Showing posts with label higgidy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label higgidy. Show all posts
Saturday, 17 December 2016
Higgidy pies to celebrate International Pierate Day
Slow Cooked Venison and Red Wine and Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Pie Reviews from Higgidy
![]() |
| Higgidy Pie Review |
A lot has happened on Pierate since that 200th pie review almost three and a half years ago – namely almost another 400 pie reviews plus multiple TV and radio ap-pie-rances! But they have also in the Higgidy kitchen too, with a wider range and much more regular availability showing the growth the company have made too. I mentioned in my 200th review that it was more like me having to sail the seven stores than the seven seas to find a Higgidy pie back in 2013, before getting my hands on one of their pies! But for International Pierate Day 2016 I was able to pick up two new Higgidy pies at my local Sainsbury’s for £3.70 each, which is just 21p more than what I paid back in 2013 (though the pies are still the same size at 250g).
On the shelf, one of the things that really stands out is the attractive packaging, with a number of intriguing features including the care put into selecting only the best ingredients (in the case of the chicken pie, even stating which farm it is sourced from!) and a cheeky see through plastic glimpse of the pie in question. It is clear from the packaging and the quality of the pie when eating that these people clearly love their pies! The box states the pie was “lovingly made in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex” and I very much appreciate the care and attention put into it. The pie holds together well, has good content and interesting flavours. With 4 pies already scoring over 5/7 (thus being “Pierate Recommended”) Higgidy know how to make a good pie! So how did these two flavours rate?
![]() |
| Higgidy Venison Pie |
Slow Cooked Venison and Red Wine Pie
This “special guest” pie – available for a limited time only – was a nice addition to the Higgidy family, from which we had not had a venison pie before. Regarding the content, the meat was nice and tender from it being slow cooked and, while a bit lacking at just 22%, it did give a nice flavour to the pie. The first few bites were slightly dominated by the chestnut mushrooms and the cranberry and apricot stuffing does add a surprising sweetness to the underside of the crisp puff pastry lid, however these flavours do combine to give the pie quite a unique and seasonal flavour.
However the biggest surprise was hint of dark chocolate, which certainly added some additional richness to sauce. While not really my cup to tea, I can understand it adds an extra texture to the pie sauce and would appeal to those who like something quirky in their pie fillings. It does however dominate the flavour a lot, so not ideal if it doesn’t take your fancy. The capacity was a bit lacking too, so while a good content the air gap does bring the score down a bit.
The Higgidy pastry, as ever, is very good quality. The pastry is a golden colour and perfectly held together. Fully encased with short crust pastry sides and base and a buttery puff pastry lid, it is a classic example of pie pastry done well, holding together and giving you a good crunch on top while holding the moist filling. The puff pastry lid, in particular, was very nice. I commend them for something new and it is certainly not lacking in flavour, once again being awarded Pierate Recommended status.
Higgidy Slow Cooked Venison and Red Wine Pie
Score: 5.43/7
[Colour 6/7; Consistency 5/7; Cheapness 4/7; Chewiness 5.75/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 5.25/7]
![]() |
| Higgidy Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Pie Review |
Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Pie
Similarly the pastry was very good for the chicken, bacon and mushroom pie and a highlight of this pie. Golden and crisp, it complimented the filling well. Again the meat content could have been a bit higher, at just 19% chicken and 7% bacon, but it was once again the mushrooms that slightly dominated the flavour, with three different types of mushroom in this pie (making up 16% of the pie!) The creamy sauce was pleasant and complimented the pie well, again leading to a Pierate Recommended status pie.
Higgidy Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Pie
Score: 5.5/7
[Colour 6/7; Consistency 5.5/7; Cheapness 4/7; Chewiness 5.75/7; Condition 6/7; Content 6/7; Capacity 5.25/7]
In summary, Higgidy have once again produced two recommended pies. While both could have been a bit bigger and had more meat content for the price (£3.70 for a 250g pie), they were certainly both being sold as and delivered as a pie on the top end of the supermarket range. A bit more meat would have boosted them ever so slightly higher in the rankings, as neither were at full capacity when you cut into the pies, but in general two pies worth getting your hands on!
