Why is it called shepherds pie?!
Answers:
The English tradition of meat pies dates back to the Middle ages!. Game pie, pot pie and mutton pie were popular and served in pastry "coffyns!." These pies were cooked for hours in a slow oven, and topped with rich aspic jelly and other sweet spices!. The eating of "hote [meat] pies" is mentioned in Piers Plowman, and English poem written in the 14th Century!. (Cooking of the British Isles, Adrian Bailey, pages 156-7) The Elizabethans favored minced pies!. "A typical Elizabethan recipe ran: Shred your meat (mutton or beef) and suet together fine!. Season it with cloves, mace, pepper and some saffron, great raisins and prunes!.!.!." (Food and Drink in Britain: From the Stone Age to the 19th Century, C!. Anne Wilson, page 273)!. About mince and mincemeat pies!.
The key to dating Shepherd's pie is the introduction (and acceptance) of potatoes in England!. Potatoes are a new world food!. They were first introduced to Europe in 1520 by the Spanish!. Potatoes did not appeal to the British palate until the 18th Century!. (Foods America Gave the World, A!. Hyatt Verrill, page 28)!. Shepherd's Pie, a dish of minced meat (usually lamb, when made with beef it is called "Cottage Pie") topped with mashed potatoes was probably invented sometime in the 18th Century by frugal peasant housewives looking for creative ways to serve leftover meat to their families!. It is generally agreed that it originated in the north of England and Scotland where there are large numbers of sheep--hence the name!. The actual phrase "Shepherd's Pie" dates back to the 1870s, when mincing machines made the shredding of meat easy and popular!."Www@FoodAQ@Com
The key to dating Shepherd's pie is the introduction (and acceptance) of potatoes in England!. Potatoes are a new world food!. They were first introduced to Europe in 1520 by the Spanish!. Potatoes did not appeal to the British palate until the 18th Century!. (Foods America Gave the World, A!. Hyatt Verrill, page 28)!. Shepherd's Pie, a dish of minced meat (usually lamb, when made with beef it is called "Cottage Pie") topped with mashed potatoes was probably invented sometime in the 18th Century by frugal peasant housewives looking for creative ways to serve leftover meat to their families!. It is generally agreed that it originated in the north of England and Scotland where there are large numbers of sheep--hence the name!. The actual phrase "Shepherd's Pie" dates back to the 1870s, when mincing machines made the shredding of meat easy and popular!."Www@FoodAQ@Com
because they use sheep meat!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Here is something Funny I came across about the origins of Shepherd Pie, I thought you might like!. Who knows whether it is true or not!!!!
Source: http://oreneta!.com/kalebeul/2004/01/15/s!.!.!.
Spurious history: the origins of shepherd’s pie
I haven’t yet found evidence of Pere Botero’s cauldron in accounts of the 1251/1320 Shepherds’ Crusade, but at least this meme will encourage children who suspect that - denuded of the genitive apostrophe-s - shepherd’s pie is exactly what it purports to be: minced shepherd with boots and gravy, topped first with potato mash and then with a layer of grated cheese, baked until brown, and forced down one’s throat by a dietary zealot!. Think I’m kidding you!? Here’s old rent-a-quote Radulph from Caen in Amin Maalouf’s The Crusades Through Arab Eyes:
In Ma’arra our troops boiled pagan adults in cooking-pots; they impaled children on spits and devoured them grilled!.
Boring gits will now point out that Radulph was writing about the year 1098, not 1251, and that there is moreover no record of unethical culinary relationships involving pastoralists during that campaign!. Fair enough, but said BGs also need to acknowledge that eating the shepherd is an enduring theme in European folklore!. I’m not talking so much about stuff like George Borrow’s rejection of such stories in The Zincali: An Account of the Gypsies of Spain as about the adoption by the Fourth Lateran Council of transubstantiation, the principal shepherd-eating myth in European culture!. This doctrine was made official in 1215, and after 36 years French shepherds may have decided they’d had enough!.
During the late part of the 19th century, there was a popular tendency for the term "shepherd's pie" to be used in recipe books when the meat used in the pie was leftover mutton or lamb from a Sunday Roast which was either diced or minced and then fried with chopped onions, seasoning, and dripping (from the roast) or stock!. Source: http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Shepherd's_!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Source: http://oreneta!.com/kalebeul/2004/01/15/s!.!.!.
Spurious history: the origins of shepherd’s pie
I haven’t yet found evidence of Pere Botero’s cauldron in accounts of the 1251/1320 Shepherds’ Crusade, but at least this meme will encourage children who suspect that - denuded of the genitive apostrophe-s - shepherd’s pie is exactly what it purports to be: minced shepherd with boots and gravy, topped first with potato mash and then with a layer of grated cheese, baked until brown, and forced down one’s throat by a dietary zealot!. Think I’m kidding you!? Here’s old rent-a-quote Radulph from Caen in Amin Maalouf’s The Crusades Through Arab Eyes:
In Ma’arra our troops boiled pagan adults in cooking-pots; they impaled children on spits and devoured them grilled!.
Boring gits will now point out that Radulph was writing about the year 1098, not 1251, and that there is moreover no record of unethical culinary relationships involving pastoralists during that campaign!. Fair enough, but said BGs also need to acknowledge that eating the shepherd is an enduring theme in European folklore!. I’m not talking so much about stuff like George Borrow’s rejection of such stories in The Zincali: An Account of the Gypsies of Spain as about the adoption by the Fourth Lateran Council of transubstantiation, the principal shepherd-eating myth in European culture!. This doctrine was made official in 1215, and after 36 years French shepherds may have decided they’d had enough!.
During the late part of the 19th century, there was a popular tendency for the term "shepherd's pie" to be used in recipe books when the meat used in the pie was leftover mutton or lamb from a Sunday Roast which was either diced or minced and then fried with chopped onions, seasoning, and dripping (from the roast) or stock!. Source: http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Shepherd's_!.!.!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
"Cheap Sheep Meat"!.!.!.say that really fast ten times!
It probably was a quick prep from leftovers the sheep herders had available !.!.!.plus, is it a "stick to your ribs" !.!.!.fill your tummy kind of Shepherds' cuisine!.!.!. you could easily cook and eat out of one container (i!.e!. Dutch Oven type pan)!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
It probably was a quick prep from leftovers the sheep herders had available !.!.!.plus, is it a "stick to your ribs" !.!.!.fill your tummy kind of Shepherds' cuisine!.!.!. you could easily cook and eat out of one container (i!.e!. Dutch Oven type pan)!.Www@FoodAQ@Com