Shepherd's pie

History

Cottage pie

The term was in use by 1791. Parson Woodforde mentions "Cottage-Pye" in his diary entry for 29 August 1791 and several times thereafter. He records that the meat was veal but does not say what the topping was. The dish was known in its present form, though not under the same name, in the early 19th century: in 1806 Maria Rundell published a recipe for "Sanders", consisting of the same ingredients as cottage or shepherd's pie: minced beef or mutton, with onion and gravy, topped with mashed potato and baked as individual servings. Sanders or Saunders could also have a filling of sliced meat. According to Jane Grigson in English Food, mincing originally meant chopping something with a knife. "But with the first mincing-machines, prison, school and seaside boarding house cooks acquired a new weapon to depress their victims, with watery mince, shepherd's pie with rubbery granules of left-over meat."

In 20th-century and later use the term cottage pie has widely, but not exclusively, been used for a dish of chopped or minced beef with a mashed potato topping. Jane Grigson noted that to make the dish go further some recipes put in a bottom layer of potato before adding the meat and top layer.|group=n}} In his 2012 book The Diner's Dictionary, John Ayto writes: The meat may be fresh or previously cooked; Modern recipes for cottage pie typically use fresh beef.

Shepherd's pie

A recipe for shepherd's pie published in Edinburgh in 1849 in The Practice of Cookery and Pastry specifies cooked meat of any kind, sliced rather than minced, covered with mashed potato and baked. In the 1850s the term was also used for a Scottish dish that contained a mutton and diced potato filling inside a pastry crust. Neither shepherd's pie nor cottage pie was mentioned in the original edition of Mrs Beeton's Household Management in 1861.

More recently "shepherd's pie" has generally been used for a potato-topped dish of minced lamb. According to the Oxford Companion to Food, "In keeping with the name, the meat should be mutton or lamb; and it is usually cooked meat left over from a roast". As with beef, it was commonplace in the days before refrigeration to cook a Sunday joint to last in various guises throughout the week. Dorothy Hartley quotes a traditional verse, "Vicarage mutton", showing not only the uses to which the joint was put, but also the interchangeability of the terms "shepherd's" and "cottage" pie: Hot on Sunday, Cold on Monday, Hashed on Tuesday, Minced on Wednesday, Curried Thursday, Broth on Friday, Cottage pie Saturday.

Hachis Parmentier

The dish hachis Parmentier is named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, who popularised the potato in French cuisine in the late 18th century.|group=n}} It is usually made with chopped or minced lamb or beef; in either case it may be made with either fresh or left-over cooked meat. (The modern English term "hash" derives from the French hachis, meaning food "finely chopped".)

In some recipes a layer of sauté potatoes is put in the cooking dish before the meat filling and mashed potato topping are added. A more elaborate version by Auguste Escoffier, named hachis de boeuf à Parmentier, consists of baked potatoes, the contents of which are removed, mixed with freshly-cooked diced beef, returned to the potato shells and covered with sauce lyonnaise.

Variations

There are no universally agreed ingredients for any of the variants. The 25 recipes cited in the table show the varieties of titles and ingredients recommended by cooks and food writers from Australia, Britain, Canada, France and the US.

Other permutations exist: Fannie Farmer (1942 edition) and Marguerite Patten (1984) refer, respectively, to "cottage pie" with pre-cooked pork and pre-cooked lamb, and Keith Sarasin (2024) gives a recipe for "cottage pie" with fresh lamb and peas.

Similar dishes

Fillings for other pies with a mashed potato topping are numerous, and include artichoke hearts and red peppers; black pudding; chicken and spinach; chorizo; curried chicken; duck; rabbit; salmon; salt cod; turkey and ham; and flaked white fish with shrimps in a white sauce.