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Tuesday, 26 May 2015
Higgidy Pie Party, for two.
Hello Pie-lovers! ARL here! What’s that? Who? Yes, yes I
know it has been a long time since my last review but I am back to review two
pies from Higgidy: the Spinach, Feta and Toasted Pine Nut and the Higgidy Sweet
Potato and Feta. I am slightly concerned that I am breaking my
pie rating sabbatical by eating questionable pies, but questionable pies are
better than no pies at all!
![]() |
| Higgidy Vegetarian Pie Review |
Why are these pies questionable you ask? Well, the tops of these pies aren’t made of pastry! One has red pepper and pine nuts, and the other is topped with pumpkin seeds. However, I will leave debating the finer points of pie construction for another time and get on with the review.
Colour
![]() |
| Spinach, Feta and Toasted Pine Nut Pie |
Consistency
The spinach pie was consistent
all the way through. Whether intentional or not the slices of (I think it was)
onion has mostly settled near the bottom of both pies. The sweet potato pie was
less consistent, with most of the sweet potato clustered in one spot.
Capacity
These pies were both
absolutely full. The benefit of this style of pie is that there is no room for
air bubbles. Both get top marks here.
Chewiness
![]() |
| Sweet Potato and Feta Pie |
Whether it was due to being
slightly under done or what, but the onion (like I said, I think it was onion,
it could have been cabbage…) in both
pies was a little on the chewy side.
Cheapness
These pies were on offer at
two for £6, making them £3 each (usually £3.70 at Waitrose). They aren’t the
cheapest individual pies, but they more luxurious than most supermarket branded
ones.
Content
These pies were pretty much
the same apart from one had a few cubes of sweet potatoes in it. It was good
content, but it was the same base of spinach and feta which was disappointing.
A bit more variety between the two would have been good.
Condition
These pies were very good
condition which held well. They cut apart easily and I could shift them from
one plate to the other without them falling apart.
This review may sound negative but I did actually enjoy
these pies! The respectable scores reflect this. Hopefully, I will be back soon with another review,
though I am vegetarian now which will give me a much smaller pie-le of pies to
choose from. Until then, ARL signing
off!
Higgidy Spinach, Feta and Toasted Pine Nut Pie
Score: 4.0/7
Higgidy Sweet Potato and Feta Pie with Pumpkin Seeds
Score: 4.2/7
ARL
(Note: Pierateer TJP reviewed the Sweet Potato pie in 2013, giving it a score of 5.76,
whether this pie has changed since or it was just more suited to TJP's
tastes we cannot say. It is worth noting that TJP seems to have thrown
caution to the wind and cooked his pie until it was black on top! This might be
worth considering if you do buy these.)Score: 4.2/7
ARL
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Monday, 2 March 2015
Higgidy Porkie Pies Are Pulling Our Leg
Higgidy - Hand Pulled Pork & Sweet Potato Pie Review (Limited Edition)
This pie was eaten as part of the Pierateers #Pieathon Pie Pledge to see who could go the longest eating only pie! This was eaten on Day One of British Pie Week 2015.
Here we have a Higgidy OPEN TOP Pulled Pork pie. Controversial to start British Pie Week with a review of what is technically not a pie by our own definition! However, Higgidy have been good to us, sending vouchers for our 200th pie review back in the day. They also sent vouchers for our #Pie4EveryMeal challenge last year but they arrived too late, so I thought I owed them a review this year. To be honest, I hadn't realised it was open top when I bought it and was a bit saddened when I got it out of the box! My own fault though, it was clearly visible. Then I had a brain wave, there was nothing to stop me from adding my own pastry lid! Hey presto, a proper pie!
