Pierateer RAS was not going to let his commitments at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, for the Yonex All England Badminton Championships 2013, hinder his pie eating progress so far! For having the day off work (the first of three days of annual leave as part of his #piepledge to encourage pie consumption and reviewing), RAS was able to consume three new pies in a day and also promote pie eating to a number of his friend's children (more on that in a blog article soon!)

So let's start at the beginning, with a cheeky couple of Morrisons Apple and Blackcurrant pies to start the day off with. I informed Morrisons of this on twitter - still awaiting a reply - and had a rather disappointed look on my face this morning when I pulled out the following condition of pies:


Needless to say, they won't be scoring that highly on the "condition" criteria, which as we all know is one of the seven Cs.

Fortunately the Morrisons Apple Pies I shared at the City Church Mums & Tots group I helped at this morning were in a far better condition, actually having their lids firmly on their pies this time!!! Both types of pies will be reviewed shortly.

Later in the day, as part of my volunteering at the Badminton I was delighted to share dinner with a nice guy called Tony and a pretty nice pie called Apple. The full article will be added shortly.

I rounded off the day (and tried to get over the disappointment of so many early British exits in the Badminton) by having a second Morrisons Apple Pie, which again fortunately had its lid firmly in the right place!

RAS Pie Count Day Three: 5
RAS BPW Total: 8

After eating a fair few pies for Day 2 of British Pie Week SJL decided to have a bit of a tactical fallow day. It was not however completely pie free. SJL saved the mash, cabbage and gravy from the Canteen pie the day before and had it with an ASDA Chicken and Vegetable individual pie. This were in that slightly oval shape that the cheap supermarket pies always seem to be, such as the Tesco Everyday Value beef and onion pie reviewed recently. I find this shape of pie quite suspicious, they are very shallow and sometimes remind me of that other pastry product the 'slice'.

But how did it taste? Compared to the value range this is a step up. The Tesco Everyday Value pies had around 10% meat where as this standard ASDA pie had a massive 18% meat (although I am not sure if this includes the standard horse meat they include nowadays). It seemed nice enough, the gravy was thick, it certainly taste bad but to be honest I just didn't really even notice eating it. Alongside the mash and gravy there just wasn't enough filling to really discern the flavours and I certainly don't remember eating any bits of chicken. These things really must score against it. However, at just 50p each I'd say these were just about respectable additions to the fridge or freezer.

Asda - Chicken & Vegetable - 3.10/7

SJL Pie Count Day Three: 1
SJL BPW Total: 13

Wednesday lunchtime saw Pierateer TJP head to Pieminister in Farringdon, London for a 'Pietanic' fish pie. Quite often my heart sinks like the Titanic when I see a fish pie encased in potato rather than gravy, but my hopes stayed afloat when I saw that this fish pie was indeed totally encased in pastry. Full review coming soon, but it was delicious.


TJP Pie Count Day Three: 1
TJP BPW Total: 4



Day Three Total: 7
British Pie Week Total: 25

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SJL decided as his pie pledge for British Pie Week to go a whole day eating only savoury pies. No food would be eaten that wasn't encased in pie pastry, which meant no veg or mash with the pies either!

The day began with a pack of 4 Asda Mini Pork and Apple Pies which were consumed on the train into London. The train was quite packed and there was standing room only. Other people looked concerned by SJL's choice of breakfast. However, the pies were noted to be a great choice for breakfast, the sweetness of the apple stopped the pork being too overpowering. There wasn't much fat or gristle detected. The pastry was also not too solid, as it can be for hot water crust pastry. At £1.28 for the pack the price was fairly competitive with the Tesco pork pies reviewed recently.
4 pies eaten @ 50g and 184kcal each

