Alternative names | Cottage pie, hachis Parmentier |
---|---|
Type | Meat pie |
Place of origin | Britain and France |
Main ingredients | Mashed potato with minced meat |
Variations | Cumberland pie, Shepherdess pie |
Shepherd's pie, cottage pie, or in French cuisine hachis Parmentier, is a savoury dish of cooked minced meat topped with mashed potato and baked, formerly also called Sanders or Saunders. The meat used may be either previously cooked or freshly minced. The usual meats are beef or lamb. The terms shepherd's pie and cottage pie have been used interchangeably since they came into use in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, although some writers insist that a shepherd's pie should contain lamb or mutton, and a cottage pie, beef.
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. [1] 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. [2] [n 1] Sanders or Saunders could also have a filling of sliced meat. [4] [n 2]
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. [6] [n 3] The beef may be fresh or previously cooked; [6] the latter was at one time more usual. Well into the 20th century the absence of refrigeration made it expedient in many domestic kitchens to store cooked meat rather than raw. In the 1940s the chef Louis Diat recalled of his childhood days, "when housewives bought their Sunday meat they selected pieces large enough to make into leftover dishes for several days". [8] Modern recipes for cottage pie typically use fresh beef. [6]
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. [9] In the 1850s the term was also used for a Scottish dish that contained a mutton and diced potato filling inside a pastry crust. [10] Neither shepherd's pie nor cottage pie was mentioned in the original edition of Mrs Beeton's Household Management in 1861. [11]
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". [6] 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. [12]
The dish Hachis Parmentier is named after Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, who popularised the potato in French cuisine in the late 18th century. [6] It is documented from the late 19th century. [n 4] 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".) [14] [n 5]
In some recipes a layer of sauté potatoes is put in the cooking dish before the meat filling and mashed potato topping are added. [16] 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. [17]
There are no universally agreed ingredients for any of the three dishes. 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.
Cook/writer | Name of dish | Meat used | Fresh or left-over | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mary Berry | Cottage pie | Beef | Fresh | [18] |
Mère Biasin | Hachis Parmentier | Lamb | Left-over boiled [n 6] | [19] |
Paul Bocuse | Hachis Parmentier | Beef | Left-over boiled | [20] |
Robert Carrier | Cottage pie | Beef | Fresh | [21] |
Felicity Cloake | Cottage pie | Beef | Fresh, chopped, not minced | [22] |
Jean-Pierre Coffe | Hachis Parmentier | Beef | Left-over boiled, mixed with fresh calves' liver | [23] |
Elizabeth Craig | Shepherd's pie | Lamb | Left-over casseroled | [24] |
Jane Grigson | Shepherd's pie | Beef or lamb | Fresh | [25] |
Michel Guérard | Hachis Parmentier | Veal sweetbreads and duck gizzards | Fresh | [26] |
Mark Hix | Shepherd's pie | Beef and lamb | Fresh | [27] |
Graham Kerr | Cottage pie | Beef | Fresh | [28] |
Tom Kerridge | Cottage pie | Beef | Fresh | [29] |
Jean Paré | Hachis Parmentier | Beef | Fresh | [30] |
Henri-Paul Pellaprat | Hachis Parmentier | Beef | Left-over | [31] |
Gordon Ramsay | Shepherd's pie | Lamb | Fresh | [32] |
Jay Rayner | Cottage pie | Beef and pork | Fresh | [33] |
Gary Rhodes | Shepherd's pie | Lamb | Fresh | [34] |
Michel Roux, Jr. [n 7] | Hachis Parmentier | Lamb | Left-over roast | [35] |
Madame Saint-Ange | Hachis de bœuf au gratin | Beef | Left-over | [36] |
Joan Schwartz | Shepherd's pie | Lamb | Fresh | [37] |
Delia Smith | Cottage pie | Beef | Fresh | [38] |
Martha Stewart | Shepherd's pie | Beef | Fresh | [39] |
John Torode [n 8] | Cottage pie | Beef | Fresh | [40] |
Antoine Westermann [n 9] | Hachis Parmentier | Beef | Fresh or left-over braised | [41] |
Anne Willan | Hachis Parmentier | Beef | Fresh | [42] |
Fillings for other pies with a mashed potato topping are numerous, and include artichoke hearts and red peppers; [43] black pudding; [44] chicken and spinach; [45] chorizo; [46] curried chicken; [47] duck; [48] rabbit; [49] salmon; [50] salt cod; [51] turkey and ham; [52] and flaked white fish with shrimps in a white sauce. [53]
Other pies with non-pastry toppings include:
Name of dish | Place of origin | Description | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
Cumberland pie | England | Pies of this name exist in two versions: traditional Cumberland pies, still served in Cumbria, have a pastry case, but others have a lamb or beef or pork-sausage filling covered by mashed potato topped with cheese and breadcrumbs. | [54] |
Empadão | Portugal | Meat, often veal, stewed in a tomato-based gravy and layered several times between mashed potatoes. Poultry or fish is sometimes used instead of meat | [55] |
Escondidinho | Brazil | The name, indicating "hidden", describes the way sun-dried meat is covered with a layer of manioc purée. The dish often includes cheese and chicken; cod is sometimes used instead of beef. | [56] |
Pastel de carne | Uruguay | The filling is similar to that of a cottage pie, with the addition of sliced hard-boiled eggs. | [57] |
Pastel de papas | Argentina, Chile | Similar to cottage pie; may also contain peppers. | [58] |
Pastel tutup | Indonesia | Made with any of several meats, with vegetables such as carrots and green peas and boiled eggs, all topped with mashed potato. | [59] |
Pâté chinois | Canada | Also known in Canada as shepherd's pie, consisting of a bottom layer of beef, a middle layer of creamed sweetcorn, topped with mashed potato. | [60] |
Pióg an aoire | Ireland | The Irish for shepherd's pie. | [61] |
Shepherdess pie | Other | Also called shepherdless pie: a vegetarian version made without meat, or a vegan version made without meat and dairy. | [62] |
Bubble and squeak is an English dish made from cooked potatoes and cabbage, mixed together and fried. The food writer Howard Hillman classes it as one of the "great peasant dishes of the world". The dish has been known since at least the 18th century, and in its early versions it contained cooked beef; by the mid-20th century the two vegetables had become the principal ingredients.
English cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with England. It has distinctive attributes of its own, but is also very similar to wider British cuisine, partly historically and partly due to the import of ingredients and ideas from the Americas, China, and India during the time of the British Empire and as a result of post-war immigration.
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit, nuts, fruit preserves, brown sugar, sweetened vegetables, or with thicker fillings based on eggs and dairy. Savoury pies may be filled with meat, eggs and cheese or a mixture of meat and vegetables.
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It is usually made with ground beef, although ground lamb, pork, veal, venison, poultry, and seafood are also used, sometimes in combination. Vegetarian adaptations of meatloaf may use imitation meat or pulses.
Mashed potato or mashed potatoes, colloquially known as mash, is a dish made by mashing boiled or steamed potatoes, usually with added milk, butter, salt and pepper. It is generally served as a side dish to meat or vegetables. Roughly mashed potatoes are sometimes called smashed potatoes. Dehydrated instant mashed potatoes and frozen mashed potatoes are available. Mashed potatoes are an ingredient in other dishes, such as dumplings and gnocchi.
Pâté chinois is a French Canadian dish similar to the English shepherd's pie or French hachis Parmentier. It is a traditional recipe in Québécois cuisine.
A samosa from the Persian word sambosag (سنبوسگ) is a fried South Asian and West Asian snack. It is a pastry with a savory filling, mostly vegetables, spiced potatoes, onions, and peas, but also meat or fish. It is made in different shapes, including triangular, cone, or crescent, depending on the region. Samosas are often accompanied by chutney, and have origins in medieval times or earlier. Sweet versions are also made. Samosas are a popular entrée, appetizer, or snack in the cuisines of India, South Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, East Africa and their South Asian diasporas.
Blanquette de veau is a French veal stew. In the classic version of the dish the meat is simmered in a white stock and served in a sauce velouté enriched with cream and egg. It is among the most popular meat dishes in France.
Moussaka is an eggplant (aubergine)- or potato-based dish, often including ground meat, which is common in the Balkans and the Middle East, with many local and regional variations.
Steak and kidney pie is a popular British dish. It is a savoury pie filled principally with a mixture of diced beef, diced kidney and onion. Its contents are generally similar to those of steak and kidney puddings.
Ukrainian cuisine is the collection of the various cooking traditions of the people of Ukraine, one of the largest and most populous European countries. It is heavily influenced by the rich dark soil from which its ingredients come, and often involves many components. Traditional Ukrainian dishes often experience a complex heating process – "at first they are fried or boiled, and then stewed or baked. This is the most distinctive feature of Ukrainian cuisine".
Tourtière is a French Canadian meat pie dish originating from the province of Quebec, usually made with minced pork, veal or beef and potatoes. Wild game is sometimes used. It is a traditional part of the Christmas réveillon and New Year's Eve meal in Quebec. It is also popular in New Brunswick, and is sold in grocery stores across the rest of Canada all year long. It gets its name from the tourte, which is what it was originally made from. Though the name "tourtière" is derived from its filling, the tourte—the French name for the passenger pigeon that is now extinct in North America—was historically used as its filling before the 20th century.
Jane Grigson was an English cookery writer. In the latter part of the 20th century she was the author of the food column for The Observer and wrote numerous books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes. Her work proved influential in promoting British food.
Kofta is a family of meatball or meatloaf dishes found in South Asian, Central Asian, Balkan, Middle Eastern, North African, and South Caucasian cuisines. In the simplest form, koftas consist of balls of minced meat—usually beef, chicken, pork, lamb or mutton, or a mixture—mixed with spices and sometimes other ingredients. The earliest known recipes are found in early Arab cookbooks and call for ground lamb.
Steak and kidney pudding is a traditional British main course in which beef steak and beef, veal, pork or lamb kidney are enclosed in suet pastry and slow-steamed on a stovetop.
Mince and tatties is a Scottish dish which consists of minced beef and mashed potato. Other vegetables or thickening agents are sometimes added to the dish as well. It was frequently served as part of school meals in Scotland during the 20th century.
Indo cuisine is a fusion cooking and cuisine tradition, mainly existing in Indonesia and the Netherlands, as well as Belgium, South Africa and Suriname. This cuisine characterized of fusion cuisine that consists of original Indonesian cuisine with Eurasian-influences—mainly Dutch, also Portuguese, Spanish, French and British—and vice versa. Nowaday, not only Indo people consume Indo cuisine, but also Indonesians and Dutch people.