Tuesday 30 January 2018
Football Pie Review: Meet the Meat-Free Pie
Forest Green Rovers Q Pie Review
Football League new boys Forest Green Rovers are striving to be the most environmentally sustainable football club in the world. Their owner, Dale Vince, is the owner of green electricity company Ecotricity. The pitch is fertilised naturally, they have solar panels on the roof and most controversially they don't serve any meat throughout the whole stadium! I really like the fact that Forest Green are trying hard to be more environmentally sustainable. It is also hugely important to me. I try hard to be more sustainable because the damage I see mankind causing to the world (and hence ourselves) breaks my heart. However, we all make personal choices about how much effort we put in and I realise I could do a lot more. Avoiding using a car suits me fine because I live in a city and get some much needed exercise. However, I am certainly not a vegan! I grew up on a dairy farm and love milk, I would find it hard to give it up. When it comes to meat my passion for pies conflicts with this somewhat! I am not against a vegetarian effort but they just don't tend to be so good. Only a select few vegetarian pies have gained Pierate Recommended status. But in spite of this, I was happy to give the Forest Green pie a go in the hope that they could persuade me. Pierateer RAS had also been kind enough to give me a birthday voucher for free football pies for every new ground not already in our 'Pieremiership' Football Pie League; I really had no excuse not to give it a go for the match against Wycombe Wanderers.
The pie was billed as a 'Q pie' with the Q presumably standing for Quorn, everyone's favourite microfungus. Considering the £3.50 cost, the pie was on the small side but it did look quite good. An unusual shape, the pie has a domed lid with a large crimp around the edge. The mottled colour hinted at a hand finished glaze although it was unclear if the pie itself was made by hand. Happily, the pie also seemed to have been well cooked. The crunch of the pastry confirmed this. We often moan about how pastry is either burned out or soggy for football pies so it was very refreshing to find such good pastry. It tasted nice enough to eat on it's own. This was a good thing because, due to the crimp and the small size of the pie, there was rather a lot of it! The filling was a chicken and leek type affair, except of course with Quorn instead of chicken. (This is perhaps obvious but I just want to clarify there was NO MEAT, I know this may be an unfamiliar concept to many of our readers). The flavour was actually very nice and went very well with the pastry. The sauce was lovely and thick and well seasoned, the leek added plenty of flavour. My my main gripe was that there just wasn't much of it. I would have thought quorn would be cheaper than chicken so it seemed a bit tight to have scrimped on it. In terms of the quorn itself, it was fine but the texture is just not quite as good as chicken. It is always going to be a bit more spongy. Having said that, it still had more bite than a mince meat pie and at least there were no gristly bits. The fake meat was in quite large chunks.
Overall, this pie worked quite well, mainly just losing points on the 'Cheapness' criterion. But it was worth paying a bit more because this pie was simply better quality than pies at most football ground. Therefore, controversially this pie does rather well in our 'Football Pie League' sitting just outside the top ten. A great performance from a vegetarian pie! Second only to the Piglet's Pantry effort in terms of vegetarian pies.
Q Pie (Forest Green Rovers)
4.56/7
SJL
Football League new boys Forest Green Rovers are striving to be the most environmentally sustainable football club in the world. Their owner, Dale Vince, is the owner of green electricity company Ecotricity. The pitch is fertilised naturally, they have solar panels on the roof and most controversially they don't serve any meat throughout the whole stadium! I really like the fact that Forest Green are trying hard to be more environmentally sustainable. It is also hugely important to me. I try hard to be more sustainable because the damage I see mankind causing to the world (and hence ourselves) breaks my heart. However, we all make personal choices about how much effort we put in and I realise I could do a lot more. Avoiding using a car suits me fine because I live in a city and get some much needed exercise. However, I am certainly not a vegan! I grew up on a dairy farm and love milk, I would find it hard to give it up. When it comes to meat my passion for pies conflicts with this somewhat! I am not against a vegetarian effort but they just don't tend to be so good. Only a select few vegetarian pies have gained Pierate Recommended status. But in spite of this, I was happy to give the Forest Green pie a go in the hope that they could persuade me. Pierateer RAS had also been kind enough to give me a birthday voucher for free football pies for every new ground not already in our 'Pieremiership' Football Pie League; I really had no excuse not to give it a go for the match against Wycombe Wanderers.