Asda Mini Pork Pie Selection

Upon getting to the office SJL made the error of picking up some free fruit on the way in. Realising this mistake the offending banana was carefully put aside for tomorrow.
Lunchtime came and SJL had a plan. To counteract the heavy pork pies, he headed to The Little Greek Pie Company shop on Tottenham Street where the pies come in filo pastry. Upon arrival SJL was sad to find the shop had closed down, although the pies can still be brought in some other shops. Now desperate for a new pie to review SJL headed to EAT on Tottenham Court Road. What attracted SJL was that EAT proudly advertise that they serve pies, with this fact written about 7 times on the outside of the shop. A Steak & Ale Pie was ordered at £4.15, although SJL was careful to not get the accompanying mash. The pie was satisfying, with the inclusion of some vegetables which was a pleasant surprise. The meat was tender however SJL felt it tastest slightly like it came out of a tin. The pastry was firm enough to eat with your hands but still quite gooey on the inside. However did it do enough to justify the much higher price tag than a standard Pukka pie from a fish and chip shop? Two colleagues also got into the spirit of BPW by grabbing EAT pies along with SJL.
1 pie eaten @ 250g and 670kcal - Total 5 pies eaten @ 1406 kcal

EAT Steak & Ale Pie

The afternoon saw SJL open another two packs of Asda mini pies. Two Asda Snack Cheese & Pickle Lattice Pork Pies were eaten and 1 Asda Mini Pork & Stuffing Pie devoured. One pie was taken along to a meeting as 'brain food'. Both types of pie offered similar pastry to the ones eaten in the morning. However the pork and stuffing was found to be more fatty. All we considered by SJL to be good variations of the standard pork pie. Without the additional flavours this many pork pies would have been sickly. There were excess pies which were offered to colleagues although only one colleague took up the offer. At this point SJL found the taste of pie beginning to seriously repeat on him. Lots of coffee was drunk to try and suppress this.
1 pie eaten @ 50g and 199kcal
2 pies eaten @ 60g and 219kcal - Total 8 pies eaten @ 2043 kcal

The Cheese & Pickle Pork Pie

After leaving the office SJL had a sudden urge for a pie a bit more special than the others consumed so far. The others had been solid performers but there were certainly no gourmet pies. Hence SJL headed to Canteen on Baker Street which had been reviewed before and he knew they served some top London pies. However this is a restaurant so SJL was pleased when they agreed to do a take away pie for him. Unfortunately he didn't realise he was ordering a whole pie meal in a box! This unfortunately came at the standard restaurant price as well. However, this didn't stop the Canteen Celeriac, Mushroom and Leek Pie from being a fantastic pie. The Canteen pies always seem to achieve such a fantastic Colour and Condition. The pastry was gooey on the inside and crispy on the outside. The flavour was unusual but worked well. The crunchy celeriac and the soft mushroom provided good counterpoints to each other. The only downside is that the meal seems quite small for the price, especially when not eating the veg and mash!
1 pie eaten @ ~ 250g and 600kcal - Total 9 pies eaten @ 2643 kcal

Canteen Celeriac, Mushroom and Leek Pie

Arriving home the family had already been tucking into an Asda Chicken & Gravy Pie and Asda Steak & Winter Vegetable Pie so SJL grabbed a couple of slices of the action. At this stage perhaps SJL had just eaten too many pies but these failed to impress. Allegedly the chicken pie had puff pastry but this wasn't noticable as both had quite dry pastry. They were also quite thin so not a lot of Capacity. The chicken pie tasted particularly mass produced. The steak and winter vegetables at least gained some points for doing something a bit different. However there are nicer pies at this price.
1 pie eaten @ 138g and 337 kcal
1 pie eaten @ 138g and 382 kcal - Total 11 pies eaten @ 3362 kcal

The two Asda family sized pies

There were some near misses, at one point SJL accidentally ate some cabbage but this was safely spat out. One noticeable effect was a constant thirst due to the salty pies. But in the end a whole day was covered with only pies eaten and a record number of pies consumed in one day on the Pierate Ship. A learning experience, this showed that other food really isn't necessary. Why isn't everything encased in golden pie pastry?

