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Wednesday 29 January 2014
Mad Not to Try this Scrum-ptious Pie
Phil Vickery & Mad About Pies - Wild Boar & Cider Pie Review
Phil Vickery was a character that confused me for a long time. It gives away my interests but to me Phil Vickery is a Rugby player. A few years ago I discovered that there was another Phil Vickery that was a chef. However, then I realised that these were both the same person, Phil Vickery the Rugby player having won Celebrity Masterchef in 2011. I was then pleased to find out that Phil Vickery loves pies which led to him being a judge at the British Pie Awards. After the British Pie Awards I saw the photos, quickly realising it clearly was not the Rugby player Phil Vickery, there must be two after all! As if this wasn't already confusing enough, it turns out that Phil Vickery the Rugby player turned chef also has a love of pies, in fact you could say he was Mad About Pies. The Rugby legend has teamed up with Gloucestershire's own Mad About Pies. They have produced a range of gourmet pies which claim to have been recipients of the aforementioned mentioned British Pie Awards. The confusion was enough to drive me mad...
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But would having the Gloucester legend on board make me go mad for these pies? Initial impressions are good, you can see from the picture that the pie had an interesting mottled brown Colour and the letters 'WB' printed on the top. This lettering system on top of pies is becoming ever more popular with Paul's Pies, Lovett's, Farmcafe Food Market (and others) trying between them to create the world's tastiest alphabet using only pies. Condition was nearly perfect although the pie had a small amount of sagging in the lid and base. The Capacity was good with this being a fairly large pie at 270g although it could have been a bit taller. There was no air gap at all with it being full to the brim. I was impressed by the fact that I could cut a section out of this pie without it falling apart.
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But now onto the taste and texture. I was delighted by the Content of this pie, the cider and mustard made it a flavour sensation. It was great that you could really taste the cider, often these sorts of additions get lost amongst the other flavours, I often find this with ale in a steak and ale pie. In this instance the cider gave the pie a slightly sour taste which complemented the wild boar. The Wild Boar meat itself was great quality, tender and not at all Chewy. Much better than the other wild boar pie I previously tried. The inclusion of carrot added a nice variety to the taste. So far so good but this pie was not Consistently brilliant, but only due to some minor criticism. The shortcrust pastry tasted nice, especially on the sides and base. However, the lid was slightly dry and tasted a little doughy in places. There was a nice crispiness to the pastry, I appreciate it is difficult to get pastry with a nice crunch which avoids dryness completely.
Mad About Pies is owned by the same people as The Farmers Boy Inn in Gloucestershire where the pies originated from. They have a wine and pie shop; a visit to which is now high up on my pie-orities!
Wild Boar & Cider (Phil Vickery & Mad About Pies)
5.87/7
SJL
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Good shout to go to the Farmers Boy wine and pie shop, we went and had a '2 in 1' which was literally half Steak and Guinness and half Cauli Cheese, it was epic, especially with the chips which were amazing in their own right. We took a couple home from the shop too: Sweet Potato & Butternut Squash and Chicken, Leek & Mushroom which were both amazing. Best pie until these was at the Larmer Tree Festival (Pieminister's Matador (steak, chorizo, sherry, butter beans & olives) and it's hard to choose between them. Guess I'll have to keep testing...
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation, we will have to try this 2 in 1 pie combo, sounds incredible. I don't think that is something we have ever come across anywhere else. We have also rated the Matador pie highly giving it 6.03/7 http://www.pierate.co.uk/2011/07/whats-matterdor.html
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