The pie was billed as a 'Q pie' with the Q presumably standing for Quorn, everyone's favourite microfungus. Considering the £3.50 cost, the pie was on the small side but it did look quite good. An unusual shape, the pie has a domed lid with a large crimp around the edge. The mottled colour hinted at a hand finished glaze although it was unclear if the pie itself was made by hand. Happily, the pie also seemed to have been well cooked. The crunch of the pastry confirmed this. We often moan about how pastry is either burned out or soggy for football pies so it was very refreshing to find such good pastry. It tasted nice enough to eat on it's own. This was a good thing because, due to the crimp and the small size of the pie, there was rather a lot of it! The filling was a chicken and leek type affair, except of course with Quorn instead of chicken. (This is perhaps obvious but I just want to clarify there was NO MEAT, I know this may be an unfamiliar concept to many of our readers). The flavour was actually very nice and went very well with the pastry. The sauce was lovely and thick and well seasoned, the leek added plenty of flavour. My my main gripe was that there just wasn't much of it. I would have thought quorn would be cheaper than chicken so it seemed a bit tight to have scrimped on it. In terms of the quorn itself, it was fine but the texture is just not quite as good as chicken. It is always going to be a bit more spongy. Having said that, it still had more bite than a mince meat pie and at least there were no gristly bits. The fake meat was in quite large chunks.
Overall, this pie worked quite well, mainly just losing points on the 'Cheapness' criterion. But it was worth paying a bit more because this pie was simply better quality than pies at most football ground. Therefore, controversially this pie does rather well in our 'Football Pie League' sitting just outside the top ten. A great performance from a vegetarian pie! Second only to the Piglet's Pantry effort in terms of vegetarian pies.
Q Pie (Forest Green Rovers)
4.56/7
SJL
Tuesday 23 January 2018
Hap-pie American National Pie Day 2018!
Hap-pie National Pie Day to our American Friends!!
Yes, today 23rd January is America's National Pie Day and (as with a lot of things Stateside) the Brits love any excuse to jump on board with American food days and festivals! (Any excuse to eat pie really!!) But it must not be forgotten that while in America they dedicate just a day to pie, here in Britain we need a whole WEEK!!! Step up to the plate British Pie Week, which is now just a few weeks away, and here at Pierate - Pie Reviews we'll once again be the leading promoter of the pie in British Pie Week!
Hap-pie National Pie Day!!! |
Our top rated American pie - steak and ale pie from Pleasant House Pub in Chicago |
British Pie Week 2018 Logo |
For those that don't know, we at Pierate Pie Reviews are a few friends who love pies and want to see them recognised for what they are - the piefect heart warming meal or snack in a pastry parcel! It just so happens that we've rated well over 600 pies in the process! And we once again plan to be at the heart of British Pie Week 2018 - which is this year from Monday 5th to Sunday 11th March - and you can follow our adventures on Twitter and this blog throughout the week, as we once again do our daily Pie Week Diary.
For more information about British Pie Week, join the thousands of readers of our "British Pie Week - Everything you should know!" article from a year ago!
But if you are Stateside yourself or just want to drool over some top American pies, here's some of our favourite pies we've eaten in America! (And don't worry, they were encased in pastry!!)
"Chicago Get These Royally Good Pies" - Our Pierate Highly Recommended Steak and Ale Pie Review from Pleasant House Pub in Chicago, who serve Royal Pies!
"Who Are Hoosier Mama Pie Company?" - Our Pierate Highly Recommended Chicken Pot Pie and Apple Pie Reviews from Hoosier Mama Pie Company in Chicago
"New York Pie Review: Apple Pie from Pies n Thighs" - Our Pierate Highly Recommended Apple Pie Review from Pies n Thighs in New York
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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Friday 19 January 2018
British Pie Week 2018 Logo Launch
With British Pie Week just a few weeks away and Pierate - Pie Reviews becoming the leading promoter of the pie in British Pie Week, we thought that the week long celebration of pie needed a new logo!
British Pie Week 2018 Logo |
Featuring a pie design, knife, fork and the date, we've kept the logo simple but effective and we are happy for any websites, companies or other sources to use the logo for free. Unlike the previous commercial logo, we're not looking to promote our brand or product, but simply want a logo that focuses on the pie and puts the pie back into the centre of British Pie Week!
