Quite right Sir! Clue’s in the name, after all.
Actually, I didn’t know you lot ‘did’ shepherd’s & cottage pie. Ignorance fought yet again!
Growing up this was probably my sole exposure to lamb as a food until the Seinfeld “Mutton” episode came along…
I actually recall my Mom saying she liked lamb but never made it at home. Either too expensive or Dad didn’t like it, I don’t know.
Dierbergs of course!
Shepherd’s pie is pretty common around here, and Irish pubs that serve food are a dime a dozen and will certainly have shepherd’s pie. It is usually made from beef here, though. In my experience, very few people have heard of “cottage pie.” It’s not the usual name for the meat dish with mashed potato topping.
I’ve researched the issue of shepherd’s vs cottage pie before, and there doesn’t seem to be universal agreement that shepherd’s pie means it must be lamb, and some sources make the distinction between shepherd’s and cottage based on how the potatoes are prepared (I seem to recall one source saying cottage pie has something like tiles of sliced potatoes on it, resembling a cottage, instead of the mashed potatoes of shepherd’s pie.)
The 19th century cookbooks I’ve looked through mostly seem to say to take leftover meat of any kind.
For example, here’s a book from the 1850s published in Edinburgh that calls for “cold dressed meat of any kind.” Here’s a cookbook from 1887 published in New York that calls for roast beef. Here’s one from London in 1890. That one calls for “1/2 pound cold meat (any scraps will do).”
I’m not cherry picking, either. Those are the first three Google books results I looked at. I suppose you can argue that the Scots, the English, and the Americans don’t know what they’re talking about (I haven’t tried digging to specifically find Irish sources), but I don’t think the distinction is agreed upon.
I suspect you’re right, it’s one of those things we could debate ad infinitum. So I’ll stick with my ‘shepherd’s = lamb’ thing, as it’s what my mother taught me and my mother is Always Right TM.
Perhaps Shepherd’s vs Cottage is a regional difference more than a meat difference?
I always heard that Shepherd’s pie was made with anything other than lamb, as the shepherds couldn’t afford to eat the lambs they were looking after. I’m sure that’s just nonsense, but it was an intersting explanation.
Could very well be. I used to be in the “shepherd’s” = lamb camp, myself. Food is very regional, so it would not surprise me if the meanings differ. While looking up “cottage pie” in 19th century sources, I do see that the word was often used in the same way as “shepherd’s pie,” just asking for any kind of meat and topping it potatoes. I did find one cookbook with recipes for both shepherd’s and cottage pies, and shepherd’s pie is the familiar version of meat and mashed potatoes, while cottage pie is a layered potato casserole (alternating layers of sliced boiled potatoes and meat.)
If I search the first two decades of the 20th century, it seems the words are used interchangeably by some sources, then another calls “cottage pie” a crusted meat pie of some sort.
It could also be that the distinction is more recent and didn’t start being made until the 20th century, too. And also that it’s regional.
I’ve heard that one, too.
I guess in the end it doesn’t matter. If where you live there is commonly a distinction made between “shepherd’s pie” and “cottage pie” that involves what meat it’s made from, that’s fine by me. I’ll just say that that’s not as commonly understood here in the US, and it looks like that distinction wasn’t always made historically.
I was so inspired (and so not cooking this week) I went out and did get half a pound of thin sliced “Columbus fire roasted pork loin” from the deli. Shockingly expensive, but it smells wonderful! On pumpernickle, with lettuce, tomato, onion,and mayo.