back to article Someone's snatched my yummy Brit COTTAGE PIE – Viv Reding

Brussels' justice boss Viviane Reding was left feeling decidedly crumby on Monday during a visit to London, after thieves nicked her luggage from an official EU car. Among the items stolen was a cottage pie that the commissioner reportedly purchased from a farmers' market in Blighty's capital. Apparently, Reding is a fan of …

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  1. Sir Sham Cad

    Showcase?

    Much as I enjoy them I wouldn't have picked a cottage pie to showcase the best of British pies! A quick (but usually expensive) trip to Borough Market will net you some fantastic pastry-based nosh.

    Maybe Eric Pickles ate all the good ones?

    1. jai

      Re: Showcase?

      +1 for Borough Market recommendation

      I used to work on the opposite side of the River and we'd go there for Friday lunch some weeks. Fresh cooked burgers at the butchers and then a pint or two in the pub before heading back to the office to avoid doing any work until hometime.

      oh those were the days....

  2. Tom 7

    Cheese? In a cottage pie?

    What is traditional cuisine coming too?

    1. wowfood

      Re: Cheese? In a cottage pie?

      I know some folks make cottage pie with cheese either grated atop, or mixed in with the maxh. Whenever we make it at home we've taken to using a mix of normal and sweet potato mash instead. No cheese though.

      Hey El Reg ,we've had the perfect tea, the perfect bacon sarnie. Isn't it time for the perfect cottage pie?

      1. wikkity

        Re: Cheese? In a cottage pie?

        No, has to have grated cheese on top, fantastic as it melts in the mash as you eat it.

    2. Captain Scarlet

      Re: Cheese? In a cottage pie?

      Well its either that or dollop of Tomato Ketchup

      1. Tom 7

        Re: Cheese? In a cottage pie?

        Ketchup - how dare you!

        A good cottage pie made with proper meat - with that lovely white stuff on it - will provide all the juiciness you need - ideally drenching half the mash while leaving to top to crisp. If its made with turnips and swede as well it can be a complete meal in one and surprisingly delicious.

      2. Oli 1

        Re: Cheese? In a cottage pie?

        Ketchup? Behave! ;)

        1. VinceH

          Re: Cheese? In a cottage pie?

          No, I agree with Captain Scarlet - a nice big dollop of tomato ketchup.

          Mind you, I am a very big kid and tend to have a nice big dollop of tomato ketchup on most main meals. :)

    3. Charles Manning

      Re: Cheese? In a cottage pie?

      Prefer a teaspoon or two of curry powder myself...

      1. Andrew Moore
        Mushroom

        Re: Cheese? In a cottage pie?

        BURN THE HERETIC!!!!

  3. Winkypop Silver badge
    Devil

    Some say...

    ...the NAZIs never invaded due to the English weather and the food...

    Not me, of course, but some...

    1. Valeyard

      Re: Some say...

      Probably had something to do with the guns and planes pointed at them too

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Some say...

        "Probably had something to do with the guns and planes pointed at them too"

        They would be armed with 1940's armour-piercing pies then.

        The don't like it up 'em, apparently.

    2. Eradicate all BB entrants

      Re: Some say...

      I was always under the impression that spice/sauces were added to food to hide the taste of spoiled meat. Therefore the more sauce/spice in a dish the more likely it was that the meat used was spoiled.

      Using that as a basis for whose food is actually the worst then the UK doesn't fare too badly.

      As for the theft? Tough, and I hope insurance refuses to pay out as they weren't secured.

      1. Dave Bell

        Re: Some say...

        That's a myth promulgated by teachers in the past. Spices were crazily expensive. and humans, for entirely sensible reasons, are very good at detecting food spoilage. I remember being told that about medieval times, and later learning that most of the spices were not avaiable at that time. There were local herbs, but many have gone out of use.

        School history lessons are sometimes less reliable than Wikipedia.

    3. wowfood

      Re: Some say...

      You know things are bad when they don't invade England because of food and weather, but then go full steam into Russia instead.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    She looks like my mum

    Circa 1986.

  5. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse

    @ She looks like my mum...

    Presumably you are called Otis?

  6. Ugotta B. Kiddingme

    inquiring former colonials want to know...

    What, if anything, is the difference between a cottage pie and a shepherd's pie? My sister-in-law is from Scotland and her shepherd's pie is pretty awesome.

    1. Tom 7

      Re: inquiring former colonials want to know...

      The clue is in the name: Shepherds pie made with Shep the dog. Cottage pie made with beef - or horse if it comes in a box.

      1. Andrew Moore

        Re: inquiring former colonials want to know...

        I always thought cottage pie was made from cottagers.

    2. Valeyard

      Re: inquiring former colonials want to know...

      Shepherd's pie is lamb and cottage pie is beef

      I asked my wife this the other day when i said i've never had a cottage pie, and it turns out I do because she always uses beef but everyone still calls it shepherd's pie anyway :/

      1. Charles Manning

        Re: inquiring former colonials want to know...

        Mutton, not lamb.

        The idea behind pie making etc with ground up meat is that it lets you use less favourable cuts and types of meat. Hence older mutton gets ground up and made into pies. Lamb is too good to use this way and should be eaten as recognisable body parts.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I've found that mixing a good dollop of mustard, preferably of the wholegrain variety, into the mash before topping the cottage pie makes for a tasty variation on the classic recipe...

  8. Charles Manning

    Good thing she didn't get it back to Brussels

    They'd have analysed it, made some EU regs for a standardised EU cottage pie, and banned the British one like they tried to do with bangers.

    1. dajames

      Re: Good thing she didn't get it back to Brussels

      They'd have analysed it ...

      ... and then banned it for not being made of bricks and covered with genuine thatch (cheese optional).

    2. Blakey

      Re: Good thing she didn't get it back to Brussels

      Yes, minister...

  9. ideapete
    Facepalm

    Fagin Says

    No EU worthless crap needed boys

  10. Chad H.

    I would gladly buy her a pie, not just for the great consuler lead work that she'd done, but also for the simple fact it seems she's able to tell the difference between a shepards's pie and a cottage pie.

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