Northampton Town FC/The Pie Factory - Steak & Ale Pie Review

Given that our team, Wycombe, had a chance (albeit slim) to get promoted from League Two  Piearateers RAS and SJL headed over to Northampton Town for the final match of the season. Sixfields is a bit of a hole, quite literally, or at least it is in a bit of a hole. It is a new stadium which has for some reason been built in a dip, with banked grass verges all around. It is on the edge of town in a charming retail-park-cum-empty-wasteland area.

SJL went for the 'double pie', in front is the Chicken Balti

This was also a good opportunity to review a new football pie to add to our ever increasing (but still quite small) football pie league (The Pieremiership). Pierate takes us all over the place and there have been many unexpected things happen as a result of our love of pies. For instance Pierateer RAS was recently on the BBC talking about football pies. However, we hadn’t expected that we would have to pretend to be Northampton Town supporters for the day. Sixfields is having a stand rebuilt so there is a lack of space at the moment. Hence the away end was sold out but we picked up two tickets for the home end. Having heard that away fans would be ejected, we kept a low profile. What we hadn’t expected was that we would be sat next to a lovely, chatty Northampton Town fan. Once we had started pretending to be Northampton fans it was soon too late to come clean. It was surprisingly easy to blag it and I think we managed be fairly convincing Northampton supporters. This post is named after one of the best chants we heard on the day 'Corn on the Cobblers', it was from a 10 year old.

The Pie Factory Chicken Balti

The pies in question were apparently made by ‘The Pie Factory’ which was a company we hadn’t come across before. Pierateer RAS opted for the Steak & Ale and Pierateer SJL went for the ‘double pie’ combo of Steak & Ale and a Chicken Balti (he said it was because they didn't have chips but perhaps he is just greedy?). They looked good but were ultimately disappointing and certainly won't be challenging at the top of the Pieremiership. See below for the score breakdown for the Steak & Ale. The Chicken Balti looked identical to the Wright's Chicken Balti pie which was reviewed at Cambridge. They were certainly branded differently so this is strange, we are currently investigating the situation but no review will be given for now. In case you're wondering, SJL went for the Steak & Ale first, then the Chicken Balti which seemed like the most sensible approach.

 
Condition – 4.25 out of 7 - Looked pretty appealing, nice and tall. Looked crispy.
Colour – 4.25 out of 7 – Quite golden on top but sides pale, a bit matt rather than glossy.
Cheapness – 3.50 out of 7 – £3.10 is slightly above average for League Two and for a pie without a lot of filling this didn’t feel like good value.  

The Pie Factory Steak & Ale

Capacity – 3.25 out of 7 – Quite tall and big capacity but sadly there was a large airgap at the top. Whilst it looked like it would be satisfying, overall there was an air of disappointment. I would prefer a smaller pie without the airgap.
Chewiness – 3.75 out of 7 – Pastry texture was a bit weird, soft and a bit ‘bready’. Not much chewiness to the meat, but there wasn’t a lot of it.
Content – 3.50 out of 7 – It was nice that the ale was noticeable but was a little too sour. The meat that was there was nice enough but severely lacking. This was more of a gravy pie!
Consistency – 3.00 out of 7 – With the soft pastry and liquid filling this pie just didn’t quite work. Sadly a stodgy affair, which, whilst it didn’t taste bad would only be worth eating again in a situation where no other pies are available.

Wycombe got the win they needed with a winner in injury time, however, it wasn’t enough given that Bury won at Tranmere to clinch the last automatic promotion place. Here’s hoping we make Wembley via the play-offs.

Steak & Ale (Northampton Town FC/The Pie Factory) 
3.64/7 

SJL/RAS 

Update: The Pie Factory seems to be a brand owned by Centerplate catering company (formally Lindley Catering). They are said to be supplied by 'an artisan baker'. Having compared pictures of their pies and Wrights pies, it seems likely that Wrights are the supplier. We have contacted Centerplate to ask for this confirmation.

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Cambridge United/Wrights - Chicken Balti Football Pie Review

It is always good to see a club return to the football league, particularly if it gives a fresh option for a football pie review to add to our Football Pie League (AKA Pieremiership). Pierateer RAS and myself went to see Cambridge United take on Wycombe Wanderers at the Abbey Stadium. It was an old stadium with a bit of character, but not a lot, especially in the slightly newer away end that we were in. Still, it was much more interesting than a lot of the boring modern stadiums I have been too.


The Pierateers straight away made a bee line for the food counter and quickly realised that the pie choices were disappointingly limited; there was only one type available. You might think that if only one pie was available it would naturally be Steak & Kidney or Beef & Onion, but no! Cambridge had only a Chicken Balti pie! Okay, it is quite a classic in a football sense but this just seemed odd to us. I could see Pierateer RAS struggling to come to terms with this situation. Why? Well he doesn't actually like Chicken Balti so no football pie for him. Shame, but there was no reason for me to not get tucked in! The only problem was they wanted me to part with £3.50 for it. I was so shocked I almost ordered a pasty by mistake, I think it is the most expensive football pie I have ever had!

