Pie fans ahoy! With over 600 pie reviews, Pierate is surely the web's premier pie resource. We've been eating and rating pies according to the 'Seven Cs' since 2009. Follow us on @pierateers. pierateship@yahoo.co.uk
Monday 31 December 2012
2012 Pierate Pie-lights!
It may be cliché,
but what a year it’s just been! 2012 everybody! Take a bow!
There are too many highlights to mention them all here, but here are a few 2012 Pie-lights from the Pierateers:
Pies reviewed from Germany, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Australia, Wales, Corfu and - of course - England! (too many to link to!)
And who can
forget the record-breaking 63 posts made this year (including the first
September post on pierate!), making it the most productive year yet! Here’s to
many more pies and reviews in 2013!
Forget the Christmas Pudding! I want Aldi Pie!
Aldi Specially Selected Luxury Apple (with Sultanas) Pie Review
When my old uni friend Dan suggested bringing Apple Pie, alongside Christmas Pudding, for our “277 Dawlish” Christmas meal together, my immediate thought was “forget the Christmas Pudding!” But for the good of the non-Pierateers in attendance at the meal, I thought I best not be too pie-ased with my favouritism for pie. (Apparently some people do eat other puddings now and then?!)
So with all
the visitors – “Andy”, Dan and Mandy, James, Jeremy, Mark, Seth and Stu (and
Barnaby via text) – having tucked into the Melon starter and Roast Turkey
dinner, it was time to bring on (and somehow find room for) the pie and
custard. A quite massive “Specially Selected Luxury Apple Pie” was brought out,
having been cooked for a good 45 minutes on low heat, so it was piping hot and golden
in colour – perfect condition for a Pierateer. The pastry itself ranged from quite
a thick crisp outer crust to a slightly soggier central pastry lid. The apple
was in quite large chunks but was very tasty and soft to cut through. The mix
of pastry and apple – with the odd sultana thrown in for good measure – was delightfully
balanced content. The capacity couldn’t have been any greater, with no room for
air in this pie! Serving at least 12, it was a great sized pudding too. My main
criticism is that the central pastry was a bit too soggy, but overall the
feedback from myself (and my distinguished guests) was that this really was a
luxurious pie. Just next time, I’ll try not to make the error of having such a
large portion of dinner beforehand! |
| Aldi Apple Pie Review |
Aldi Specially Selected Luxury Apple (with Sultanas) Pie
Score: 6.05/7
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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Sunday 23 December 2012
Is it a McPie? - The McDonald’s Festive Chocolate Pie
I’m sure most
of our avid readers have read our critique of the McDonald’s Apple Pie (UKedition). In fact, at 863 page views and counting, it’s our most popular
article. But here at pierate we can’t hold a grudge – and more importantly,
daren’t miss out on a potentially good pie. Which is why, in this festive
period, with goodwill to all pie manufacturers, I couldn’t resist the chance
for a new potential pie flavour. Could the McPastry department have realised
the error of their ways? Had they taken on a new Head of McPastry and gone for
an actual pie this time? The golden arches beckoned me in for a festive McDonald’s Orange Flavour Chocolate Pie...
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| McDonald's Festive Pie |
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| Orange flavoured chocolate filling pastry (it's not a pie!) |
From
everyone aboard the Pierate ship - Merry Christmas everyone!
RAS
Friday 21 December 2012
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait(rose)
Note: The following pie is no longer being sold by Waitrose in this form, having been replaced by a 'top crust' version. We are clearly disappointed that Waitrose have done this!
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Waitrose - Chicken and White Wine Pie Review
I don't often pop into my local Waitrose. Mainly because I don't have one. I live in one of the more 'edgy' parts of South London. We don't have many of the kinds of people who go to Waitrose. More the kinds of people who walk down the street talking to a stick or asking for 37p because they went into the pub and 'lost' all their money.
So upon finding myself in a Waitrose store I decided to try one of their premium products. I thought I deserved this after taking one for the team and reviewing some of the cheap Tesco Value pies. The slightly unusual flavour of Chicken & Tarragon caught my eye. This pie came in at just under £4 for one which didn't seem great on the Cheapness front. That said it probably wasn't designed to be for one person but I felt up to the challenge. It looked to be in great Condition after a short time in the cookery box. A golden puff pastry lid and shortcrust sides, my favourite. Cutting it open a lovely creamy gravy oozed out. Taking a bite what struck me was the unusually high quality of the chicken. It didn't taste at all reconstituted or pumped full of water like too often is the case with supermarket pies. The next feather in the cap for this pie was one of the holy grails for the pie lover. Pastry crispy on the outside but gooey on the inside. It was really a delight to eat and one of the best pies I have had in a while.
