With the British Pie Awards coinciding with British Pie Week for the first time SJL interrupted his live blogging and attempted to make a video review in the middle of the commotion of the awards themselves. The pie being reviewed was a Dickinsen & Morris pie from Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe in Melton Mowbray.


Overall this wasn't a bad effort from Dickinsen & Morris. The ham and the egg complemented each other and added some variety to the filling. Perhaps the ham could have been more like the quality pork they use in their standard pork pies rather than cured ham. The ham itself would have been sickly without the egg to break it up. At £3.50 this was not bad value being enough for 2 or 3 people.

See the rest of the videos from SJL's Ways2EatPie British Pie Week challenge: Ways2EatPie #1 - Pie-nt Ways2EatPie #2 - Pie Kebab Ways2EatPie #3 - British Pie Awards Ways2EatPie #4 - Pie at Night Ways2EatPie #5 - Different Pie-spective

Ham & Egg (Dickinsen & Morris)
Score: 4.93/7
[Condition 5.20, Colour 5.70, Cheapness 4.50, Capacity 5.40, Chewiness 4.10, Content 4.80, Consistency 4.80] 


SJL

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My Pie Free Range Chicken, Smoked Ham and Tarragon Pie Review

What filling! What capacity! The My Pie Chicken pie

It was a pleasure last week as part of my #LondonPie tour of our nation's capital to meet some London pie makers and one of them was Chris Brumby, who has set up "My Pie" in London. You may recognise the owner's name because Pierateer TJP actually had the pleasure of meeting Chris slightly over a year ago, before the business kicked off in it's current form and the pie truck (see below) had actually been purchased, and Chris' Beef and Red Wine pie was rated at a very impressive 6/7 (Pierate Highly Recommended).

It was clear from that first interaction that the pie business was still in its infancy at that stage and while it has taken a while to finally get our hands on some more of the pies, we're delighted we have! We were given a number of pies to rate and are slowly making our way through them, but the chicken pie I had first off was so good I wanted to make sure I got the review up on the blog! Other pie reviews, and a brief pie maker profile based on our chat, will be posted in the coming weeks, but first of all let's get cracking with our first pie review and the delightfully tasting:

Free Range Chicken, Smoked Ham and Tarragon Pie

My Pie Chicken Pie Review

The chicken, ham and tarragon pie was lovely and golden in colour – and quite simply one of the best pies I've seen to look at. It just misses out on colour pie-fection due to the slightly different shades from paler to strongly gold across the side of the pie, but it's about as close as you could reasonably expect. The lid, in particular, was crisp and golden like all meat pies should be. It almost felt rude to cut into it!

But hey, we’ve not got to over 500 pie reviews by just looking at – and not cutting into – the delightful pies we are presented with aboard the Pierate Ship! The knife cut with a pleasing crunch through the top pastry, and while the base seemed a little thicker (probably to hold in all the meati-licious filling I’m about to get to…) it held together very well. The pie passed the “hand held” test with flying colours too and the filling didn't leak out all over the place (like one with too much gravy or sauce and loosely filled might do).

Filled to near capacity, with just a small air gap, the filling was very good. The content was large chunks of tender chicken which were delicious and the white creamy sauce complemented the chicken and pieces of ham well. It was certainly one of the best white sauces I have had in a chicken pie and it was pleasing to see decent pieces of ham in there. The ham clearly wasn’t just an afterthought, as can be the impression in some chicken and ham pies we rate, which is pleasing. Both the ham and tarragon were noticeable and flavoursome, but not dominating the flavour of the pie. All in all, to be able to get two of these pies cold for £7 is good value and it’s a very high scoring Pierate Highly Recommended pie!

My Pie Free Range Chicken, Smoked Ham and Tarragon Pie
Score: 6.39/7
[Colour 6.5, Capacity 6.25, Consistency 6.5, Condition 6.5, Chewiness 6.5, Cheapness 6, Content 6.5, Total: 6.39/7]
RAS

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Great North Pie Co - Pie Reviews

If you saw the results from the recent British Pie Awards 2015 you will have noticed the current darlings of the pie world are the Great North Pie Company. Supreme Champions for their Chicken, Mushroom and Mustard pie, as well as scooping the Small Producer Award. But what are their pies actually like? Pierateer RAS has previously enjoyed their meat pie, although it didn’t challenge at the top of our pie rankings. The Great North Pie Company have an ever changing seasonal selection of pies, so what is the current crop like?


A trip to Selfridges Food Hall provided a surprising discovery. We have previously enjoyed a number of Tom’s Pies from Selfridges but it seems like Tom’s range has been replaces with a number of pies from the Great North Pie Co. which a sign proclaims are ‘exclusive’ to Selfridges. I was less than happy about the price, at £4.99 each, these are more expensive than the Tom's pies. But, this seemed like a bit too much of a good opportunity to miss, so after a trip to the bank to take out a second mortgage I bought 3 pies. The hilariously named Goosnargh Chicken, Mushroom & Cream, a Steak & Stout and a Ham and Black Pudding. Unless I am very much mistaken the Goosnargh is none other than the British Pie Awards winner itself (or at least very similar) that I have just happened to stumble across! What are the chances?! (Actually they are probably quite high as I am constantly 'window shopping' for promising pies, that's the life of a Pierateer.) Apparently Goosnargh is just the name of the Northern village where the chicken come from and is recommended by top chefs, so it shows that I am not sophisticated because I thought it was a funny name!


