Yesterday, I had Shepard’s Pie for lunch.

So you know, I experienced a sincere moment of reluctance before writing that sentence. I guess I’m both embarrassed and ashamed to admit that I ate Shepard’s Pie. And until now, I don’t think I really knew that about myself.

What an exciting moment of self-discovery.

If you don’t know what Shepard’s Pie is, then hey, we should get together sometime and talk about it, ‘cause I’ve eaten it twice in the last week, and I’m still not totally sure what it is. But by now, all those context clues should have told you that Shepard’s Pie is one of those not-really-a-pie pies. Like Meat Pie. Or Mince-Meat Pie, maybe.

From what I could tell, Shepard’s Pie is just ground beef, melted cheese, and mashed potatoes all sorta mixed up and baked together until it melts and congeals into one thing that you eat. It doesn’t sound good, and it doesn’t look good. But yesterday, having grown sick of every other Whole Foods lunchtime option, I was desperate.

Turns out, Shepard’s Pie is pretty good. Almost very good, actually. In my family, we would call it nyun-nyun. Like grilled cheese and warm chicken soup. Those are nyun-nyun. A blanket or a soft sweater can be nyun-nyun too, but that doesn’t mean you should eat them. It makes sense that Shepard’s Pie would be nyun-nyun, as two of its three main ingredients are, essentially, nyun-nyun.

But any enjoyment aside, I was happy to see that Whole Foods was just as embarrassed by the mounds of Shepard's Pie they serve every day. Check out how they label it:



That’s a little blurry, so I’ll type it out:

BEEF FEATURE #4, HOT

Mmmm...taxonomy. Best served awkward.