Other pies with non-pastry toppings include:

Notes, references and sources

Notes

References

Sources

References

1. Woodforde (Vol III), p. 295; and (Vol V), pp. 335, 347, 371, 378, 389, 393 and 410
2. Rundell, p. 39
3. Acton, p. 195
4. Hughes, p. 49
5. Crook, p. 84
6. Grigson (1992), p. 141
7. {{refn. ''[[The Oxford English Dictionary]]'' defines "cottage pie" as "A dish of minced beef or (occasionally) other meat which has been topped with mashed potato and then baked or browned.{{cite OED. cottage pie
8. Grigson (1984), p. 70
9. Ayto, p. 99
10. Williamson, p. 65
11. Dallas, pp. 255–256
12. Beeton, index pp. viii–ix, xiii and xxx
13. Saberi, p. 717
14. Hartley, p. 160
15. {{Cite OED. hash
16. Dumas, p. 619
17. Saulnier, p. 143
18. Escoffier, p. 391
19. Berry, p. 198
20. Hayward, p. 126
21. Bocuse, p. 53
22. Carrier, p. 30
23. Cloake, Felicity. [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/oct/21/make-perfect-cottage-pie "How to make perfect cottage pie"] {{Webarchive. link. (13 May 2022 , ''The Guardian'', 21 October 2010)
24. Coffe, p. 312
25. Craig, p. 182
26. Grigson (1992), pp. 140−141
27. Guerard, pp. 108–109
28. Hix, p. 165
29. Kerr, p. 102
30. Kerridge, p. 193
31. Paré, p. 13
32. Pellaprat, p. 374
33. Pic, p. 102
34. Ramsay, pp. 148−149{{Full citation needed. (January 2026)
35. Rayner, p. 49
36. Rhodes, p. 115
37. Roux, p. 146
38. Saint-Ange, p. 374
39. Smith, p. 88
40. Stewart, Martha. [https://www.marthastewart.com/337369/shepherds-pie "Shepherd's pie"] {{Webarchive. link. (9 April 2022 , Marthastewart.com. Retrieved 13 May 2022)
41. Torode, p. 100
42. Westermann, p. 154
43. Willan (1993), p. 92
44. Farmer, p. 332; and Patten, p. 150
45. Sarasin, p. 401
46. Chovancova, p. 60
47. Chovancova, p. 42
48. Chovancova, p. 16
49. Chovancova, p. 56
50. Chovancova, p. 18
51. Chovancova, p. 32
52. Chovancova, p. 24
53. Chovancova, p. 48
54. Chovancova, p. 50
55. "Turkey and ham pie". BBC.
56. Willan (2005), p. 46
57. Orrey, p. 40; and Lemm, Elaine. [https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-cumberland-pie-435424 "What is Cumberland Pie?"] {{Webarchive. link. (11 November 2016 , Thespruceats. Retrieved 14 May 2022)
58. Scott-Aitken, p. 258; and [http://www.gastronomias.com/receitas/rec0994.htm "Empadão de Carne"] {{Webarchive. link. (10 April 2021 , Receitas Culinárias. Retrieved 14 May 2022)
59. (2012-08-01). "Escondidinho recipe – Brazilian Wave". Brazilian Wave.
60. "Salted cod, Brasilian style Escondidinho".
61. [https://www.gastronomia.com.uy/Gastronomia/Pastel-de-carne-uc355867 "Pastel de carne"] {{Webarchive. link. (26 April 2022 , Gastronomía. Retrieved 14 May 2022)
62. [https://www.recetas-argentinas.com/recetas/plato-principal/pastel-de-papas "Pastel de papas"] {{Webarchive. link. (21 July 2021 , Recetas de Argentina. Retrieved 14 May 2022)
63. [https://cookpad.com/uk/recipes/10837461-grandma-liems-pastel-tutup-indonesian-cottage-pie-recipe "Grandma Liem’s Pastel Tutup (Indonesian Cottage Pie) Recipe"] {{Webarchive. link. (16 May 2022 , Cookpad. Retrieved 14 May 2022)
64. Marcotte, p. 72
65. "cottage pie – Aistriúchán Gaeilge ar cottage pie (An Foclóir Nua Béarla-Gaeilge)".
66. (1998). "The New Vegetarian Cookbook". Hermes House.
67. "10 Things you didnt know about Shepherds Pie – Jamie Oliver".
68. "Forager's Pie". Epicurious.
69. "Gardener’s Pie Recipe". Becky Excell.