But did they live up to the expectations? The Great Northern Pie Company claim to make ‘artisan’ pies and I can certainly see what they mean. These pies have unique flavours and are quite unlike anything I have come across before. I am really glad they are trying something different and the flavours were very interesting.

These pies were well presented without being over the top. Despite having shoved them on the front of a Boris Bike on a bumpy journey they held together well. I do like a sturdy pie as it is really what I look for in the ultimate pie. Even when cooked, these are pies that you would pick up and eat with your hands (although that might not quite be the market they are going for!). In every case, the pie was very filling and satisfying, they were above average size for individual pies. The pastry was a real winner here, with a lovely buttery flavour. It was crumbly and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.

All the fillings were full of flavour and these were anything but your run of the mill bland pies! Whilst I liked them all, I am sorry to say that none of the flavours worked really well for me personally. I probably just have an unsophisticated pallet, but if they sound like your kind of thing then effectively consider that they have a higher score. If you are a pie fan I would certainly recommend trying one of these pies as you won’t get the same experience anywhere else. See below for the score breakdown.


Goosnargh Chicken, Mushroom & Cream (Great North Pie Co)
5.73/7

Condition - 6.0 out of 7 - Adorned with a sprinkling of crumb and seeds to the lid, I found all these pies looked really appealing.
Colour - 6.6 out of 7 - Look at the colours on the lid, a glorious, mottled golden-brown. The sides weren't as brown but not too pale like some we come across
Cheapness - 3.5 out of 7 - £4.99, you cannot be serious!? For any pie this just seems like too much, it is not something I would fork out very often for. Unless you are trying to impress someone or you really like the sound of the flavours, for most people this would be a very occasional purchase, if they can afford it at all. But then, who shops in Selfridges Food Hall?! That said the pies were quite big and full of content so at least you feel you do get something for your money. If you can get this pie cheaper elsewhere then effectively consider the score higher, but like I said, Selfridges did have a sign saying 'exclusive'.
Capacity - 6.5 out of 7 - Fabulously full, these pies were packed with meaty content. They are also quite big for individual pies.
Chewiness - 6.0 out of 7 - Fibrous chicken pieces provided something to get the teeth into. The mushroom provided a variety in texture to the chicken. A nice texture to the crumbly pastry.
Content - 5.5 out of 7 - The first thing that struck me was how yellow the sauce was which doesn't quite come across in the photos. This must have been mustard or turmeric. There was plenty of flavoursome chicken and also quite a lot of mushroom. The sauce was satisfyingly thick and creamy. It had flavours which I couldn't quite place. It didn't have a 'hot' spicy taste as I might have expected from mustard. The main flavour I noticed was an aniseed or fennel type flavour. This seemed quite an odd flavour and, although it was nice to have something different, I would have preferred less of this flavour as I found it a bit overpowering.
Consistency - 6.0 out of 7 - The sauce was extremely thick which meant this pie could be eaten with the hands if needed. The pastry and filling came together in harmony to produce a pie which worked really well.




Steak & Stout (Great North Pie Co)
4.99/7

Condition - 5.9 out of 7 - Slightly less adorned than the chicken pie.
Colour - 6.5 out of 7
Cheapness - 3.5 out of 7 - This pie was again full of content to make up for the high price.
Capacity - 6.5 out of 7 - Again, it was well filled.
Chewiness - 4.5 out of 7 - Some nice pieces of steak to chew on but in this case I felt some of them were slightly too chewy for a premium pie like this.
Content - 4.0 out of 7 - A lot of steak in this pie which had a nice flavour. It was again in a very thick, gloopy sauce and again it had flavours unlike any other pie I have had. It had a sour, roasted taste from the stout but there was also a definite sweetness to the sauce and it was quite tangy. It made me think it might have marmite in it, or perhaps bovril as I know they have used this for some of their other pies. I thought it also looked a bit like marmite.
Consistency - 4.0 out of 7 - There was a lot going on with the flavours of this pie and for me it didn't quite work as a package. That said, it wasn't unpleasant and a lot of the individual elements were good, they just didn't come together well (for me).



Ham & Black Pudding (Great North Pie Co)
5.66/7

Condition - 6.0 out of 7
Colour - 6.6 out of 7
Cheapness - 3.5 out of 7 - This pie was again full of content to make up for the high price.
Capacity - 6.5 out of 7 - Again, it was well filled.
Chewiness - 5.9 out of 7 - The soft strings of meat were chewy but only enough that there was something to get your teeth into.
Content - 5.6 out of 7 - Packed with meat, there wasn't really much liquid sauce to this particular pie, however, it was still wonderfully moist. The black pudding worked really well in the pie making it meaty and flavoursome. There was a small amount of veg too. One mouthful might be different to the next. However, there was again a strong aniseed or fennel flavour which I felt was too much for me.
Consistency - 5.5 out of 7 - Meaty and interesting, this is a pie I would have again (as long as I didn't need to pay for it).


SJL

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Toppings premium hot eating pies steak and chicken pie reviews

Our recent pie delivery from Toppings pies featured a wide selection of premium pork pies, however they do also have a range of ‘hot eating pies’ as part of their offering and I was delighted to be able to try some of these, with a big box of their range posted down from Doncaster on Day Three of British Pie Week.

I’d heartily recommend you check out the Toppings pies website, which is simply one of the best looking pie company websites I’ve seen (and believe me, I’ve seen a few!) It’s a really high end website, with quality photography and professional design, which portrays the ethos of this high quality, family run business. In fact, so much so is this a locally crafted and family run business that the pies are today still made to Maggie Topping’s original homemade family recipes, taking inspiration from the Victorian and Tudor eras!