This pie worked really well as part of the Pie-a-thon #PiePledge that RAS and myself are attempting. The flavour was original and added a bit of variety to the excessive pie consumption. The flavours of the filling were delicious.
Condition - 3.5 out of 7 - A great looking product, despite the filling being naked. The crinkled edge was a nice effect. But, without a lid it just didn't look right....
Colour - 5.0 out of 7 - A range of colours to the filling which is nice to see. The pastry was a good colour.
Cheapness - 4.0 out of 7 - This was on offer for £3 in Sainsbury's. About £3.50 normally. This is about the going rate for an up market pie of this size from a supermarket.
Capacity - 4.8 out of 7 - The open top means that you can straight away see that there is plenty of filling. But I genuinely felt that without the additional pastry lid, there would not have been the right pastry to filling ratio.
Chewiness - 5.9 out of 7 - Brilliant texture, the pork was soft but had enough bite to get your teeth into. The sweet potato and other veg wasn't mushy although I perhaps felt the sweet potato was a bit too hard. The pastry was nice and crunchy.
Content - 6.0 out of 7 - Strands of pulled pork in a slightly sweet and slightly spicy filling. It had a bit of kick but not too much. The bits of pepper added some variety. The meat was delicious and the flavours worked well with the shortcrust pastry.
Consistency - 4.5 out of 7 - It could never score really highly, not having a lid, but if you feel like adding your own you will get the full pie experience and a really great tasting pie! With the additional pastry lid it looked good and worked really well!
Open Top Pulled Pork & Sweet Potato (Higgidy)
4.81/7
SJL
continue reading "Higgidy Porkie Pies Are Pulling Our Leg"
This pie was eaten as part of the Pierateers #Pieathon Pie Pledge to see who could go the longest eating only pie! This was eaten on Day One of British Pie Week 2015.
Here we have a Higgidy OPEN TOP Pulled Pork pie. Controversial to start British Pie Week with a review of what is technically not a pie by our own definition! However, Higgidy have been good to us, sending vouchers for our 200th pie review back in the day. They also sent vouchers for our #Pie4EveryMeal challenge last year but they arrived too late, so I thought I owed them a review this year. To be honest, I hadn't realised it was open top when I bought it and was a bit saddened when I got it out of the box! My own fault though, it was clearly visible. Then I had a brain wave, there was nothing to stop me from adding my own pastry lid! Hey presto, a proper pie!This pie worked really well as part of the Pie-a-thon #PiePledge that RAS and myself are attempting. The flavour was original and added a bit of variety to the excessive pie consumption. The flavours of the filling were delicious.
Condition - 3.5 out of 7 - A great looking product, despite the filling being naked. The crinkled edge was a nice effect. But, without a lid it just didn't look right....
Colour - 5.0 out of 7 - A range of colours to the filling which is nice to see. The pastry was a good colour.
Cheapness - 4.0 out of 7 - This was on offer for £3 in Sainsbury's. About £3.50 normally. This is about the going rate for an up market pie of this size from a supermarket.
Capacity - 4.8 out of 7 - The open top means that you can straight away see that there is plenty of filling. But I genuinely felt that without the additional pastry lid, there would not have been the right pastry to filling ratio.
Chewiness - 5.9 out of 7 - Brilliant texture, the pork was soft but had enough bite to get your teeth into. The sweet potato and other veg wasn't mushy although I perhaps felt the sweet potato was a bit too hard. The pastry was nice and crunchy.
Content - 6.0 out of 7 - Strands of pulled pork in a slightly sweet and slightly spicy filling. It had a bit of kick but not too much. The bits of pepper added some variety. The meat was delicious and the flavours worked well with the shortcrust pastry.
Consistency - 4.5 out of 7 - It could never score really highly, not having a lid, but if you feel like adding your own you will get the full pie experience and a really great tasting pie! With the additional pastry lid it looked good and worked really well!