For those that don't know, we at Pierate Pie Reviews are a few friends who love pies and want to see them recognised for what they are - the piefect heart warming meal or snack in a pastry parcel! It just so happens that we've rated well over 600 pies in the process! And we once again plan to be at the heart of British Pie Week 2018 - which is this year from Monday 5th to Sunday 11th March - and you can follow our adventures on Twitter and this blog throughout the week, as we once again do our daily Pie Week Diary.
For more information about British Pie Week, join the thousands of readers of our "British Pie Week - Everything you should know!" article from a year ago!
British Pie Week 2018 is from 5th to 11th March! |
Whatever you’re going to be up to this British Pie Week - and it's never too early to start planning - we hope you have pie and enjoy it! For more ideas, why not check out our #PiePledge video below?
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!
|
Thursday 18 January 2018
British Pie Week Logo coming soon!
With just a few weeks to go until British Pie Week 2018, we're getting ready to unveil the British Pie Week 2018 logo here at Pierate HQ! Designed to be simple and quite generic, we hope that others will decide to use it in the lead up to and during British Pie Week itself. So stay tuned to the Pierate website tomorrow for the unveiling of the 2018 logo and in the coming weeks for our build up to the most exciting week in pie - British Pie Week!
Find out more about the history of British Pie Week by visiting our dedicated British Pie Week page!
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!
|
Tuesday 16 January 2018
Countdown to the 10th British Pie Awards in 2018
Judges at the British Pie Awards, including Pierateer Sam |
Back for an incredible 10th year - and in British Pie Week no less - the British Pie Awards returns as a highlight of the year in pie. Held in the heart of Pork Pie country, pie makers, pie enthusiasts and - most importantly - the pies themselves head to Melton Mowbray every year for the judging of up to 1,000 pies in just one day and to crown their supreme champion. Back this year in the beautiful St Mary’s Church, located in the heart of Melton Mowbray, the judging will take place on Wednesday 7th March and the Award's Lunch on Friday 9th March.
The British Pie Awards will return to St Mary's Church in 2018! |
So following on from our "British Pie Awards 2017 - Live!" article last year, on Wednesday 7th March we'll be joining around 100 judges and over 800 pies for a pie-filled day of photos, interviews and behind the scenes info!
With last year's judges including Food and Drink TV producer Andy Clarke, Channel 4's Felicity Spector and pie judging regular Xanthe Clay from the Daily Telegraph, in addition to friend of the blog Nik Speller, author Martin Tarbuck - who you may recall has written pie review book "Life of Pies" - and fellow football pie pundit Jonny Smith, we look forward to finding out who we will share a judging table with this year!
And while the British Pie Awards use a significantly different set of criteria to us, rather than the 7 Cs of pie rating that we have used to rate over 600 pies on Pierate, there are very few pie experts they could call on with more ex-pie-rience than us when it comes to judging the pie-fect pie!
This isn't the first time we've attended the British Pie Awards! Oh no! Find out more in our other articles here:
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Pierateer Rob on Rip Off Britain |
This year Pierateer Sam will be joining Pierateer Rob in attendance, who you may recognise from TV shows "The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice" and "Rip Off Britain: Food".
So what have we got to look forward to at the British Pie Awards 2018?
Well... first of all you need to know how long it is until British Pie Awards 2018, which is happening on Wednesday 7th March at 11am:
Of course if you are a pie producer, you also need to remember you only have until 5pm on Friday 16th February to make your application! This year the organisers have made it even easier to enter your pies with an online form available, so don't miss out on this fantastic way to promote your pies!
Celebrating the pies that fuel our public services in 2018
The amazing Speciality Class "Bridal Pies" at British Pie Awards 2015 |
For the 2018 Awards, the Speciality Class will celebrate pies produced in the public sector for vital services including schools, hospitals and the armed forces. Given that they are not sold commercially these pies, whilst in the running to win their class, are not eligible for consideration as Supreme Champion. Although judged to the same standards, and under the same rules as other classes, the pie makers in this category have more freedom to choose fillings, pastry type and presentation. Entrants can celebrate the pies that they are particularly proud to serve in the public sector, but are not available to the general public. We look forward to seeing them!
All that remains to be said is you won't be surprised to hear we will once again be covering the event and providing regular tweet updates from Melton Mowbray as we once again get involved in the greatest pie show on Earth, so check back on Wednesday 7th March for more pies than you can possibly imagine!
RAS
The Pierateers are on a mission to find the best pie they can and you can see a list of their pies rated so far in the Pierate Pie Rankings or find pies of a similar flavour on the Pies: Categorised page.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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