.
- 400g chopped tomatoes.
- Tablespoon Sweet corn (to suit)
- Tablespoon Peas (to suit)
- Chicken stock cube.
- Optional “Gravy” .
- 20g butter – or more!
- 20ml of milk – to suit.
- Grated Cheese.
- Mashed potatoes
You could use other “spices” such as cumin, coriander or “Ras el Hanout” to get a Turkish or Moroccan taste.
Serve with 1 or 2 of other veg e.g. :-
- Green Beans
- Broccoli
- sprouts
- Asparagus
- Kale
- etc
METHOD:-
Start with a basic slow fried base – Olive / rapeseed oil, Onions, Celery, diced Carrot, Garlic (Crushed or finely chopped). It’s amazing how much I use this basic “base”; which appears to be the standard base for a lot Tuscan / Italian recipes and they call it a “Soffritto”! The French call it Mirepoix, I’m not sure what we British call it!
When the “base” ingredients are nice and soft (10 / 15 mins), add the herbs (the herbs will likely be different, depending on what meat you are using) allow the herbs to combine with the “base” for a few minutes. If you want to “spice it up” add chilli powder or chopped chillis, this a “freestyle” dish!
In a separate frying pan, while the “base” is cooking, brown the meat! (Optional but it does add to the taste, see Maillard Reaction)
Combine the meat and “base” and add the chopped tomatoes, Sweet corn, peas and anything else you want to throw in, stock cube and a 3/4 pint of water. Bring back to boil and simmer for at least 90 mins to allow the meat to soften. Simmering for 3 or 4 hours should tenderise the toughest of beef mince
In a separate pan, add the potatoes to boiling water and simmer for 15 / 20 mins until soft. Then drain and mash with butter and a little milk.
When the meat / veg mix is done, put it in to an oven proof dish and then put the mashed potato on top of it. Sprinkle Olive / veg oil over and put the combined meat / veg / potato into the oven on gas 6 (optional sprinkle with cheese) and cook for maybe 25 / 30 mins until you get a brown crispy crust. Cook the other veg while the pie is in the oven.
Note. When you have put the mash on the meat, you can leave it for a while before putting in the oven. You can pop it in the fridge overnight and just pop it in the oven 30 mins or so before you want to eat it. If you’re in a hurry and want to leave out the oven bit, you can “scorch” the mash with a blowlamp 🙂
There is nothing complicated about a Shepherds / Cottage pie. Use whatever (minced/diced) meat you want, add whatever veg and herbs you want, and top it with mashed potato then use a fork to make the mash “rough” (like a ploughed field or maybe like a “thatched” roof ) Stick it in the oven until the mash has browned or until you can’t wait any longer 🙂
* Note
The meat and veg bit can be a “stiff” consistency so you might want to make some separate gravy to pour over the mash. If you use some of the meat / veg mix to add to the gravy; you won’t regret it! You could make the meat and veg bit “loose” so that you don’t need any extra gravy but my preference is to make extra “Mucky Gravy”.
Have fun and Enjoy! Call it what you like! If you are using Lamb, Shepherds pie is probably the best description. If you’re using any other meat or fish then cottage or fish pie is likely the best description.
The origins of the “pie” used left over “meat” along with (probably) left over veg and left over mashed spuds. As a ratio, the “meat” would have been maybe a third of the total and the “spuds” would have been about 2 thirds (think low cost and tasty). Combine, stick in the oven and eat when ready 🙂 The modern equivalent will probably use “bought” minced or diced “meat” and veg along with “fresh” mashed potato and it’s likely that the ratio of meat to spuds would be more like 50 / 50 or maybe the spuds would only be about a third.
There are no hard and fast rules for Shepherds / Cottage Pie. It is definitely “Free style“, Use whatever “Meat” (or fish) that you want and top it off with mashed spuds. The mash could be spuds with swede or even sweet potato or even a bit of celeriac.
Hopefully I given you some “food for thought” and have encouraged you to be adventurous. Cooking should be fun, recipes are just a guide line but imagination and creativity are the crux of cooking. “Shepherds / Cottage Pie” is definitely an “anything goes” thing.
If the most of the plates are in the “Clean Plate Club”, you have a winner 🙂