For the love of pies
COTTAGE PIE VS SHEPHERD’S PIE: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
The terms cottage pie and shepherd’s pie have been used from dinner tables to corner pubs across the globe. Humans have understood them to be a casserole dish filled with meat and garnished with a fluffy potato topping. But although people have been eating the collaborations for generations, there is a difference between these two.
WHAT IS A COTTAGE PIE?
Cottage pie refers to a pie made from beef and topped with potatoes. It dates back to the late 18th century when peasant recipes made in the kitchens of British and Irish country cottages began incorporating the ingredient du jour: the humble potato. Potatoes were making headway at the time as an affordable crop that could be used in everyday food. Clergyman Parson Woodforde is the first human known to document “cottage pye” using veal in an entry in his diary on August 29, 1791. It’s likely the name simply reflected the cosy, homesteading nature of the place in which it was made.
WHAT IS A SHEPHERD’S PIE?
Shepherd’s pie, on the other hand, requires lamb. And, considering the practical naming conventions of cottage pie, shepherd’s pie must be the name for a pie made for shepherds, right? Close. Shepherd’s pie gets its name because cooks used mutton or lamb in the recipe (since a shepherd tends to a flock of sheep). Some even say the fluffy mashed potato topping symbolises the sheep’s fleece.
COTTAGE AND SHEPHERD’S PIES TODAY
Whatever the history, cottage and shepherd’s pies began taking a different form as the generations rolled on. Instead of veal, beef and lamb, home cooks began making both dishes with chopped mince.
Today cottage pie and shepherd’s pie are used interchangeably, and mince is the main ingredient for both dishes. They’re as comfortable at home on the dinner table as they are on the house specials board at local pubs, and they’re often the standard by which one decides if a recipe book is a good one.
The beauty of both shepherd’s and cottage pies is that people have enjoyed them hot or cold, and family members have been known to fight over the last of their very good bits.