Rock on Neil! I love your "do-it-the-right-way" recipe! I am a Welsh-American and I appreciate your good humour in setting us straight. Want to know a secret? Most of my buddies here do not know how to make a "proper" cup of tea either.Hee! Hee!

I had a small cafe in Wisconsin for 10 years which I sold 7 years ago. I made "Shepherd''s Pie" on a regular basis. Too my chagrin, I have been makeing it all wrong. Made it with ground beef, beef gravy, green beans and mashed potatoes. Baked in the oven in a casserole for about 1/2 hour. The customers liked it. And that was what was the bottom line. If the patrons liked it, it was made again and again. Don't make anything in a Cafe that doesn't sell. No Cheese on this, and only made in the fall and winter. Really too heavy for summer. Had some "Brit's" from the northeast coastline of England who were in Wisc. in the USA to work with Buddy Melges making racing boats. They longed for their "home" cooking. They loved my version of "Shepherd's Pie". I don't find Neal's comments rude. Just another arrogant chef. We all are, I guess. Carry on, old man......

Full marks to Neil to pionting out the cheese thing. Even my "British Local" puts cheese on their Shepherds Pie, never seen this done back in blighty, somewhere coming across the Atlantic the Recipe was tampered with. For our Amerivcan friends, could you imagine Pumpkin pie with bangers stuck in it?

Bisto is a gravy mix, it was made at the Campbell's plant in Listowel, ONtario, Canada, until it was closed and moved to the United States. I know, LOL, I used to package it! It does seem to be more used in Canada and British Isles. This from an American transplant. Have a good one!

I am a Brit living in Canada. Neil, you have posted an authentic recipe and that my friends is the point here. If you want to find Shepherds Pie a la difference, then maybe you should have searched for that.!!! Here in Canada as in America they do put cheese on practically everything and it becomes disgusting after a while..not to mention that they throw jelly/jello on/in salads...dont get me started ...

Even fast food with chips (fries !!) we now have poutine..yes chips covered in cheese... vile and a sure recipe for a swift heart attack.

You want AUTHENTIC... here you have it... if you want variations then look for variations or politely post your variations in this thread as some have kindly done. BUT stop whining because your culture is making a corned beef hash out of another cultures authentic recipe... and maybe the cheese fetish is why many Americans are obese.... I am not being rude...just suggesting you take a good look at the reasons why...before complaining that everybody hates you...which they do not...

Carmelised ????
so many posts with this unknown wording...
The word is caramel....

car a mel

Don't you people have nothing better to do than slam other people. Let's just thank God we have food to eat whether it is lamb or beef. I am one of those who is 1/2 Brit and I don't care for lamb.

please let him off because whatever the brits came up with the irish perfected. eg shepherds pie ,fish n chips lamb stew ,corned beef and cabbage,the IRISH bkeakfast and last but not least the good old pint of guinnes

Neil--i love sarcasm and even trash talking with recipes, ever so much more fun. Most Americans can't recognize tongue in cheek tone and call it arrogance. Your comments mostly made me laugh because British home cooking can be the worst (or as Germans say, wurst) with their lack of spices and insistence on "proper," whatever that means. But you also made me scream with your oh so accurate comment about the American propensity to throw cheese into everything and call it a recipe! Go, Neil...

Hi folks.

I sort of stumbled onto this recipe debate and figured I would add my own. First I could care less about anyone's comments but I do know this. When we were kids my mom would make ground beef with the corn and mashed potatoes and she called it the French Dish (my mom is Italian). She got the recipe from her neighbor (also Italian) who was married to a French Canadian. My husband (also a French Canadian) loves to cook and makes what he calls "Sheppards Pie" which is the same thing as "The French Dish". LOL soooo I think it just depends on if you can afford lamb or beef. Oh and I have a friend from Ireland who makes Cottage Pie with chicken LOL

I have a cousin who lives in Liverpool so I will ask her about this via email...

I really enjoyed reading all of these....I love cheese but not on this particular casserole.

Seriously!! over a recipe everyone wants to fight about the way it was written, what was implied, what should be offensive or not. ALL I WANT TO KNOW IS DID ANYONE MAKE IT AND EAT IT!!! that is what reviews are for was it good or not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that the reason that all these people are offended by the way the author presents his recipe is also the reason why I don't go around telling people who eat fish and chips that the way they eat fish is wrong and fish should be steamed and not fried, eaten with soy sauce (if you know what that is) and not chips and tartar sauce, etc. And why i don't tell mall food courts that nobody in China has ever heard of orange chicken. It's their way of doing and eating stuff and as long as it's edible and they're happy, everything's fine. Personally, I grew up thinking that shepherd's pie was just a mix of leftovers made into a yummy dish. There may be a traditional recipe for it, but I just came here to see somebody else's version.
Even now, I'm eating a pineapple and steak pizza. Did the original recipe have pineapple in it? No, but it doesn't stop me from eating it and calling it pizza.

Neil is now famous....I too thought his recipe was for serious cooks.

I think it is very silly to be insulting or arguing in a recipe commentary box. Everyone cooks food sometime in their life and if they call it something funny, ah well- they do. I like food whatever you call it whatever country it's from. So hurrah for this recipe. Hurrah for the 'American' version. Cheese or no cheese.

I don't eat anything "cute" so I guess I will never try Shepard's pie. I watched Gordon Ramsey make it and he piped on the potato....He shoulda known better...oh, and, my final comment: MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM cheeeeeeeeeeeeese.....