Toppings Premium Hot Eating Pies

So what of the pies I’m rating today? These hot eating pies come from their Premium range, although there is also a Classic range available. The premium range are priced between £2.70 & £2.90, which I think is very reasonable for a 270g-290g pie and the filling:pastry ratio was pretty spot on for all these pies. The pastry for these pies was very nice, a little out of the ordinary with a rich hot water pastry crust. This provided a lovely flavoursome pastry, crisp but not dry and holding the contents in well without being too thick and chewy. If anything, I think the pastry was the real selling point on these pies and while the content was generally of a good standard, a little tweaking of the filling alongside this quality pastry would see them rate even higher in future!

I had three pies from the range, which were as follows:

Rump Steak with Minted Mushy Peas Pie Review

Toppings Steak and Mushy Peas Pie Review

Prime British steak, in rich, meaty gravy, topped off with delicious minted mushy peas all encased in a rich hot water pastry crust

The meat was very nice and tender, with a lovely thick gravy of great consistency for a meat and gravy pie. The minty mushy peas were layered on top of the meat, in quite a clear distinction between the brown meaty layer and green pea layer. The minty pea flavour was a little strong in places in my view, creating quite a distinctive taste to this pie, but perhaps a slightly too stark a contrast. I think I would prefer a straight steak pie rather than the steak and minted mushy peas version, as the steak was very nice and complemented the hot water pastry crust really well. While I didn’t have one of them to sample this time, I’m glad to see this is covered in the Toppings range.

Toppings Rump Steak with Minted Mushy Peas Pie
Score: 5.68/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6, Consistency 5.25, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 6, Cheapness 5.5, Content 5.5, Total: 5.68/7]

Toppings Steak, Shallots and Mushroom Pie Review

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Rump Steak, Shallots and Portobello Mushroom Pie Review

Prime British steak with shallot onion, portobello mushrooms, in rich meaty gravy all encased in a rich hot water pastry crust

While it certainly had all of the above flavours in it, this pie was overly dominated by shallot. It felt at times like I was eating a shallot pie, with such large, uncut shallots present. I’d certainly have liked a more meat base to this pie, as it was definitely shallot heavy and a bit of the meat was a little chewy, which was surprising given the quality of meat in the rest of the pies I sampled.

The gravy was a great consistency again and I’d imagine that I probably did not get a typical meat-focused helping of pie here, though I can only rate was it put in front of me! Using chopped up pieces of shallot, rather than large whole ones, would perhaps even out the distribution and help improve the consistency of the pie a fair deal, in addition to the more meaty focus.

Toppings Rump Steak, Shallots and Portobello Mushroom Pie
Score: 4.86/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 4.5, Consistency 4, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 5, Content 4, Total: 4.86/7]

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Creamy Cracked Black Pepper Chicken, Wiltshire Ham and Portobello Mushroom Pie Review

Toppings Chicken, Ham and Mushroom Pie Review

Chicken breast and Wiltshire ham, in a creamy cracked black pepper sauce with Portobello mushrooms, encased in rich hot water pastry crust

The chicken pie was well filled, with a great capacity of tender chicken pieces and a decent sprinkling of Wiltshire ham to complement it. I did find the sauce quite peppery, a bit too seasoned for my palate but it is what you’d probably expect for a pie sold under the banner of a “creamy cracked black pepper sauce”! Once again this is a classic pie filling done well, with a filling that complemented the delicious pastry once again.

Toppings Creamy Cracked Black Pepper Chicken, Wiltshire Ham and Portobello Mushroom Pie
Score: 5.86/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6, Consistency 6, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 6, Cheapness 5.5, Content 6, Total: 5.86/7]


In summary, it really is no surprise to me that Toppings Pies have won so many Great Taste Awards, with a clear focus on quality ingredients and pie making. The hot water pastry was delightful and the fillings were generally very good, providing a real quality to the pie eating experience. I can’t go on enough about the quality of their website, which I feel is a real benchmark for how great a pie retailer’s website can be, and hope to sample some more of their range in the future!

RAS

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Fabulous Fan Fayre (at Manchester City FC) Beef Bourguignon and Chicken and Ham Pie Reviews

Chicken and Ham Pie with FA Cup Trophy!

“Are you the guy from that pie site, the one on the BBC?” was the question asked of me, as I took a photo of my chicken pie in front of Manchester City’s FA Cup trophy. “Yeah, that was me!” I replied, handing them a Pierate business card from my wallet. I had, of course, been present at the Manchester City v the Magpies (Newcastle United) game primarily to rate the pies, but it was nice to be recognised by some fellow pie fans!

The occasion was specifically to rate the Fabulous Fan Fayre pies – a company linked to chef Jamie Oliver – who have been catering at the Etihad Stadium for the last year. Having already been in the news and having won a silver award at the British Pie Awards 2014 (for which we were one of the judges), the chance to rate a pie at the home of the Premier League champions was an offer I couldn’t refuse! It had kindly been arranged by Danny Wilson (Sales Director), who I had met at the BBC Radio 5 Live Debate on the Price of Football (for which we featured as pie advisers).


"Are you the guy from that pie site, the one on the BBC?" Yep - genuinely just recognised as a Pierateerat the @MCFC match!
— Pierate(@pierateers) October 29, 2014

I met Dan Schofield (Head of Operations) on the night, who met us at half time to take us to get some pies and then chat to us about them during a visit to the trophy room. It was great to meet such a high level official at the club who clearly knew his stuff when it came to the pies, and my respect grew when having chatted to us for a good 20 minutes or so he told us he needed to go and help an 84-year old lady, who still does the half-time snacks for all the balls boys and girls, to her taxi.