Chicken, White Wine & Tarragon (Waitrose)
6.35/7
SJL
Tuesday 18 December 2012
The best pie blog is on Twitter!
So 1,132 days since we first started blogging about our love of pies, we have finally taken our pie craving to Twitter! We'll be tweeting about all sorts of pie-related things - steak pies, apple pies, pie crust, pie recipes, you name it - and we'd love you to become a follower!
continue reading "The best pie blog is on Twitter!"
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
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Friday 14 December 2012
All I want for Christmas is... meat pie!
On a cold
December lunchtime, the Christmas tree and festive decorations welcome locals
into the Sacks of Potatoes pub in central Birmingham. But to be honest, for me,
all they needed were the “Turkey and Sausage Pie” adverts that seemed to adorn
nearly every table in the pub, as part of their festive menu. I was sold. After
all, putting the traditional Roast Turkey aside for a minute, what better
festivity than to share a Christmas Pie with all the meaty trimmings?!
The
Christmas pie revolution seems to be taking off, with pies adorning pub festive
menus. And at £5.95 for a pie dinner and drink, it’s decent value too. It’s a
great alternative to the standard roast – perhaps a Boxing day treat for those
Christmas leftovers? What’s important though here is that they stuck to their
guns with the traditional turkey and a focus of meat, meat, meat! Nice one. Merry
Christmas everybody!
Turkey and
Sausage (with Cranberry) Pie
Score: 5.75/7
RAS
Tuesday 11 December 2012
Can you taste the difference? Sainsbury's pie review
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Chicken and Ham and Steak Pie Reviews
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference range brags that you can literally, taste the difference. However, it doesn't specify what you are trying to taste the difference between?
This Pierateer decided to try and taste the difference between two pies, utilizing the offer of 2 pies for £5. One pie was peppered beef steak flavour and the other was chicken and ham flavour, and let me tell you I could certainly taste the difference between them!
The pastry of both was wonderful. It was light and crispy on the outside with a nice golden colour, and the inside was lovely and gooey, soaked in gravy.
The capacity left a lot to be desired though. Although only small pies (individual sized), the chunks of meat, specifically in the chicken and ham pie, were few and far between. Certainly, I've had pies with worse filling, but for a 'posh' pie I was a bit disappointed. For the steak pie, I didn't really think that it could be bragged as being 'peppered'. There were some whole black peppercorns in there, but it wasn't that peppery.
I did enjoy my lunch time snack, and for £2.50 (regular price £2.99) the were probably worth the price, but honestly I would probably rather spend £1.50 on the regular Sainsbury's pie.
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Steak Pie
Score: 4.3/7
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Chicken and Ham Pie
Score: 4.1/7
ARL
continue reading "Can you taste the difference? Sainsbury's pie review"
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference range brags that you can literally, taste the difference. However, it doesn't specify what you are trying to taste the difference between?
This Pierateer decided to try and taste the difference between two pies, utilizing the offer of 2 pies for £5. One pie was peppered beef steak flavour and the other was chicken and ham flavour, and let me tell you I could certainly taste the difference between them!The pastry of both was wonderful. It was light and crispy on the outside with a nice golden colour, and the inside was lovely and gooey, soaked in gravy.
The capacity left a lot to be desired though. Although only small pies (individual sized), the chunks of meat, specifically in the chicken and ham pie, were few and far between. Certainly, I've had pies with worse filling, but for a 'posh' pie I was a bit disappointed. For the steak pie, I didn't really think that it could be bragged as being 'peppered'. There were some whole black peppercorns in there, but it wasn't that peppery.
I did enjoy my lunch time snack, and for £2.50 (regular price £2.99) the were probably worth the price, but honestly I would probably rather spend £1.50 on the regular Sainsbury's pie.
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Steak Pie
Score: 4.3/7
Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Chicken and Ham Pie
Score: 4.1/7
ARL
See where this pie ended up in the Pierate Pie Rankings or find other pies of a similar flavour.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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