Tag Archives: Culinary

Steaming cottage pie around the candle lit dinner table is a very homey picture.

• Cottage pie is a pie that usually contains no pastry, and is made of meat filling, normally minced, and topped with potato.
• ‘Cottage pie’ is also known as ‘shepherd’s pie’, and ‘potato top mince pie’.
• Cottage pie is usually made with cooked and mashed potato, and cooked ground meat or meat chunks, with the addition of flavouring or sauce ingredients like tomato paste and beef stock.
• Historically, cooked meat from leftover meals was the most common meat used in cottage pies, and the container the pie was cooked in was often lined with mashed potato.
• The term ‘cottage pie’ was used in the 1790s and usually referred to a beef version of the dish, while ‘shepherd’s pie’ emerged in the 1870s in reference to a version using lamb or mutton.

Cottage Pie
Image courtesy of F_A/Flickr

• European peasants favoured cottage pie as a meal, due to it being economical and its ability to maximise food resources, that is, leftovers.
• The meat filling of cottage pie often has the addition of mushrooms, or vegetables like peas, carrots, celery, turnips, tomatoes and onion.
• The 1790s saw an influx in cottage pie, primarily due to the increase in potato availability, and an abundant variety of recipes exist for the dish.
• Once the cottage pie meat mixture and potato are cooked, the meat is placed in the base of a casserole dish, and spread with a thick layer of mashed potato, and baked in an oven for approximately 30 minutes.
• Some versions of cottage pie, such as Cumberland, use bread crumbs in addition to potato, while a ‘cowboy pie’ has the addition of baked beans to the meat mixture.

Bibliography:
Cottage Pie, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottage_pie

Cottage Pie, n.d, Hospitality Info Centre, http://www.hospitalityinfocentre.co.uk/British%20Dishes/Cottage%20Pie.htm

Shepherd’s Pie, n.d, Cook’s Info, http://www.cooksinfo.com/shepherds-pie

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Polenta was a peasant’s meal.

• Polenta is a porridge-like food made by boiling ground maize or other grain, and the dish is said to have originated Italy, where it was commonly eaten and eventually became a staple food among the poor and commoners in both Europe and North America.
• The term ‘polenta’ originates from the Latin word meaning ‘peeled barley’, and is linked to the Latin word ‘pollen’ meaning ‘fine flour’ or ‘mill dust’.
• Typically the grain used for making modern polenta is ground maize, known as ‘maize flour’ or ‘cornmeal’, and this ingredient is gluten free, making polenta a good alternative for those who can not have gluten.
• Before the availability of maize in Europe, polenta was eaten by Ancient Romans and was generally made of chickpeas, millet, spelt, chestnut flour, farro, or buckwheat, and today, the dish is sometimes made with a combination of these products.
• Polenta is most commonly yellow in colour, and can range anywhere between yellow and white, and the colour varies according to the grain used.

• Polenta is traditionally made by gradually adding cornmeal to a pot of boiling water, stock or other liquid, and simmering for up to 45 minutes, with occasional or continuous stirring over the period.
• The finer the grain used to make the polenta, the creamier the final product will be, and sometimes lengthier cooking times and more stirring can also improve the texture.
• Once boiled, polenta will set if allowed to cool, and is commonly placed in a pan and refrigerated, and later cut into various shaped pieces for frying, grilling or baking, and eaten in various meals, and can be used as an alternative to bread or as a side.
• Polenta is  high in vitamins C and A, and the food also contains protein, carbohydrates and fibre.
• Quick cooking polenta is available and is useful for cutting down the boiling time, and pre-made polenta can also be found packaged in supermarkets, and is ready to cut and bake or fry.

Bibliography:
A Brief History of Polenta, 2012, Food in Italy, http://www.foodinitaly.org/blog/2011/04/23/a-brief-history-of-polenta/

Demetri J, Polenta, 2012, Life in Italy, http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/polenta.asp

Polenta, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polenta

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Is the lasagne making your mouth water?

• Lasagne is a type of pasta-based dish typically made using a mixture of layered pasta and sauces, and is generally served hot as the primary component of a main meal.
• ‘Lasagne’ is technically the plural term for ‘lasagna’, although both terms are not always used grammatically correctly.
• The ingredients of lasagne commonly include meat, cheese, vegetables, and pasta, and the dish typically includes a tomato based sauce.
• Lasagne possibly has its origins in Ancient Greece and Rome, as a flat bread, although the Italians in Naples are believed to have first produced the modern style dish in the medieval period.
• Classic Italian versions of lasagne generally consist of the traditional sauces, béchamel – a white sauce, and ragù – a meat and vegetable sauce, along with Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano).

Lasagna
Image courtesy of Elin B/Flickr

• Large sheets of rectangular shaped pasta, that are generally flat or sometimes corrugated, are most commonly used in the making of lasagne.
• The term ‘lasagne’ is thought to have originated from either the Latin or Greek languages, most likely from the words ‘lasanum’ or ‘laganon’, the former meaning ‘pot’ in Latin, while the latter meaning ‘cut strips of pasta’ in Greek.
• Lasagne is typically made by layering sheets of pasta between layers of cooked sauce; topped with grated cheese; and then baked in an oven.
• The first recipe book to feature a modern lasagna recipe, believed to have been written by an Italian and named the Liber de Coquina, ‘the book of cookery’, was published in the 1300s.
• The meat sauce used in lasagne often contains minced beef or other ground meat, although vegetarian versions are not uncommon, with layers of vegetables used as a meat sauce substitute.

Bibliography:
A Brief History of Lasagna, n.d, Pagliacci, http://www.pagliacci.com/blog/news/post/a-brief-history-of-lasagna

History of Lasagna, n.d, Jamie Oliver Blogs, http://www.jamieoliver.com/bloggers/viewtopic.php?id=79027#lEs8WDkwD4Uz1Mb2.97

Lasagne, 2015, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lasagne

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