Don’t order a shepherd’s pie at Old World Tavern. Al Menchaca and his kitchen staff may not defer to your wishes.
You see, they serve cottage pie.
Yes, both are prepared with meat and vegetables, herbs and spices. Both are roofed over by mashed potatoes. They share humble English origins, cottage being a reference to the rude huts of the 19th century working class. And the popularity of both dishes now extends far beyond the home island.
But there is one crucial difference, especially for sticklers.
For those keen on tradition, shepherd’s pie is prepared with lamb, cottage pie with minced beef.
“American’s have bastardized the shepherd’s pie,” Menchaca said, explaining that over time popular culture lumped the dishes together.
Order the Old World cottage pie and you’ll understand Menchaca’s pedantic stand. It’s a simple thing from peasant tradition, certainly. Yet where lamb brings a pronounced savor to a dish, ground beef tends to blend in.
This willingness to sit back and allow other ingredients to strut is welcome in this case, otherwise moments of refinement and elegance in the otherwise rustic, earthy broth would fade. Hints of rosemary and thyme emerge, focusing on the sweet pop of fresh peas.
Under a pillow of skin on mashed potatoes the result is almost ethereal, forcing you to remind yourself that this is a meal born in age old hamlets where filling, not flavor, often took precedence.
“The secret is in the fresh ingredients,” Menchaca pointed out.
Before opening the restaurant and tavern, he tried out a version of cottage pie prepared with dried herbs and quickly dismissed the idea. Instead, he uses fresh vegetables and herbs. The staff mince the beef and then lean on one more secret step.
“I like to let it sit overnight so the flavors come together,” Menchaca said. “Like chili it’s best the next day.”
So go ahead and stumble on the wording. Happily endure any correction offered by the waitstaff. A little humble pie, in this case, is a very good thing.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
