Cottage Pie

The Cottage Pie is a traditional British dish created at the end of the 18th century which consists on a meat pie with a crust of mashed potato, though it can be also covered by cheese. Beef was the type of meat used in this dish.

Its name comes from the fact that it was connected with the poor people who lived in small cottages. Potatoes were the only crops they could afford, so that´s why it is one of its main ingredients.

Something curious about this pie is that it has many variants, as for example the Shepherd´s Pie, which has exactly the same ingredients as the Cottage one, only changing the original beef meat for lamb. Other variants of this original Cottage Pie could be the Fisherman´s Pie (using fish meat) or the Shepherdess Pie (which replaces the meat for vegetables)