Asda - Mini Pork & Apple Pies - 4.35/7
EAT - Steak & Ale - 4.25/7
Asda - Mini Pork & Stuffing Pies - 4.30/7
Asda - Snack Cheese & Pickle Lattice Pies - 4.35/7
Canteen - Celeriac, Mushroom & Leek Pie - 5.85/7
Asda - Chicken & Gravy Pie - 3.35/7
Asda - Steak & Winter Vegetable - 3.85/7

SJL Pie Count Day Two: 11
SJL BPW Total: 12


Pierateer RAS feels quite small and insignificant sitting next to SJL’s quite incredible #onlypiesallowed challenge today, but that didn’t stop him attending the Aston University Pie Night put on by Catering@Aston and having a very nice Chicken and Mushroom Pie (see separate review) and also providing Mr Kipling Apple Pies to another three colleagues at work. A number of colleagues had a look at the pie blog and planned to suggest good pies they’d eaten.

RAS Pie Count Day Two: 1
RAS BPW Total: 3


After the enormity of SJLs efforts on Day 2 of BPW, Pierateer TJP feels that the single medium-sized Pork Farm pork pie purchased from Sainsbury's delivered little to the Pierateers accumulated pie total. It was a decent enough pie, however, and the full review will be coming soon.


TJP Pie Count Day Two: 1
TJP BPW Total: 3

Day Two Total: 13
British Pie Week Total: 18

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The Bree Louise

SJL found the urge for a British Pie Week pie overwhelming in the morning and went into a couple of establishments but sadly it is hard to get a hot pie before lunchtime. For some reason breakfast pies aren't as available as they should be. However, this was rectified at lunch by a trip to The Bree Louise pub in Euston, London. They have a great selection of pies and the pie of the day with chips and veg is only £6, which scores high on the cheapness, especially for London. SJL opted for the Chicken and Mushroom pie of the day. The chicken was great quality and the gravy was tasty despite not being very thick. However this was sadly just a top crust pie with a puff pastry lid. Therefore this pie, despite being nice, didn't really satisfy the pie urge and whether it is a proper pie is in question. SJL was unsure what the proper etiquette for eating these puff pastry top crust pies is. Do you take the lid off? Do you crumble it up and push it into the pie? We went for the later.  

The Bree Louise - Chicken & Mushroom - 4.3/7

SJL Pie Count Day One: 1


The morning commute saw an opportunity for Pierateer RAS to notch up his first pie of British Pie Week with a cheeky Mr Kipling Apple Pie on the go (highlighting how convenient and portal pies really are!) Never had a commute to work tasted so good! Of course it is worth noting that Mr Kipling Apple Pies are the UK's favourite Apple Pie according to pie sales in 2012. Mr Ks were also given out to two colleagues at work to share the joy of British Pie Week at work!

And after a day at work, what better plan than to chill out in a pub with a pie. And this was no ordinary pub - it was the Shakespeare (a Nicholson's Free House) in Birmingham City Centre. Before you ask, no, I wasn't bard! In fact the staff there were very accommodating and the Lamb Shank Pie I had was very nice, though rather expensive, for a top crust. A full review will follow later in the week!

RAS Pie Count Day One: 2

Pierateer TJP had prepared early and purchased an emergency 6 pack stash of Mr Kipling Bramley Apple & Custard pies just in case there wasn't an opportunity for pie during one of the days of British Pie Week. However, he didn't quite forsee himself having to crack open the pack on the first day - but a fairly hectic day meant he had to delve into his emergency supply early. TJPs pie count for the day is 2 Mr Kipling Bramley Apple & Custard pies.

TJP Pie Count Day One: 2

Day One Total: 5
British Pie Week Total: 5

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The Pierateers live a simple life. We sail around until we find pie, then we eat pie, talk about pie, dream about pie, drink pints of gravy and occasionally make people walk the plank for eating a slice instead of a pie. Normally we don't have to take an interest in politics. Until someone tries to whack 20% on top of the price of our staple food.