The lady serving told me it was a Pukka Pie, but having seen a fair few Pukka's in our time, including the Chicken Balti, we were very sceptical. Therefore we decided to investigate after the game. Despite being away fans we just started to wander around the stadium. I was shocked and quite angry to see that the pies were selling for £3 in the home end. Talk about fleecing the away supporters! We found a girl who had been working in a food kiosk. She didn't know who the pies were made by, neither did the next couple of people, but eventually the trail led us to Paul, who was the Catering & Functions Manager at Abbey Stadium. He was most helpful, giving us the facts about their pies. When we questioned him about the reason that only Chicken Balti pies were available he said that is the only flavour the fans want! Turns out the home fans prefer steak slices to steak pies. I think this is the first time I have ever thought to myself 'blooming Southerners', despite being a Southerner myself!



So who are Wrights? Having looked them up it seems they are pretty big players in the pie world of Stoke-on-Trent, with loads of bakeries there. It was nice to find a different company which we hadn't tried before. I seem to remember that Tom Dickinson hated them in 92 Pies but I thought they were pretty good. The key was that the pie was cooked properly, despite the ropey oven that Paul claimed Cambridge have. It is often the case that a good football pie turns bad by being dried to a crisp.

For us it was also good to see another win for promotion hopefuls Wycombe. However, their success this season means that they have sold a couple of players and this perhaps showed with a less than vintage performance. But a win is a win and a decent pie with a win... well that's win win.



Condition – 3.8 out of 7 – Pie explosion! The filling had lifted the lid. This did indicate it was well filled but it wasn't so pretty. The cumin seeds on top indicated curry and were a nice touch.

Colour – 4.5 out of 7 – Brown rather than golden but not burnt which is the main thing.

Cheapness – 3.2 out of 7 – The prices were just written on a chalk board, perhaps someone made a mistake with the £3.50 price for away fans. However, I can only score on what I was charged and it needs to be a gourmet pie for that price.

Capacity – 5.5 out of 7 – Quite a large capacity because this was a tall pie. A small airgap considering the size, overall a well filled pie although quite a bit of it was sauce. It is also worth noting it was fairly big, around 250g I would say.

Chewiness – 4.7 out of 7 – The pastry lid was nice and crumbly but the base was a bit soggy. The filling slipped down well, it wasn't at all chewy.

Content – 4.1 out of 7 – The content was okay, the meat was decent enough but the flavour was a bit bland for me. It tasted really similar to the Phat Pasty Chicken Balti. I prefer the spicy filling of the Pukka version.

Consistency – 5.0 out of 7 – This pie worked well as a football pie, it held together nicely and the sauce was thick. The filling went well with the pastry.

Chicken Balti (Cambridge United FC/Wrights)
4.40/7

SJL

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In our search to find what makes the best Scotch Pie we have been looking at producers big and small. Today sees the turn of supermarket chain Morrisons to come under our proverbial pie microscope to examine if their take on this classic pie is any good. Given that I am also trying to review every pie on the Morrisons pie counter I thought I would go for a bit of a double header. Morrisons also have a Chicken Curry Pie which uses the classic Scotch Pie case and reinforces the Northern roots of the supermarket chain (see our article on what makes the best Scotch Pie to see what makes these cases different).


The Chicken Curry pie was slightly more expensive at 89p but neither of these pies were going to break the bank, both being relatively cheap. They weren't very big pies but still represented some of the cheapest pies available. They were indeed made in very similar cases with classic, crunchy Scotch Pie pastry. But which would win the much coveted title of 'Best pie in a Scotch Pie case being sold at Morrisons in 2014'????

	Scotch Pie	Chicken Curry
Condition	3.0 - Excessive boil out had caused the top of this pie to have a burnt effect. A bit too lumpy.	3.2 - The pie had a bit too much boil out to be pretty, but not as bad as the Scotch pie. There was a tinge of yellow where the curry sauce had leaked out.
Colour	4.0 - Other than the boil out there was a great golden colour to this pie.	3.7 - Very similar golden colour to the pastry, a shame about the 'hi-viz' yellow of the curry sauce, only recommended if you are eating your pie in the middle of traffic...
Cheapness	6.5 - At 69p and considering this pie was quite full of meaty content, this was great value.	4.5 - Slightly more expensive, but still quite cheap, however, there seemed to be a lack of meat in this pie which meant it felt mediocre in terms of value.
Capacity	4.2 - Not bad, the rim at the top of the pie wasn't too excessive and there was minimal airgap.	3.2 - The rim did seem to be a bit excessive on the Chicken Curry, the filling was pretty shallow despite a small airgap.
Chewiness	5.5 - A great texture, crunchy pastry coupled with a nice and moist filling, only the rim slightly let this pie down (it was a little too hard).	4.5 - Similar pastry crunch to the Scotch Pie, the filling had a slightly less pleasant texture being a bit too liquid.
Content	3.3 - A standard minced beef filling. The taste of the filling was a little disappointing, it wasn't meaty enough. It had a slightly peppery kick but was a bit bland.	2.3 - Not a filling that I would recommend, the taste of a bland chip shop curry sauce. There wasn't really much in the way of chicken but a vague taste of chicken.
Consistency	4.0 - Fatty and oily, just like you would expect. A pretty good example of a quintessential Scotch Pie (if not a great Scotch Pie). Have tried this multiple times and it is consistent.	3.0 - This pie doesn't really work, there just isn't enough attention to the filling, I did get another one to check they haven't got better. They haven't.
Total	4.36 out of 7	3.49 out of 7

The classic Scotch pie wins outright! In truth, it wasn't very difficult, the Chicken Curry pie didn't put up much of a fight. But I won't take this away from the Scotch pie. If you are quite into your Scotch pies (like me) it is a pretty good option in terms of supermarket versions. They are also quite often on offer so it is something I would buy again.