Dan told me about some of the promotions on pies that they offer within the stadium, including rewarding loyalty with a free pie on occasion and deals for those who eat at the ground before kick-off. They were also trialling contactless card payments in the stadium, which they hoped would help speed up the food payment process and ensure fans got their pies quicker! No complaints from me there – as I’ve definitely got fed up of waiting for my half-time pie in many football grounds up and down the country!

So what of the pies then?!

We were delighted to get our hands on the two new summer signings of an already impressive team sheet – a Beef Bourguignon and Chicken and Ham Pie. Both were served with delicious crispy fries, but of course we all know that like us you’re mainly interested in the pie, which comes in at what I ultimately deem a fair price of £4.00 per pie. By no means the cheapest pies out there, these turn out to be some of the more expensive pies in the Premiership, as deemed by the BBC Price of Football study. But I agreed with Dan’s sentiments that actually people are generally willing to pay £4 for a top quality pie over one at just £2-£3 which is nothing special. I for one thought that £4 each for these two pies was just about right, for a meat packed pie of such quality that was produced on site.

Fabulous Fan Fayre Beef Bourguignon Pie

The Beef Bourguignon pie was filled with lean chunks of tender beef, button mushrooms, a red wine jus and delicate herbs. The pie was nice and meaty, with a pleasant gravy which wasn’t too runny (a key ingredient of a football pie). The flavours were nice and the beef lovely and tender, though it could have been a little more exciting in flavour.

The pastry was crisp and delicious to eat, though a minor criticism was that the edge crimping was just a bit too large and dry for my liking, meaning the pastry:filling ratio wasn’t quite right. The extra crimped edge does give a distinctive appearance to the pie but isn’t really necessary and off-balances the pastry:filling ratio rather too much.

The Chicken and Ham pie was filled with large pieces of chicken breast, cured local ham and a light cream sauce. While I didn’t get as noticeable a flavouring of ham within the pie as I would have liked, the taste was still delicious and there was certainly no missing the large chunks of chicken. The sauce was creamy and worked really well with the meat filling, balancing well with the light, crisp pastry. Again there could have been a little less pastry crimping to balance the filling perfectly, but the pastry was so nice and balanced the filling really well. This slightly edged it for me.

In summary, these aren't just good football pies, these are great pies full stop. Packed full of meat, nicely flavoured and with delicious crisp pastry, so £4 a pie is pretty reasonable. You can tell they have gone for quality over quantity when it comes to these pies, but still managed to make them filled with flavour and easily some of the best pies I’ve had at a football ground. They comfortably take 2nd place in our Pieremiership table.

It’s good to know that Manchester City still have a few other pies in their locker, with the Potato and Meat, Peppered Steak and Chicken Balti pies all apparently having undergone a makeover since last season to mean they taste even better than before. My thanks to Dan Schofield for being such a great host and I hope to rate even more Fabulous Fan Fayre pies in the near future. Back of the net!

Fabulous Fan Fayre (Manchester City FC) Beef Bourguignon Pie
Score: 6.15/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 6.25, Condition 6, Chewiness 5.75, Cheapness 5.8, Content 6.75, Total: 6.15/7]

Fabulous Fan Fayre (Manchester City FC) Chicken and Ham Pie
Score: 6.21/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6.6, Consistency 6.25, Condition 6.25, Chewiness 5.85, Cheapness 5.8, Content 6.75, Total: 6.21/7]

RAS

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Mr C's Pies - Chicken and Ham Pie Review

On The Pierate Ship we are always on the look out for pies that seem like they might be bit special. Often you can have a fair idea which pies might stand out from the com-pie-tition before even trying them. Perhaps they may have won numerous awards. Sometime you can tell just from the pictures. Mr C's Pies from Newburgh, Fife have certainly ticked both these boxes. They have won numerous British Pie Awards and Scotch Pie Club Awards. You can see from the picture below that they look outstanding. This is the Chicken & Ham, itself a winner at the British Pie Awards 2012. Just look at the perfect brown Colour and the lovingly handmade Condition, this pie really does look promising.


I was very pleased to find some Mr C's Pies when I went to Crombies of Edinburgh to review their Scotch Pie. In fact, to say I was pleased was an understatement, for a Pierateer this was very exciting. I grabbed the Chicken & Ham and rushed back home to try some.

It looked resplendent on the plate, this was a pie with presence. It helped that it was a big pie, but there was more too it than that. It was eye catching and different. It was made with the same kind of hot water crust pastry that you get with a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie but adapted through the experimentation of Mr C. This gives a wonderful rigidity to the pastry and because it is a pie that can be eaten cold it would be perfect for eating on the move. I can just imagine these as great picnic pies.



Delving into the Content of this pie it was impossible to be disappointed. They are absolutely packed with meat. For a 400g pie I felt I was getting good value at £4.35. There were plenty of herbs and seasoning, so much so that it tasted a bit like roast chicken with stuffing. The chicken was certainly dominant, I would say the Ham was a bit lacking which I think you can tell from the picture. I would have liked to have seen more Ham to give variation to the flavour. The meat was good quality and not at all Chewy. Despite this being a cold pie without sauce it wasn't dry in any way.