I'll just recap what the proposals mean. All food which is sold "above ambient air temperature" will become subject to VAT, whilst those products that are served "at or below ambient air temperature" will not be. On the face of it, when a fish and chip shop has to charge VAT on a pie it sells it does seem unfair that the bakery around the corner can sell it without VAT. However, as the chief executive of Greggs bakery explains to the Guardian the proposals as they currently stand do not work. Greggs cook their pastry products and then sell them as they cool down. They are not heated up again when purchased. I can attest that I have often been into Greggs and had pastry products which have been dried out and stone cold (it's strange how that now works in their favour). Would they have to check the temperature for every product? What happens on a hot day? Will we end up with two queues in Greggs, one for hot and one for cold food? Any of these options are ridiculous and unworkable.

It will also hit some companies very hard. They have been working for years on a particular business model and now a £2.50 pie will cost £3.00 which will reduce sales and some business will struggle to cope. But the main reason to oppose such a tax is that it is almost entirely regressive. The less well off are the ones most often buying these products and are going to be hardest hit by the Pie Tax. This comes at a time when many are already struggling to get by.

Cold Hearted: Osbourne to tax hot pies

There are many petitions going around calling on the government to scrap the plans. One at Greggs stores has allegedly collected over 200,000 signatures. There has been talk of protests in bakeries up and down the country. It has been viewed as highlighting the North-South divided as well as the class divide. The government has been called out of touch and Cameron's claims to have last had a pasty at the West Cornwall Pasty company in Leeds station were cast into doubt by the fact it closed down in 2007.

But the real issue here is why are people calling it the 'pasty tax'? Pies are equally affected by the tax and the beef pie is the number one selling pastry product (ahead of the sausage roll). It is really the 'Pie Tax'. Labour are looking to challenge the Pie Tax and other aspects of the Coalition budget. Parliament has to approve the Budget before George Osborne's changes can be enacted. We will keep you up to date here at pierate.co.uk. Remember, if the worst case scenario does happen it will be a great excuse to eat as many pies as we can before the VAT kicks in.

SJL

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So as British Pie Week draws to a close I want to take time to reflect on what has been a wonderful festival of pastry and filling. What have I learnt from the week? Mainly that I can eat pie in quantities that surprise even me. It was like the rest of the year was the starter and British Pie Week the main course. Have a look at the photos of this top-crust vegetable pie that I made. Unfortunately I was so hungry I forgot to take a photo until I had eaten most of it, but you get the idea, vaguely. There were loads of different vegetables and I used a Covent Garden leek and potato soup as the base for the sauce which seemed to work well. I would say it was about family sized but I ate nearly the whole pie myself. Some of our regular readers might be surprised that I made a top crust pie. Previously I have come across as a fanatical pie purest who sounds like he is on the verge of advocating some sort of pie ethnic cleansing. I feel that maybe I am mellowing in my old age, I still wouldn't say this was a 'proper pie' (it didn't have meat, gravy or a pastry base) but it was tasty. Mainly though it was because I only had enough pastry for a lid so it was laziness more than anything.

Have a look at this other delightful looking specimen, it is a Raven's Den Chicken and Ham Pie. They are produced at Manor Farm in Buckinghamshire and sold at many farmers' markets around London. At about £5 they aren't the cheapest but they are pretty big, about twice the size of a standard individual pie. The meat is certainly of a consistently high quality and the capacity was packed with the content. The pastry colour looked as good as it tasted. The main downside to this pie was dryness. Take note Raven's Den, a good pie needs plenty of gravy! However this didn't stop me eating the first half with mash and veg and then going back and polishing off the second half. Overall I'd give it about 4.1/7.

So there you go, a fantastic week and a great reason to encourage more people to eat what can be part of a very balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. I leave you with some words taken from the Pie Week website. "A pie is not just a combination of tasty food and the best pastry, it is one of civilisation’s most cracking inventions created through a combination of genius and passion." 'Nuff said.

SJL

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