Champion!

Beef Scotch Pie (Morrisons Pie Counter)
4.36/7

Chicken Curry (Morrisons Pie Counter)
3.49/7

SJL 

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Exeter City FC - Chicken Balti Pie Review

I decided to take myself down to Exeter for the rearranged midweek evening match between Exeter and Wycombe Wanderers. I had in my mind that Exeter wasn't all that far from where I live in Gloucestershire. I did however change my mind after the long drive. That said, it wasn't as far as for the fans coming from Wycombe. As I entered the stadium there was a sign thanking the Wycombe fans for the miles they had travelled to be there.


I walked into the stadium slightly late because I had no idea where to park, there didn't seem to be a main carpark for the ground and resident parking permits were everywhere. I do much prefer grounds that are in the town but out of town is certainly easier for driving too! Also, as usual, I didn't have any cash and forgot that some football grounds haven't entered the 21st century and don't take cards :-/

This error fortunately didn't mean I was too late for the pies. There was just a handful of fans in the Wycombe end hence demand wasn't very high. They had chicken balti or steak & kidney for £2.60. The guy at the kiosk was friendly and quite interested in our pie quest. He did try and claim that these pies were from a local bakery called 'Shauls'. But the packaging said otherwise, they appeared to be none other than Shire's Famous Pies as we have reviewed before at Walsall.

I stood and ate my pie in the inspiring away terrace. Basically this is a few concrete steps with no roof, thankfully the weather was okay. I normally really like the atmosphere at away games but the terrace was a bit sparsely populated for my liking. The game was entertaining though with Wycombe getting three points thanks to a spectacular effort from Max Kretschamer. Those 3 points proved to be vital to Wycombe as they stayed up on the final day of the season.

I was glad I went to the game. I had a strange feeling that I had to see more Wycombe games last season. After having been a season ticket holder for many years I find it harder to get to Wycombe games these day. I generally haven't minded being a fan from afar. But with Wycombe battling against relegation out of the football league I felt it was a sense of duty for me to get to more games. It was as if I felt that my presence would somehow help them stay up. It was true that out of the six games I went to, I didn't see them lose. Not bad for a team which only survived on the last day of the season on goal difference! There was also another motivation, it was another football ground to add to our football pie league. Currently, it is only a small league of 7 clubs. At this rate we will have done a Tom Dickinson and visited all the grounds by the time we are 81 so stay tuned to pierate.co.uk! But where did this pie end up in our league. See the breakdown of the score below.

Just one final note, both Wycombe and Exeter are just a handful of fan owned clubs in the football league. Such a shame both of them are struggling with falling attendances. I am not sure what the solution to this problem is, I guess it comes down to loyalty of supporters, whether they are prepared to watch a team that isn't splashing the cash. One thing is for sure, the Pierate ship will continue to set sail to see the Blues whenever it can!


Condition - 4.2 out of 7 - This really was a pie of two halves, from the top the condition looked decent, but the bottom was unappealingly burnt.
Colour - 3.1 out of 7 - As with the condition, the burnt bottom of the pie let down the colour score, I thought the top could have also been more appealing, a bit dull.
Cheapness - 4.5 out of 7 - £2.60 is decent for a League 2 match, see the BBC's price of football analysis.
Capacity - 4.0 out of 7 - This pie had a good capacity for its height but the shallow shape and overhanging pastry lid meant it didn't have as good a capacity as some of the competition. However, it was well filled.
Chewiness - 6.0 out of 7 - Slipped down an absolute treat, the pastry was nice and crumbly and crisp, despite being burnt. This didn't seem to be a problem when it came to actually eating the pie. Almost slipped down too easily if anything.
Content - 5.5 out of 7 - There were some chunks of meat and a sauce which tingled the tasted buds rather than burnt them. I would have preferred something with a little more kick to it, such as the Pukka version. It also lacked the meaty chunks of the Peter's chicken curry.
Consistency - 5.5 out of 7 - Had it not been burnt, I think this pie was more consistently good than the Peter or Pukka versions in that it didn't have a weakness (Peter's was a bit bland and the Pukka lacked meat). Shame about the condition or it could have score well. In terms of football curry pies, it is easy to see why Shire are so popular, this was great to eat in your hands whilst standing on the terrace and held together okay. A safe, middle of the road option.


Chicken Balti (Exeter City/Shire's)
4.69/7

SJL

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