Cornwall's Pride Before a Fall

Cornish pie review

Cornwall is a beautiful county, full over idyllic coves and picturesque fishing villages. It has a fiercely independent identity with some claiming it should be a separate country. They are also, of course, famous for a particular pastry product. (Which it must be stated is in no way a pie!) You would however expect that they might not be so bad at making other pastry products too. It seems it's these images a company that call themselves Cornwall's Pride have tried to tap into. But can they live up to this reputation? I came across a family sized Cornwall's Pride Sausage and Onion Lattice Pie in Co-op for just £2. I was intregued by this flavour, I was expecting something strange from a Sausage and Onion pie. I was also drawn in by the fact that this pie could be eaten cold, a great selling point for a savoury pie. There is a definite a gap in the market there. Most supermarkets sell slices and pasties to take away and each cold, so why not also sell pies to be eaten cold? Pies are equally as portable, but have a proven superior height to width ratio.

This is certainly NOT what the actual pie looked like

However, to cut right to the chase, I was instantly disappointed. This pie was none other than a sausage roll masquerading as a pie. The filling seemed to me to be identical to any sausage roll, although perhaps not as good given that it was quite grisly. Also, you can just make out from the photos (due to the lattice top) that there was a significant amount of empty space at the edge of the pie. I did attempt to eat all of this pie in one go which was a mistake. It seemed quite dry and sickly, as you can imagine, it was just like trying to eat a whole pack of sausage rolls. Ultimately this pie scored fairly well on cheapness but was a disappointment. I would rather just buy a pack of sausage rolls to be honest which made me realise the score should be low. I don't feel this was anything for Cornwall to be proud of. If you know of a pie Cornwall can be proud of then tweet @pierateers.

You can see the gaps around the edge!

Oh and one more thing, lattice pies look great but to really get a good score from me you need to fully enclose your filling in pastry.

Sausage & Onion Lattice (Cornwall's Pride)
2.50/7

SJL