The pastry was soft and melt in the mouth and combined well with the filling to give a wonderful texture. The pastry also tasted great, it was well cooked so it was a pleasure to eat, even by itself. The main criticism I had with this pie was that it was a little too salty which I started to notice after a while (but perhaps this was because I was eating a lot of it). But this wouldn't put me off buying this pie again, it is a fantastic example of a hot water crust pastry pie. There aren't enough hot water crust pastry pies which provide something different to the standard pork flavour. After eating this Mr C's pie I am not quite sure why. It deserves the status of 'Pierate Recommended' pie to add to the other awards won by Mr C.

Chicken & Ham, cold (Mr C's Pies)
5.78/7

SJL

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Morecambe Football Club - Pie Reviews

In this review we rate the 'Steak & Ale', 'Chicken, Ham & Leak', 'Lamb & Mint' and 'Meat & Potato' pies. We have also reviewed the Apple pie which was the Supreme Champion at the British Pie Awards 2014. A second visit in October 2014 gave us the chance to review the Pork, Irn-Bru & Chilli pie which was quite a unusual flavour! Read on below for the original review

Way back in the mist of time we reviewed a Potts Pie because they were rated as the number one football pie (served at Morecambe Football Club) by the man who ate all the football pies, Tom Dickinson. This was in fact our first ever pie review on Pierate. Shortly after this review Morecambe got a new head chef, Graham Aimson, who took the brave decision to replace Potts Pies with his own homemade pies in the hospitably suite at Morecambe. These pies were so popular they soon rolled them out over the whole ground. Given that we have now reviewed over 300 pies we thought it was about time The Pierateers paid another visit to see how these new pies fared!

The decision to serve their own pies has paid off with Morecambe FC winning the Best Football Pie award at the British Pie Awards 2012 for their Steak and Ale and the Supreme Champion award at the British Pie Awards 2011 for their Chicken, Ham and Leek. They have continued to have plenty of success and publicity since then, winning further awards and appearing on a number of TV programmes such as The Hairy Bikers. The expectations were already high before even eating the pies!


Pierateers RAS and SJL were treated to a pie tasting session before the Morecambe vs. Wycombe game at The Globe Arena. This involved a selection of all four pies that they were selling that day. There were mushy peas and gravy on the side, which is the tradition at the ground, but the Pierateers went for the pure pie experience given that there were so many pies to eat! Everyone at Morecambe was really excellent in putting in the extra effort to make The Pierateers feel welcome. All the people involved were friendly and there was plenty of interest in our pie reviewing. The staff at Morecambe even carried out our first video interview, with the Pierateers in the Kit Room!

The pies arrived in fantastically perfect Condition considering that they were handmade. There was a little boil out with some of them but only enough to indicate that the inside promised to be packed with content. We were fortunate as we were so close to the kitchen these were some very fresh pies! They were all a lovely golden brown Colour. These pies were quite tall which gave them a good filling to pastry ratio and a large Capacity. Despite being tall they had a good structural rigidity which meant they held together well. The pie plus peas and gravy costs £2.80 which we thought was superb value for inside a football ground, especially given that the pies are made on the premises with quality ingredients.

The (pie) teamsheet for Morecambe FC...

For all these pies the pastry was a shortcrust. It looked like it might be hard but it in reality it was quite soft and thin. There was a bit of crunch around the rim which added to the texture of the pie. It wasn’t dry and didn’t need the optional gravy jug, it was nice enough to eat the pastry by itself. Pierateer SJL felt the pastry was nearly spot on although Pierateer RAS would have liked it just a tad lighter but still thoroughly enjoyed it.

The four different pies are now scored below in reverse order:

Meat and Potato 

This pie might be the lowest scoring but it was still a pie that The Pierateers would recommend. The filling was as you would expect with a traditional meat and potato pie, minced beef with soft pieces of potato. The softness of the filling meant chewing was not really necessary and it slipped down well. However, this by no means meant the filling was mushy, there was still some firmness to the potato. There was a nice meatiness to it, a bit of pepperiness. We would, for our ideal pie, want something a bit more to bite into which is where it lost some score. However, this still makes it the highest scoring meat and potato pie we have reviewed.

Morecambe FC Meat and Potato Pie
Score: 5.86/7
[Colour 6, Condition 6.63, Cheapness 6.75, Capacity 5.75, Consistency 5.25, Chewiness 5.5, Content 5.13, Total 5.86/7]



Morecambe FC Meat and Potato Pie

Lamb and Mint

There was plenty of lamb in the pie and it tasted of good quality, in nice big meaty chunks. The addition of some root vegetables was welcome. This really added to the texture of the pie. This lamb pie did do something unusual compared to many others we have reviewed as it contained mint sauce gravy. It tasted a bit sharp because of the vinegar and hence may not be to everyone’s liking. The sauce was also a little thinner than the others.

Morecambe FC Lamb and Mint Pie
Score: 5.91/7
[Colour 6, Condition 6.63, Cheapness 6.75, Capacity 5.75, Consistency 5, Chewiness 5.5, Content 5.75, Total 5.91/7]

Morecambe FC Lamb and Mint Pie

Chicken, Ham and Leek 

This was one The Pierateers were especially excited about because many people had said it was their favourite. The pie filling seemed really meaty with a rich chicken taste. The Pierateers noted that the ham flavour wasn’t particularly strong in this pie although this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. The leek added plenty of flavour and the pie certainly tasted homemade. The chicken was fibrous and clearly of good quality. There was a good balance of flavour with the leek leaving it anything but bland but not being overpowering. One thing that stopped it being The Pierateers' favourite was the fact that the sauce was fairly thin-ish. It seems that this may have been because a lot of pies had to be cooked quickly because the game was in doubt due to the weather.

