I need some help making Sheppard's Pie. I want to hear from some real Sheep Herders...?!
Answers: I've seen so many recipes. What's the real deal?
Don't trust any Welsh shepherds ... from what I hear, they love their sheep *way* too much to kill and eat them.
the real deal is that you need to use lamb meat instead of beef!
The name is Shepherd's Pie. If it contains lamb; you probably have a good recipe. If it contains beef; you have a cottage pie.
That is kind of like asking "how do you make real chili"! There are as many GOOD and REAL recipes for Shepherd's pie as there are Shepherd's (or other good cooks for that matter) to make it!
Bert
the basics, from what i know, is a beef product, corn, and potatos in one dish. it is one of those dishes that is different every time. the thing of it is that a shepherd uses only what he has, often not having a store near by, nor the money to purchase anything. they "borrow" the farmer next door's beef because they do not want to kill their own sheep...and it is easy to get corn without anyone knowing (because it is easy to hide a flock in a corn field while your "shopping"), or they use the wild corn they find along the way, and the potatoes...well, that is just self explanatory (cheep and easy to grow). Over in America, they have altered the recipe by adding expensive things to make it seem more impressive and appetizing.
please note:some or all of this information may be incorrect and the opinion of the writer only.
As explained to me by professional cooks, the one thing that is distinctive about Shepherd's Pie is that it has a mashed potato top as opposed to a pastry or biscuit top on other meat pies. All other variations are regional. The original recipes were made using lamb or mutton. Although Sheppard's Pie is an accepted spelling, it is more correct to spell it Shepherd's Pie.