← Replies in Shepherd's Pie Recipe

YES! 🙌 This is a HUGE pet peeve for me people making potato topped casserole out of, literally, ANYTHING and calling it Shepherd’s Pie. If it's not lamb, it's not a Shepherd’s Pie, it's a COTTAGE PIE. End rant. 😂

I don't think the majority of Americans know the difference.

Good to know

For you, sure! But not for my area of America. We all call it Shepard's Pie. Historically, it was known as a cottage pie, no matter the meat, until in 1854 the term "Shepard's pie" popped up. The new term was also used synonymously with cottage pie, whether it used lamb or beef didn't matter. Obviously the language in your country has changed, but we don't eat much lamb in America, so I'd just assume we keep the same language around Shepard's pie how it was originally used. With so many UK immigrants arriving in America during that time, and global communication being very limited, I'm not surprised the names for dishes diverged. A lot of culturally important recipes have been distorted in America because immigrants had to use what is readily available so a bit of compassion and understanding goes a long way! I'm certainly not going to say our way is "the right", partially because language follows usage and is constantly evolving, but mostly because if it originates from your culture, I'm sure most Americans wouldn't mind saying it your way!

Some of that is certainly true, some is not correct. I hold a degree in both cultural linguistics and cultural anthropology, the roots of words, the study of words and language is literally my area of expertise. I studied in both Ireland and the U.S. The problem I have with this is the inability for some to use proper terms and the lack of desire for people to learn those proper terms. If you're going to eat it, talk about it, post about it, use the correct words, if you're not sure, just look it up. It's just irritating when folks won't learn. I also love it when people refuse to learn how to say my name correctly. 🙄 Learn new things. It's cottage pie. Period. Easy to do. It was good, but it’s cottage pie. 😊