Morecambe FC Chicken, Ham and Leek Pie
Score: 6.16/7
[Colour 6, Condition 6.63, Cheapness 6.75, Capacity 5.88, Consistency 6, Chewiness 5.38, Content 6.5, Total 6.16/7]



Morecambe FC Chicken, Ham and Leek Pie

Steak and Ale

Here it is, the Supreme Champion of the Morecambe Pierate Awards 2014, the Morecambe FC Steak and Ale! Both SJL and RAS were in agreement that this was their favourite pie. This was not just a Steak and Ale with a deep meaty taste. It had more flavours to it than that. The Pierateers suspected that it had tomato in it and chef Graham confirmed this to be true. There seemed to be other additions too which meant it really did stand out as different to other Steak and Ale pies. There were nice big chunks of Steak with plenty of sauce which was thicker than that with the Chicken, Ham and Leek. A pie which left you wanting more but not through lack of size.

Morecambe FC Steak and Ale Pie
Score: 6.34/7
[Colour 6, Condition 6.63, Cheapness 6.75, Capacity 5.88, Consistency 6.5, Chewiness 6, Content 6.63, Total 6.34/7]



Morecambe FC Steak and Ale Pie

Overall, a real set of winners for Morecambe even if they couldn't get the win on the pitch, coming from behind to draw with Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 in a game which suffered from the muddy pitch. These scores see the Lamb and Mint and the Meat and Potato gain Pierate 'Recommended' status, while the Chicken, Ham and Leek and Steak and Ale gain the highly sort after Pierate 'Highly Recommended' status.

At half time the Pierateers were delighted to find there was even a separate Apple pie waiting for them!

It stands out that Graham is a high class restaurant chef. He is not just making pies by numbers, they are well thought out pies which are anything but average. There is no question that these are the best pies we have ever eaten at a football ground, just have a look at our football pie league. It isn't much of a suprise in some ways, we have been to very few grounds where they make the pies within the stadium kitchen itself. As usual, quality ingredients, an eye for detail and a labour intensive process mean that these pies are head and shoulders above the reheated, mass produced pies normally sold at football matches. We all know pies and football are a match made in heaven, but with pies that taste this homemade The Globe Arena should be the football ground where even the away fans feel at home.

Thanks again to Mike, Head Chef Graham and everyone at Morecambe Football Club for such a great day.

SJL and RAS

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Bergamo (Italy) Ham and Cheese Pie Review

The penultimate day of my pie hunt in Italy saw me scouting out the shops of Pavia, to the south of Milan, followed by Bergamo to the north. We quickly passed up from Bergamo bassa (the sprawling modern city) to Bergamo alta (the old town, up on the hillside) on the funicular in order to take in the nicer scenery and quaint narrow streets and shops on the hillside. It was there we spotted our first meat pie of the whole trip - having spotted a number of sweet pies in Rome (called Crostatine) and an apple pie in Milan.

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Marks and Spencer Handcrafted in Yorkshire All Butter Pastry Chicken and Leek Pie and Slow Roasted Ham, Onion and Mature Cheddar Pie Reviews

The Pierateers arrrrgh always searching from the crow’s nest for a pie bargain to be had, so when I was informed of a 3 for 2 pie offer in Marks and Spencer the Pierate Ship plotted a course down to our local store. While the 3 for 2 offer extended further than just pies, we have our eyes firmly on the pies at Pierate HQ!

So with episode one and episode two of ‘Pie Factor’ completed, the final auditions took place on Tuesday 12th November 2013. ‘Why are you telling me the exact date?’ I hear you ask! Well, that only happens to be International Pierate Day, a celebration of eating and rating pie, which coincides with our pie blog’s birthday! It also formed part of my 5-a-day pie quota for International Pierate Day, which demonstrated Piethagoras theorem (see our Pierate Dictionary for a full definition).

Anyhow, I digress! Back to the Pie Factor and we had already had 3 contestants, with two more in the firing range... I mean, on stage for a constructive review on the third instalment of ‘Pie Factor’ (which by sheer coincidence happens to tie in with the final of another, less interesting Factor experience!)

Let's welcome down Pie Factor contestant number 4...

What's your name and where are you from?
I'm the Chicken and Leek Pie from Marks and Spencer.

And what do you do?
I’m one of the 3 for 2 individual sized Yorkshire Pies that you can buy, handmade in Yorkshire and ready for you to enjoy as part of your main meal of the day.

Brilliant! And what talents have you got at your disposal?
Well we didn’t want anyone to accuse us of being “chicken” and all when it came to being on the big stage, so we’ve gone all out to pack our filling with big chunks of chicken!

You’re not wrong there! Some of the pieces of chicken were almost as big as some eggs I’ve eaten!
Well we wouldn’t want to chicken out when it came to content and capacity! They compliment the leek, I hope, but the leek doesn’t overpower the flavour.



Chicken and Leek Pie

That’s a pretty spot on assessment. A much better mix than your steak and ale friend who performed previously.
Thanks. We are friends, but there can only be one winner of the Pie Factor... and we want that to be us!

Well with the nice crisp pastry lid and the well held pastry sides and base, complimenting the chicken and leek on offer, it sure is in with a good shout!
Aww, thanks so much! We do pie our best!

Alright, alright! Leave the pie puns and jokes to us please!
Sorry!

