England's National Dish

If England had a national dish, what would it be? The French jokingly refer to us as "les rosbifs" because of our perceived love of roast beef, and I suppose, as meat goes, it probably used to be the most commonly eaten meat here. Now roast beef is a very expensive choice, and whilst many Brits still love it, it is a treat rather than a staple. Some folks say fish and chips are our national dish. Certainly fish and chips are a big part of many a British person's diet and I often see tourists coming out of fish and chip shops enjoying this wonderful treat, whilst wondering at the absence of the newspaper it was always said to be wrapped in. (Health and safety regulations put an end to that in the late 1980's.) Back in 2001, the late Robin Cook hailed Chicken Tikka Masala as Britain's national dish, but I'm still not sure of that - even if we are an incredibly multi-cultural society and this variation on Indian cuisine was actually invented in England.

To my mind, the quintessentially British dish will always be Shepherd's Pie. This wonderful blend of meat and vegetables topped with fluffy mashed potato is a one dish meal that comforts and soothes. Interestingly, there is absolutely no pastry involved despite the word "pie" in the dish's name. There is also often confusion between Shepherd's Pie and Cottage Pie. I find both of these names deceptive as of course, Shepherd's Pie is not made of shepherds, nor is Cottage Pie made of cottages. In fact, Shepherd's Pie was traditionally made with lamb (hence the shepherd tag) and cottage pie was made with beef. This can vary regionally, and even from family to family, and I have to say that in my house and my husband's childhood home, Shepherd's Pie has always been made with beef.

Now, in years gone by, the lamb or beef would be left over from the Sunday roast, finely chopped, mixed with vegetables and gravy and topped with potato. It was a way that the housewife could stretch a roast to last, if not the whole week, at least part of it. Nowadays people tend to use ground beef or lamb to make their pies. There are two reasons for this. The first is that not everyone has a Sunday roast these days, and the second is that ground beef is much less expensive to buy. Shepherd's Pie is a perfect dish for these troubled economic times. You can either use leftovers to make it as it was originally invented, or you can start fresh with ground meat. It freezes easily (without the potato topping) and can even be adapted for vegetarians by using ground vege-mince or ground Quorn.

Even the potato topping can be varied by including different "mashable" vegetables, such as parsnips, turnip or swede. A dollop of mustard in the potato topping adds a nice hint of zing, as does a dollop of horseradish. Or you can stir a small amount of grated cheese into the potato topping. The variations are endless. If you find you have less than the amount of meat called for, you can always up the ante with extra chopped vegetables or a can of good old Heinz baked beans. You can even make it with just vegetables topped with potato, although I'm not sure you could really call it Shepherd's Pie anymore. Perhaps Gardener's Pie would be more appropriate in that case!

What follows below is merely a guideline. Whilst the original dish might be steeped in tradition, the 21st Century Housewife's Shepherd's Pie is not a dish you can be bossy about simply because it lends itself so easily to variation. However, it is a dish I do urge you to make as it is hearty, economical, flexible and utterly delicious.

The 21st Century Housewife's
Shepherd's Pie
Serves 4

1 - 2 teaspoons olive oil (or other cooking oil such as Canola or sunflower oil)

I large onion, peeled and finely chopped

500 grams of ground beef, lamb or vegetarian mince product OR about 2 cups of finely shredded leftover roast beef or lamb

2 cups of finely chopped vegetables (carrots, frozen peas or corn, parsnips, turnip, swede or any variation thereof)

2 beef stock cubes

1 can (approximately 400 grams) of chopped tomatoes OR 1 cup of boiling water

Hot mashed potato made from 8 medium potatoes, peeled, cooked, mashed with butter and milk, and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.

You will need a medium sized casserole. Preheat the oven to about 175 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Heat the oil in a medium frying pan. Gently cook the onions for a minute or two until they begin to soften. Now add the ground beef or lamb and cook until no pink remains. (If you are using Quorn, cook according to the package instructions. For leftover beef, just heat it gently and proceed virtually immediately to the next step as you do not want it to dry out.) Crumble the stock cubes over the browned meat. Now add either the can of tomatoes OR 1 cup of boiling water to make a gravy. Stir in the vegetables and heat through.

Transfer the beef mixture to a casserole. Heads up, if you wish to freeze the dish, cool it quickly and refrigerate until cold at this point and then place in the freezer. If you are not freezing it, now is the time to top the dish with the lovely fluffy mashed potatoes. (As I mentioned before, as an alternative, you can add other mashable vegetables to the potatoes. For example, try boiling four potatoes with four chopped parsnips or 1 cup of chopped turnip or swede. Drain and mash together with butter and milk and spread on top of the beef mixture.) I like to run the tines of a fork over the mashed potatoes to make little sticky uppy bits that go nice and brown in the oven.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until lovely and golden brown. If you prefer a slower cooked dish, lower the oven temperature to about 150 degrees Celsius or 325 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for about 45 minutes. Either way, this dish "holds" well in the oven if dinner gets delayed because someone is late. Just turn the heat back a bit, but ensure that the dish stays at a safe temperature (don't hold it for more than 30 minutes or so either).

You can serve this straight from the casserole at the table. I sometimes steam a few more vegetables to have on the side - broccoli or Brussel sprouts are a popular choice in our house because of their vivid green colour, but choose your own favourite vegetable. Or defy tradition and serve with a salad. As I said, it's totally flexible.

Cool any leftovers quickly, refrigerate and use within 2 days. You can reheat this in the microwave very easily, just make sure it is piping hot before you serve it. Alternatively, use four small individual casserole dishes and make individual portions. If you are not going to use them all the first night, cool and refrigerate those that won't be used till the next day immediately after topping them with the hot potato. They will keep for up to two days. When you want to use them, bake in the oven at 175 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes until piping hot. Flexible, economical and delicious - what more can you ask for?