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Tuesday 28 April 2015
Pierate Goes Dutch
The Pie Shop pie review
Ik hou van taarten!
Yes, that's right, I love pies!
Pierate has gone Dutch and is trying out two pies all the way from the continent.
These Dutch pies have winged their way from the ovens of The Pie Shop in Lutjewinkel, a town in North Holland.
The Pie Shop promises 'een pie voor elke gelegenheid' - or 'a pie for every occasion'. And that's the motto of my life really - to have a pie at every occasion!
Now, here are the two pies in question:
 |
| "Dutch you wish your meat pies were just like these" |
On the left, with the sesame seed topping, we have a creambraised chicken and vegetable pie, and on the right with the freshly ground black pepper topping we have goosestew pie.
You'll be impressed to know that the chicken is organic, and the goose is Dutch wild goose. These are obviously quality, premium ingredients. How often do you have a chicken pie, knowing that the chicken is organic? And at €2,65 - or £1.90 - that's a fairly reasonable price for quality meat, so the pie will score pretty well on cheapness I think.
Let's now look at the appearance - the condition and colour. The pies are quite attractive, I think, with some nice crimping round the edge, a nice even glaze, and the added attraction of the sesame seed and pepper topping. There's no boil-out or cracking in the pastry, and the colour is a nice golden pine. I would score that well for condition and colour.
Now onto the cross-section:
The goosestew pie score well on content and capacity, as there is only a small airgap at the top and plenty of meaty filling. Below, you can see the same is also true for the chicken pie.
Both pies eat well and the filling is very tasty. However, I found the filling in both pies to be rather dry. Despite the abundance of meat, there was almost a total lack of gravy. I really would have liked some gravy with both of the pies - the meat was very tasty and very well flavoured but it was a shame that the filling felt dry by itself, adding to the chewiness. I also found the chicken pie to be lacking a bit in vegetable (normally it's the other way round though, with manufacturers trying to pad out the meat with cheaper vegetables!!).
On the other hand, the pastry was excellent. The lid was crunchy and pretty much bang on perfect - you could crack and crunch it, but it wasn't too hard or too firm. It also tasted very nice and wasn't at all bland like some pie pastry can be. I always like to see that the manufacturer has thought about the pastry and made it an integral part of the pie, rather than simply seeing it as a means to encase the filling.
All in all, I did enjoy these pies - particularly the goosestew pie, as I don't think I've ever eat goose (and especially not Dutch wild goose). If you're ever in Lutjewinkel - or even North Holland - pop into The Pie Shop to pick up a few pies: they're Pierate recommended!
Creambraised chicken and vegetable pie
Score: 5.7/7
TJP
Goosestew pie
Score: 5.8/7
TJP
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