So there we have it – a very good performance even if it is again a little small for an individual dinner portion. I’d rate you as slightly better than the steak and ale option due to having a better mix of content and no “padding out” this time!



Marks and Spencer Ham, Onion & Cheddar (l) and Chicken & Leek (r)

And finally, let's welcome down Pie Factor contestant number 5...

What's your name and where are you from?
I'm the Slow Roasted Ham, Onion and Mature Cheddar Pie from Marks and Spencer.

And let’s just cut to the chase... why do you think you should win the Pie Factor?!
Well I’m one of the 3 for 2 individual sized Yorkshire Pies that you can buy, handmade in Yorkshire and ready for you to enjoy as part of your main meal of the day. Containing big chunks of ham and a nice cheesy sauce, I’m quite unique as there aren’t lots of ham and cheese pies out there! On top of that, I’m full of filling and have a nice, fully encased pastry shell. Vote Team Ham and Cheese!!!

Alright, less of the promotion please – I’ll be the judge of you!
Sorry, just got a little carried away. ***Motions for people to ring in and vote for Ham and Cheese***


Slow Roasted Ham, Onion and Mature Cheddar Pie

 
Right...So let’s not pad this out too much longer. The pastry was again very good. The ham – nice big chunks of it – was very nice if a little chewy in places, perhaps due to being too many large pieces of meat rather than a more ideal smaller, consistent approach. I’ll give you credit for being more original in your flavouring, especially as it is often just steak and cheese or cheese and onion pies you get, so thank you for bringing something new to the table (quite literally!)
Ah, nice one! I see what you did there!

As for the capacity, once again it was strong and it wasn’t compromised by other ingredients. The pie was quite cheesy as the sauce really did come into its own. Could have got a bit much if the pie had been a lot bigger, but all things considered, a good effort! The pie rating for you is 5.43/7.


Marks and Spencer Handcrafted in Yorkshire All Butter Pastry Chicken and Leek Pie
Score: 5.79/7
[Colour 6/7; Consistency 6/7; Cheapness 4/7; Chewiness 6.25/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6.25/7; Capacity 6/7; Total: 5.79/7]

Marks and Spencer Slow Roasted Ham, Onion and Mature Cheddar Pie
Score: 5.43/7
[Colour 6/7; Consistency 5.5/7; Cheapness 4/7; Chewiness 5/7; Condition 6/7; Content 5.5/7; Capacity 6/7; Total: 5.43/7]

So there we have it!

Five pie contestants, but only one of them can go away with the title of “Pie Factor” winner for Marks and Spencer. I hope you’ve enjoyed finding out more about our five contestants but before we go, here’s our round up of the pies in question:

Rank	Pie Producer	Pie Flavour	Score	By
1	Marks and Spencer	Handcrafted in Yorkshire All Butter Pastry Chicken and Leek	5.79	RAS
2	Marks and Spencer	Handcrafted in Yorkshire All Butter Pastry Steak and Old Peculier Ale Pie	5.50	RAS
3	Marks and Spencer	Handcrafted in Yorkshire All Butter Pastry Slow Roasted Ham, Onion and Mature Cheddar	5.43	RAS
4	Marks and Spencer	Gastro Pub Beef And Ale	5.40	RAS
DNQ	Marks and Spencer	Gastro Pub Aberdeen Angus Steak Yorkshire Pudding	DNQ	RAS

RAS

See where this pie ended up in the Pierate Pie Rankings or find other pies of a similar flavour. Make sure you Follow @pierateers and let us know your thoughts!

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Lovett Pies - Pie Reviews

Lovett Pies have only been in the pie selling business for just over 18 months and they have already won numerous awards including a couple of Silvers at the British Pie Awards 2013. Lovett Pies have already become highly regarded around their Bath base in the South West of England so I was very pleased to get my hands on a whole box of Lovett pies, containing all 7 flavours. Co-owner Phil is the creator of these pies. He was working in a pub as a chef and found that his pies were so popular he was inspired to set up Lovett Pies with business partner Chris.


Phil seems to have a way with blending flavours together.
Lovett Pies already set themselves apart simply by some unusual fillings. However, these aren’t strange flavours just to make the pies different. They are flavours which just seem to make a lot of sense!

The pies also look beautiful. The pastry looks like hot water crust (like a Scotch Pie) as these pies are perfectly formed cylindrical delights and the pastry holds together so well. The pastry is strong enough for the pie to stand up tall on its own and they are completely encased.

From the outside at least I would say they embody the quintessential essence of the ‘proper pies’ that we search for on the Pierate Ship. The perfect golden Colour scored highly. There is a letter on the top of each pie, made of poppy seeds, to signify what flavour the pie is. This wouldn’t be allowed in the British Pie Awards but on the Pierate Ship we have no rules against external non-pastry decoration so I saw this as a good thing, scoring more points for pie Condition.

In terms of how the pastry performed in the taste test all the pies were very much the same. The pastry is quite thin so, quite unusually, these pies have more filling than pastry (filling at 66%) which earned them a high Capacity score. This must be the highest filling to pastry ratio I have ever found. The pastry really was secondary here to the filling and the actual taste and texture of the pastry was good but didn’t stand out, partly just because there wasn’t much of it!

The price of these pies depends on where you buy them. At the farmers market they are £3.50 or £6.50 for 2. This is a high price for a small pie but reasonable value given the high proportion of filling and meat.

