General Forum AccountAb1lity Thread NSFW • Page 642

good ol southern boy like me

 

that's the type of erudite humor you can expect from me

 

whatever you say in my brain every British person still lives in Big Ben

 

?

 

I wish

 

cancelled

 

what the fuck

 

Me: god it’s so cold I’m freezing

*opens up weather app and it says 70°*

I’m gonna die in Seattle aren’t I

 

In my defense before anyone jumps down my throat it was like 40 last night and my house incubates coldness way too well

 

calm down

 

not sure how British people can live in a football player but ok

 

he's not inside people consensually

 

There doesn’t seem to be a singular person, event, place, or circumstance that gave the world shepherd’s pie. Instead, there are bits and pieces of history that, together, and once interpreted, allow the emergence of shepherd’s pie to make sense. So, here’s a brief rundown of those facts:

• The Norman invasion of Ireland began in the 13th century, and sparked a tumultuous union between Ireland and England that would last for about 800 years (though, depending on who you ask, it’s still going on).
• In the late 15th century, England had officially taken control of Ireland, and brought the island into the United Kingdom.
• As an arm of the United Kingdom, Protestantism became the new official religion, despite Ireland being majority Catholic.
• The British and Protestant Irish converts became ruling landowners, protected by the government. Irish Catholics became peasant land workers, sanctioned by the government. As a result, they were generally impoverished, living in humble homes called “cottages.”
• In 1589, Sir Walter Raleigh introduced the potato to Ireland, and over time, the potato gained acceptance in Ireland as an edible, affordable piece of produce, particularly for the poor.
• The British loved beef, and sparked an increase in beef production in Ireland. The Irish were never big beef eaters. Regardless, they couldn’t really afford it while Ireland was under British control.

Those are the facts. Now, before I proceed, I want to make sure we’re clear on what precisely shepherd’s pie is. Here goes. It’s a hearty dish with origins in the United Kingdom and Ireland composed of a ground meat cooked in gravy, onions, carrots, celery, and a mashed potato crust (can be top and bottom, or just top). I told you. It’s a slam dunk meal for a cold St. Paddy’s dinner. Anyway, given the makeup of the dish, and the facts presented above, here’s what’s suspected to have sparked the origin of shepherd’s pie.

Sometime in the 18th century, a dish called “cottage pie” came about somewhere in the vast expanse of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It seems to have originated as a way for folks to make use of leftovers, in order to avoid waste, both of the food and money varieties. Simply put, after making a weekend roast, unused meat was repurposed into a pie using affordable potatoes as a crust. This frugal, albeit clever, meal suggests the name “cottage pie” referred to the consumers of the dish—poor Irish peasants (remember, they lived in cottages). Because the Irish, at the time, typically could not afford beef, I suspect the earliest forms of cottage pie contained mutton, since mutton was a cheaper and more flavorful alternative to either beef or lamb.

This cottage pie was the precursor to shepherd’s pie, which was coined in the middle of the 19th century. For a while it was used interchangeably with cottage pie. However, as time went on, a distinction was made: shepherd’s pie referred to a dish made with lamb (because sheep are tended to by shepherds!), and cottage pie referred to a dish made with beef. Since Ireland and the UK had such a long union, contentious as it was, both the British and Irish have love for shepherd’s pie, and claim its origins. That being said, if forced, I’d maintain the more traditionally Irish meal is the lamb-made dish known as shepherd’s pie, whereas the British version is the beef-made cottage pie. Why? Because historically the Irish weren’t big beef eaters, and the British were. Plus, this started as a way for folks to make use of sparse and/or inexpensive resources. At the time the dish was invented, given the socio-political context of the United Kingdom and Ireland, it seems likely that the Irish were among (if not predominantly) those who would be looking to make use of their leftovers in such a resourceful way.

 

stay woke ian

 

Boomers can keep their shepherd's pies

 

hi

 

Looking forward to reading this through when I get to work to see what y'all crazies are talking about today. Also Matt said he's not busy at work so he's gonna leave soon and get food for Rennie. Getcha a man like THAT

 

Hi Max. I'm Kate.

 

If you think young people that aren't from northern towns made up of 99% white people actually eat that shit you're wrong

 

yeah but that just proves we introduced potato to Ireland and therefore we own all versions of the pie

 

People eat that shit all over the world, Jake.

 

hi Kate how are you today

 

Mostly boomers

 

I guess that's fair.