For St. Patrick’s Day this year I decided to have something different than corned beef to celebrate my Irish ancestry.

During my last trip to the grocery store I picked up a box of Shepherd’s Pie in the freezer section.

However, I failed to notice that it had beef along with the name on the box.

I did notice the beef when I pulled the box out tonight to prepare my Shepherd’s Pie.

A traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie would be made with lamb instead of beef. However, the term is not always used consistently as for many foods the boundaries between food names are often blurred or have regional uses.

When made with beef the dish would traditionally be referred to as a cottage pie.

Here is the Shepherd’s Pie after spending an hour in the oven. I let it cool before giving it a try.

The pie tasted good, but was not as good as the cottage pie that I made several years ago, and definitely not as good as the ones I was served in South Africa during my last trip there.

See: Cottage Pie and Making Cottage Pie

I am not sure if I would be able to find a prepackaged Shepherd’s Pie made with lamb, but perhaps I can get some ground lamb next year and make a traditional Shepherd’s Pie for St. Patrick’s Day.

Steven