But do the pies taste good? I will run through the first few in order of preference:

Ham Hock, Black Pudding & Pea

What a marvellous pie this was, the best ham pie I have ever tasted, the best black pudding pie I have ever tasted and also my absolute favourite pea pie. Upon slicing the pie open I was impressed by how colourful it was. There weren’t just peas in this pie but also carrots, celery and onion which meant there was quite a lot of veg. The variety of contents meant each bite was different which kept things interesting. Despite the large amount of veg the pie was still really meaty because of the taste of the soft black pudding and the proper unprocessed gammon. It felt like a rounded meal in one small pastry case. Like all of these pies there wasn’t a runny gravy but everything was kept moist by being held together in a small amount of thick sauce. This one seemed to be the most gooey and moist. The pie was well seasoned and also contained truffle oil which made the flavour stand out even more. The balance of flavours were spot on and the pie was a real pleasure to eat. It was not at all dry, it was packed with content so it is no surprise this pie scores highly.

6.37/7



Venison, Haggis & Redcurrant (Seasonal)

I didn't expect it but the combination of venison and haggis is perfect for a pie! Both have a strong flavour and make this pie deliciously meaty. Of course, this Lovett pie was packed with meat as they all were, there was no filler here. I know haggis is made of lamb offal and other such things that I wouldn't normally eat but lamb offal doesn't normally tastes so good! The meat was melt in the mouth and the flavours anything but bland. A hint of sweetness from the redcurrant and carrot was just right for me. The texture was perfect, with a soft filling and little bit of crunch from the pastry. Like all these pies the ingredient list was long but as everything was subtle you couldn't tell that the pie apparently has elderberry concentrate and cacao powder in it.
The one thing I did miss with this pie was a bit of gravy. I guess this is not really what Lovett are going for but just a little bit of gravy which oozes out when you slice the pie is my ideal situation. I didn't find this one as moist and as varied to eat as the ham and black pudding. Still an excellent pie and a shame it isn't available all year!

5.98/7


Bath Pie - Beef & Ale with Blue Cheese

This pie was again packed with meat. This time tasty, slow cooked beef which fell apart easily. The cheese tasted nice and unlike some Steak & Stilton pies you could actually taste the blue cheese, certainly a good thing in my book. For the Ham and Black pudding the fact that the filling wasn't mixed seemed like a good thing as it gave a variety to the flavour. However for this pie I felt it was a bad thing. There were some really cheese bits and then some mouthfuls of beef which tasted a bit dry without the cheese to keep it moist. Not a bad effort but not as good as the other two.

4.68/7


So in summary we recommend you get yourself some of these pies to try. The variety of flavours mean there is sure to be something for everyone. It is worth noting they really are not very big pies (200g) and I did eat all 3 of these in one go! However, being a Pierateer I do have an usually high love of pie so don’t take this as representative! Despite being small they really are All Killer, No Filler. I have never seen pies with such a lot of filling. Because these pies look so good I can really see myself buying them for those occasions where you want to make an impression. They can also be eaten cold and then perhaps the lack of gravy will mean these are the perfect portable snacks? You will find out more about this in my next Lovett's Pies review.

Lovett Pies attend Bath and Swindon farmers markets every week. Their pies can also be found in various pubs across the South West.

SJL

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Beef with Pancetta and West Coast Single Malt Whisky Pie Review for Simple Simon’s Perfect Pies

Simple Simon's Beef Pie

Having been sent a treasure chest of pies from Simple Simon’s Perfect Pies Company, the Pierateers continued to make their way through the mountain of goodies. Having already eaten the Breakfast pie earlier in the morning, Pierateer RAS needed something to keep him going in the evening. Fortunately there was a Beef with Pancetta and West Coast Single Malt Whisky Pie just waiting for him to review, so having eaten it for tea this is what he thought:

The pie was absolutely packed to capacity and we aren’t talking padded out with lots of non-meat filling, although I was surprised to read that there was actually only 54% beef in the pie (plus 20% pancetta). It sure didn’t taste like that, as every mouthful had plenty of beef in it, with one piece of meat about the size of a golf ball! Sure, the meat could have been a bit better spread and the one major downside was a bit of gristle on one of the pieces of meat, which I wouldn’t expect in a “perfect” pie. For when you set your bar at pie-fection and ask the Pierateers to review, you live by the sword and die by the sword, so even these small pieces of gristle count against you when being graded on the Seven Cs! But the filling was very nice. The Pancetta was noticeable but not overpowering. The same can be said of the potato. The Single Malt Whisky did give the pie an interesting different flavour to the more traditional steak and ale pies we more normally see on pub menus, giving the pie a bit more of a lighter flavour and altering the flavour of the meat a bit more, which was a welcome change too. The content was split as follows: 54% Beef (felt like more though!), 20% Pancetta, Potato 24% and Single Malt Whisky 7%. I think they got it pretty much spot on.

Simple Simon's Beef Pie

The pastry was crisp and not too thick, but held the pie together well. The colour was spot on too and while at £4.05 this pie is on the higher end of the individual pie pricing scale, I’d say that was pretty accurate and worth it for the quantity and general quality of meat being provided. Let’s face it – I don’t normally liken my pieces of pie steak to golf balls every day!!!

Simon, to put it simply, you’ve made another top pie. Not quite pie-fection but a very high scoring pie! And I certainly can’t say I’ve got any beef with it... (if you see what I mean...)

Simple Simon’s Beef with Pancetta and West Coast Single Malt Whisky Pie
Score: 5.93/7
Colour 6/7; Consistency 5.75/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 5.75/7; Capacity 6.5/7; Total: 5.93/7]
RAS

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