Shepherd’s Pie: The Pie That Delayed Rolling Stones Concerts

First published in FNL-Guide in May 2025

We find ourselves in the Rolling Stones` dressing rooms several years ago, as the band prepares for yet another performance that will add to their legacy as one of the greatest bands of all time. Large tables are weighed down with countless bottles of alcohol, while plates of food are passed back and forth among assistants, musicians, managers, and technicians. Amidst all this tension and commotion, a freshly baked Shepherd`s Pie sits untouched, despite several eyes casting a conflicted mixture of emotions upon it. The reason is simple: no one touches the Shepherd`s Pie until Keith Richards has eaten first. To chronologically locate when the unwritten law of Shepherd`s Pie was established during the Rolling Stones` tours, we need to go back to 1989, when the band decided to perform live to promote their album released that year titled “Steel Wheels.” Keith Richards, known for his love of this particular dish, arrived late at the concert venue, eagerly anticipating to eat his favourite meal before going on stage. Unfortunately for everyone, someone had managed to sneak a bite from the pie, leading Richards to refuse to perform until a Shepherd`s Pie was prepared exclusively for him from scratch. This indeed happened. In fact, in Keith Richards` biography, it is mentioned by his first wife, Anita Pallenberg, that he threatened the person who took the piece, stating that he would cut off their legs and have them cooked inside the pie.

Starting with the basics, Shepherd`s Pie has its roots in Scotland, where it first appeared around 1850. The traditional ingredients included finely chopped roasted lamb or mutton, complemented by carrots and peas. Shortly thereafter, with the potato cultivation becoming quite popular on the island, small cubes of potato were added to the filling, and a layer of mashed potatoes topped the dish before it went into the oven, making the meal more filling. This development established it, decades later, as one of the favourite dishes of the middle class in the United Kingdom. However, it is worth mentioning that its predecessor, Cottage Pie, emerged nearly sixty years earlier, with minced beef as its primary ingredient. In both cases, the thought process behind the recipe remained the same: to allow the farming family to make the most of leftover ingredients by creating a simple but hearty dish.Keith Richards grew up in post-war England at a time when the living standards of workers like his father were quite low. Unsurprisingly, dishes such as Shepherd`s Pie were very popular among these social classes, and according to him, his grandfather made it wonderfully. His mother preferred to cook the Cottage version, which is why, with a quick search online, most recipes referred to as Keith Richards` Shepherd`s Pie use minced beef.On August 17, 1994, during the Rolling Stones` visit to Canada, the newspaper The Toronto Starinvited three renowned chefs to prepare different versions of Shepherd`s Pie, featuring them in its Food Life supplement to honour Keith`s culinary passion. In fact, the newspaper`s staff jokingly apologised to Mick Jagger for not being inspired by his favourite dish at the time, which was shrimp curry.

"When I’m on tour and before concerts, I don’t want to eat anything too solid. Shepherd’s Pie is like baby food for me and reminds me of home, no matter how far I am from it," Richards repeats in his interviews. "As strange as it may sound, the secret to my ultimate recipe was given to me by my former security chief, Big Joe Seabrook from Wembley. Before you place the mashed potatoes on top, you cut some raw onion into rings. I know the filling has onions, but that`s already cooked and lacks the bite of the raw onion. Believe me, it makes a huge difference in the final result." The evergreen guitarist of the Rolling Stones always accompanies his pie with HP brown sauce, to which he has repeatedly declared his addiction. Furthermore, to expand on his excessive demands, a complete replica of a British pub is often set up backstage during the band`s concerts, harmonising the flavours with the environment.

Personally, when I hear "Shepherd’s Pie," my mind travels to Camden Town in London, where I was invited several years ago to a studio report for a then-upcoming band from Scotland, Mendeed. The schedule included listening to their new album, a lunch break at a nearby pub, a trip to the legendary Underworld for a concert, and a return to the hotel for interviews. Immediately after the album listening session, I pretended to feel unwell and slipped away to the Covent Garden area just to try the legendary version from Ivy Restaurant, which has been on their menu for the past thirty years, or perhaps even longer. The mixture of minced beef and lamb in the filling added a fascinating complexity to the final result, an element that was missing from Mendeed`s music, which disbanded a few years later. Nevertheless, my favourite Shepherd’s Pie remains the one that was prepared for a time by the Irish chef Richard Corrigan at Corrigan’s Mayfair. 

As one would expect, a dish that is so deeply intertwined with British culture quickly found its way beyond its borders. The Michelin-starred Les Gourmands in Belgium adapted the recipe with duck meat, adding orange marmalade, while our own Brutus Tavern serves a variation with oxtail, French Comté cheese, béchamel, and topped with a crispy crust that the waiter breaks before you.

Shepherd`s Pie is a memory, a tradition, a dish that carries the history of the British countryside. From the farmhouses of Northern England to the bustling dressing rooms of the Rolling Stones, this humble pie has managed to become a hallmark for one of the most popular guitarists of all time. Each bite carries a sense of home warmth, possessing the power of nostalgia, which is perhaps why Keith Richards insists it be his last meal before stepping on stage.