Cottage pie, also known as
shepherd's pie, refers to an English
meat pieA meat pie is a savoury pie with a filling of meat and other savoury ingredients. It is usually made of beef, pork, or lamb, but may also contain fish. Well-known varieties of meat pie include British meat pies, French-Canadian meat pie, and the Australian meat pie...
with a crust made from
mashed potatoMashed potato or Smashed potatoes is one way of serving potatoes. It is made by mashing freshly boiled , or sometimes baked, potatoes with a ricer, fork or potato masher...
and beef.
The term
cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791, when potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor (cf. "
cottageIn modern usage, a cottage is a modest dwelling, typically in a rural, or semi-rural location...
" meaning a modest dwelling for rural workers).
In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.
The term "shepherd's pie" did not appear until the 1870s, and since then it has been used synonymously with "cottage pie", regardless of whether the principal ingredient was
beefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
or mutton.
Discussion
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Cottage pie, also known as
shepherd's pie, refers to an English
meat pieA meat pie is a savoury pie with a filling of meat and other savoury ingredients. It is usually made of beef, pork, or lamb, but may also contain fish. Well-known varieties of meat pie include British meat pies, French-Canadian meat pie, and the Australian meat pie...
with a crust made from
mashed potatoMashed potato or Smashed potatoes is one way of serving potatoes. It is made by mashing freshly boiled , or sometimes baked, potatoes with a ricer, fork or potato masher...
and beef.
The term
cottage pie is known to have been in use in 1791, when potato was being introduced as an edible crop affordable for the poor (cf. "
cottageIn modern usage, a cottage is a modest dwelling, typically in a rural, or semi-rural location...
" meaning a modest dwelling for rural workers).
In early cookery books, the dish was a means of using leftover roasted meat of any kind, and the pie dish was lined with mashed potato as well as having a mashed potato crust on top.
The term "shepherd's pie" did not appear until the 1870s, and since then it has been used synonymously with "cottage pie", regardless of whether the principal ingredient was
beefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
or mutton. There is now a popular tendency for "shepherd's pie" to be used when the meat is mutton or lamb, with the suggested origin being that shepherds are concerned with sheep and not cattle, however this may be an example of folk etymology.
Variations
- Cottage pie is available in Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
as a variation of the Australian meat pieAn Australian or New Zealand meat pie is a hand-sized meat pie containing largely minced meat and gravy sometimes with onion and often consumed as a takeaway food snack. The pie itself is congruent with the United Kingdom's steak pie....
with a layer of mashed potato replacing the usual pastry crust. This variant is also known and labelled as a potato pie or, in New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
, a potato top pie.
- In the United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
a similar dish is called cowboy pie. In New EnglandNew England is a region of the United States. It is located at the northeastern corner of the US, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Canada and the state of New York, consisting of the modern U.S...
the most common recipe for shepherd's pie consists of ground beef, canned creamed corn, and mashed potatoes.
- In Quebec
Quebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, a similar dish is called Pâté chinoisPâté chinois is a French Canadian dish similar to English cottage pie, shepherd's pie or French hachis Parmentier. It is made from layered ground beef on the bottom layer, canned corn for the middle layer, and mashed potatoes on top...
(Chinese pie).
- In France
France , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
, a similar dish is called hachis ParmentierIn haute cuisine, hachis Parmentier is a dish made with mashed, baked potato, combined with diced meat and sauce lyonnaise and served in the potato shells...
.
- A vegetarian version can be made using soya
Soya can mean:* soybean* Sōya District, Hokkaidō* Sōya Subprefecture, Hokkaidō* Soya3D, a high-level three-dimensional rendering engine for the Python programming language* Soya sauce, a fermented sauce made from soybeans, roasted grain, water and salt....
or other meat substitutes.
- In Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in Western Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, the Gulf of Aqaba to the southwest,...
, SyriaSyria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south and Israel to the southwest....
and LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
, and PalestinePalestine is a conventional name used, among others, to describe a geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.As a geographical term, Palestine can also refer to 'ancient Palestine,' an area...
a similar dish is referred to as "Siniyet Batata" (literally meaning a plate of potatoes), or "Kibbet Batata".
- In Russia
Russia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, a similar dish is called "Картофельная запеканка" (Kartofel'naya zapekanka).
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