Co-operative - Rhubarb Pie Review The Co-op seem to have been going through a difficult time recently with problems with their banking division and falling profits elsewhere. By contrast Rhubarb has seen a resurgence recently with many touting the health benefits of this unusual vegetable. Perhaps a Co-operative Rhubarb pie review on the leading pie review website might be just the postive publicity that Co-op needs? Especially when this pie comes as the very first pie in the Pierate 'pie for every meal' challenge during British Pie Week.

See the pie being eaten in a 'five-a-day in one meal' combo for Breakfast in the video log for Day One of the challenge.


Despite the whole pie being eaten at once this was not a small pie, it could have comfortably served a few people for desert. It didn't have an excessively large crust like the ASDA Rhubarb pie we reviewed recently (you wait so long for a rhubarb pie review and then two in one month...). It was a decent Colour and Condition and looked much more appealing than the ASDA effort. I quickly realised that it was just too thin to get a really high score, there was a poor Capacity. The filling had a classic baked rhubarb taste with enough sugar to prevent it being too sour. Rhubarb is always a strange flavour, I always find it odd to eat a sweet pie with a vegetable in rather than a fruit. However, it is a homely flavour and works well in a pie. The pastry was good, crumbly and sweet, but not too sweet. Despite the fact that I ate far too much of this pie, I wasn't fed up of it by the end which must have been a good sign that the pie wasn't all that bad. At £1 this is a pie I would buy again although I may share it next time!



Rhubarb (Co-operative)
4.34/7

SJL

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Chicken, Bacon and Leek Lattice Pie Review by Co-op




Co-op Chicken, Bacon and Leek Lattice Pie

The first thoughts were that this pie wasn’t very deep and content therefore could have been better. Sure, the pie was filled to the top (though that’s not particularly hard in such a shallow pie) and the lattice pastry on top looked pretty and was nicely crisp, however there wasn’t much filling to go with it. This did leave the pie tasting a bit dry, particularly the base pastry, as there wasn’t very much sauce to compliment it. The dry pastry was highlighted when some of the base pastry rather crumbled as I took the pie out of the tin foil it was cooked in, diminishing the condition score, but the pastry was generally crisp and nice.



Score: 5.4/7

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The weekend of British Pie Week gave even more time fore pie eating. Upon taking a trip to a Co-op in Ipswich SJL was pleased to find they stocked pies made by a local Suffolk pie company called Hollybush Farm. There was a great selection of pies to choose from but SJL decided that the one that would be best to eat cold was the Onion Marmalade Pork Pie. A bit of a twist on the classic pork pie this pie was a delight to eat. The pastry was crumbly and soft. The filling was not at all chewy or fatty and the onion marmalade gave it a lovely sweet edge. This was one of the best pork pies SJL had tasted and at 99p it was quite good value for a sizeable pie.

While in co-op SJL also grabbed a box of apple pies in order to compare them to their contemporaries in other supermarkets. The day involved a long shopping trip in Ipswich to buy things for a new house which SJL had moved to. SJL was hugely thankful he had the pies as they gave a much needed energy boost. Three were consumed and it must be said they were pretty good. For once these pies actually looked better in real life than on the box! The pastry was soft, the filling sweet and full of apple and there wasn't much air gap in the pies. They also arrived in good condition unlike some of the Morrissons pies reviewed recently....


Hollybush Farm Produce - Onion Marmalade Pork Pie - 5.60/7
Co-op Bramley Apple Pies - Bramley Apple Pies - 4.55/7

SJL Pie Count Day Six: 4
SJL BPW Total: 21



With just two days of British Pie Week remaining, there was no time for Pierateer RAS to start resting on his laurels! However following a nice lie in, there was no need to have a breakfast pie on day six, as RAS went straight into lunch. Of course, the lunchtime menu contained pie. A Tesco Chicken and Bacon Lattice Pie, to be precise. But as much as he would have liked to eat the family sized pie all himself, RAS used this pie eating time as an opportunity to spread the love of pie with his new Italian housemate, Vincenzo. While Vincenzo had eaten a pork pie already in his first month of living in the UK, now that he had just moved in to live with a professional pie eater this was his first op-pie-tunity to try out a full meat and sauce/gravy pie. Vincenzo wasn’t to be disappointed!



Vincenzo's "Deliziosa" Pie!

The Tesco Chicken and Bacon Lattice Pie was very good (full review coming soon) and Vincenzo described his first proper pie experience as being “Deliziosa!” Here’s to many more delightful pies in the weeks and months to come!

Following the dinner, Pierateer RAS continued his Morissons Pie consumption with pie number 9 of his boxes of 12, before submitting the review of those pies (which became the 150^th and 151^st pies to be reviewed on the world’s premier pie blog – www.pierate.co.uk!)

 But possibly the highlight of the day was the opportunity that Pierateer RAS had that evening to share the joys of pie blogging with about 200 other volunteers at the Yonex All England Badminton Championships. Following the conclusion of play on Saturday, the volunteers had a buffet and drinks reception, put on by Badminton England. And to his delight, Pierateer RAS was asked to say a few words about pierate as he handed a prize out of official pierate merchandise – a bag of goodies which included a pierate t-shirt, mug, pen and book! The 60 seconds to promote the blog and some useful networking after the event helped make it the biggest audience to date for promoting pierate. It was good networking experience for when the Pierateers go to the British Pie Awards later this year (which we all have down in our diaries for Wednesday 24^th April 2013.)

Pierateer RAS then caught up with two university friends (Stu and Helen), to hang out and chat pie, and then met another old university friend at the end of his sponsored 100 mile bike ride. Well done Dan! To celebrate this amazing achievement, Pierateer RAS had his own celebration with a Steak and Kidney Pukka Pie and chips! This was RAS’s 5^th Pukka Pie of the year, as part of the Pierateers joint attempt to eat 50 Pukka Pies in 2013 to celebrate 50 years of Pukka Pies!

RAS Pie Count Day Six: 3
RAS BPW Total: 17


Day Six Total: 7
British Pie Week Total: 44

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