In the UK, obviously I cannot speak for any other country, a Shepherd´s pie is a potato topped pie made with lamb (who looks after the lambs and sheep … a Shepherd, hence “Shepherd´s Pie”). While a cottage pie is made with beef. Plus other ingredients, of course.

I know food and recipes evolve, but when a chef makes a traditional dish like this, surely he, or she in this case, should call it by the traditional name. Rant over. Silly things annoy me I know, but many chefs speak to us mere mortals and home cooks as though we have no basic knowledge. One “chef” felt the need to instruct me on zest – which part of the orange or citrus fruit it came from! And to explain what tempering was! “Getting on my high horse again”. Finally, rant over.

And I have to say – some of the worst food I have been presented with (more often than not, returned uneaten), has been made by so called “professional chefs”. Sad bland cakes, burnt Yorkshire puddings, meat so overcooked it was inedible, steak so tough not even a steak knife could cut through it, trifle with absolutely no taste.