So what is the actual difference?

Shepherd’s Pie – made from left over roast lamb with a mashed potato top?

Cottage Pie – made with fresh minced meat with a mashed potato top?

I like putting a layer of peas just under the mash, and grated cheese on top as well.

Legend has it that Keef Richards always has a shepherd’s/cottage pie just before taking the stage – it doesn’t make my guitar playing any better though
:}

Over here...

Shepherd’s Pie – made with fresh minced beef with a mashed potato top. With carrots. Not done very well.

Cottage Pie – what the hell's that? would be asked.

I sometimes miss the little Aussie pies - used to be Aus$0.22 for a beef pie or a beef and potato pie. Sometimes munched on the rear platform or cab of a Regent pulling out of Bondi/Bronte Beach. I can hear the surf.

No, on third thought, a deep dish steak and kidney pie with good mashed potatoes is the king of pies.

Shepherds Pie and Cottage Pie are the same thing with different meat - shepherds eat lamb and cottagers eat beef when they're feeling prosperous - but neither are true pies since they don't use pastry. One sees many shepherds pie recipes today that use beef, but cooks who specify beef don't tell us where the shepherds get their cows from - I haven't met many cows up on Black Hambleton, it looks like New Zealand up there. I don't know how the same cooks would knock up a cottage pie if I ordered one. Perhaps they'd put a cottage in it?

No question about it, the king of pies is a properly fashioned Tiddy Oggy or Cornish Pasty.

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Through difficulties to the cinema

As he is a leading authority on all things pie-wise, I call upon StopStart to brief us on the finer points of piedom...

Nah, what you want is a Scotch Pie.

Ancient mutton embedded in a layer of congealed fat with a built-in recess at the top for your baked beans. Yummm !

This week is the Annual Scotch Pie Championship. No - really ! :eek:

Grainger

I prefer mushy peas and vinegar to fill the gap.

Taps