Very puzzled re differences with Cottage Pie v Shepherds Pie.

One's made with real Shepherds-----but don't mention the Spotted Dick.

I've learnt something here. I always thought that the difference was Shepherd's Pie was made with fresh meat, and Cottage pie was made with pre-cooked meat.

A friends child was an angel in a nativity. They have called Shepherds pie Angel's pie ever since!

Cumberland Pie ?- someone asked
: left over meat / beef mince + veg (carrots/celery ...) + a cheesy potato mash top or slices of potato and sprinkle of cheese.

Pork Mince: Best way for a fantastic chilli is 1/2 pork mince and 1/2 beef mine.

Well I thought shepherds pie has mash on top and cottage pie had sliced potatoes (like tiles on cottage roof!)

EllinVannan , you beat me to it ! I was going to say oops I minced a shepherd . Meatballs tomorrow ?

I’ve always used used half pork mince and half beef for. Meatloaf.

I think it may depend on the market price of shepherds versus cottages.

And then of course you have factor in the time, effort and possibly machinery used to mince them.

I come from a long line of shepherds, all expert at making Proper Shepherds' Pies.

However, I usually make the cottage variety with beef.
Great Grandma would be shocked.

A propos of very little, Shepherds Pie used to be known in Paw’s family as Dhobi Pudding.
Why?
Paw’s grandfather was in India, in the Indian police before the War and actually FIL was born there.
In the typical way of pre-war ex-pats, they used to eat European food and a cook at the time mistranslated or misunderstood Shepherd's Pie as “Watchman's Pie “ which then somehow became “Washerman’s Pie” and thence Dhobi Pie or Pudding.
But whatever, lamb for Shepherds Pie (obviously) and beef for Cottage Pie.

Polly Perkins I think the sliced potato topping makes it a Cobbler rather than a pie.

Noooo, sliced potato makes it a (sort of) hot pot, to be a cobbler it has to have a scone or pastry rounds topping!

No no no no no

Shepherds Pie is made with lamb, and with the potato piped, or fluffed on top, to resemble the fleece of the sheep

Cottage Pie is made with beef, and with the potato sliced and layered on top, to resemble the tiles of the roof of the cottage.

(I learned that in Coronation Street, from Roy Cropper's mother, Silvia, played by the marvellous Stephanie Cole )

LOL. I've had shepherds/cottage pie in school canteens in China, Spain and Switzerland. They were all very similar.

Of course Phoenix - my apologies (my post was just a load of cobblers?);

Gagajo I would never accept China, Switzerland or Spain as the ultimate arbiters of a traditionally British dish!

I use leftovers from roast lamb to make shepherds pie, not lamb mince.Cottage pie, good quality beef mince.
Both are topped with mashed potato.
It’s Lancashire hotpot that is layered on top with sliced potatoes.

cottage pie is beef mince but shepherds pie is lamb mince. I think of shepherds pie as more special as I add chopped rosemary and garlic , plus the lamb has a richer taste,

I thought cottage pie had pastry on top and shepherds pie had mashed ? Who knows

Shepherds pie definitely lamb, how could it not be? Whether it be shepherds, cottage or even country pie though my WP will call it a mashed potato cake because of the layer of mash on top

Laughterlines
Pastry! Whatever next!

lemongrove do you mince the leftover lamb or use a food processor and chop it?
My mum used to have a large mincer that clamped on the side of the kitchen table

Well who knew there could be so many different opinions about traditional dishes!!

By the way Lancashire hotpot does have sliced potatoes on top but also has layers of diced lamb, onion and sliced potatoes all the way through. Not mince ! Yum! Think I’ll male it and please DH as he is from Lancashire. Not much else to do. Just need to get some lamb!

Carrot too DH says

This encouraged me to make lamb hotpot with some neck end of lamb. Crikey went OTT with root veg and will be eating it for a month now. It will probably resurface as soup and curry (with addition of spoonful of curry paste) in the meantime. Oh dear. This site could host a lot of good time saving tasty recipes that will keep us occupied and fed.