Open Top Pulled Pork & Sweet Potato (Higgidy)
4.81/7
SJL
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Saturday, 9 August 2014
500 Pierate posts celebrated with Piecnic video!
Just over a week ago, the pie review experts at Pierate started their latest campaign, which coincides with celebrating 500 posts on their pie website, inviting you to add pie to your picnic and:
#MakeAPicnicAPiecnic
Yes, it’s as simple as it sounds! As the strapline goes – “Just add pie!”
You can find out more about the campaign by visiting our "Make a Picnic a Piecnic" article, but on Sunday 3rd August the campaign became a reality, as we held the World's first ever official Piecnic! So without further ado, here's the short video PIElights for you to enjoy and insPIEre you to have your own piecnic soon!
Of course we'd love to hear from you if you "just added pie" to your picnic and made it a piecnic! Do leave a comment below, tweet us at @pierateers (ideally using #MakeAPicnicAPiecnic) or contact us. We'll happily add photos of other piecnics happening up and down the country, so if you email us then we can give you your 5 seconds of pie fame!
Of course with any production of this nature, it takes a whole group of people to make it happen, so thanks particularly go to our pieduction man ("BH") - yes, he was paid in pies! - and all who starred in the video - particularly our first ever Honourary Pierateer Toby, who kindly took time out of growing his curly hair to be with us (and yes, he did eventually say "PIE!!!!" - Good lad, Toby!)
Thanks also to The Real Pie Company for providing some free pies, to Gill and Helen for providing homemade pies and Rach for bringing a highly sought after Bray’s Cottage Pork Pie all the way from Norfolk!
All it really remains for me to say is: When you're planning your picnics this summer, make a picnic a piecnic and just add pie!!!
| Pies at the World's first ever Piecnic! |
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. And yes - incredibly this is post number 500 on the web's leading pie review website! Thanks to all the pie fans out there who have shown us so much great support!
For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised. Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Monday, 4 August 2014
The world’s first piecnic – we just added pie!
Just over a week ago, the pie review experts at Pierate started their latest campaign, inviting you to add pie to your picnic and:
#MakeAPicnicAPiecnic
Yes, it’s as simple as it sounds! As the strapline goes – “Just add pie!”
And if you're still not convinced, see our video at the bottom of the article!
And if you're still not convinced, see our video at the bottom of the article!
So on Sunday 3rd August, around 40 members of City Church joined Pierateer RAS as he organised the world’s first ever Piecnic. The visitors to the park were all strongly encouraged to bring a pie or – even better – to bake a homemade pie and bring it to share! So with the rugs set out, the sun shining and pies a plenty on offer – and believe me, there were plenty of pies on offer – the scene was set for a piefect afternoon!
| Pies at the World's first ever Piecnic! |
Amongst the pie offerings was a Bray’s Cottage Pork Pie, very kindly brought all the way from Norfolk by Rach, which we have pie rated recently and tasted great! This was in fine company with a number of Pat Gorman pork pies from Aldi, a pie from Morrisons, pork pies from Sainsbury’s and one from Higgidy’s!
| Higgidy's Chicken and Smoky Spanish Chorizo Pie |
But one of the pielights was the Real Pie Company’s Steak and Mushroom pie, which I decided to try cold. With a whole selection sent for us to rate and the label mentioning they could be eaten hot or cold, I decided one of them should be tried at the world’s first ever piecnic. And what a great decision! Packed to capacity, just as it mentioned it would be on the wrapper, it was a delightful pie and I look forward to eating the others this week.
Finally, a huge thank you should be made to Gill and Helen, who both brought along homemade pies to share! In particular Gill made this delightful looking pie, made following the Hairy Biker’s reciPIE for ham, potato and apple pie!
| The Hairy Biker's Ham, Potato and Apple Pie |
Thanks to everyone who came along, including our first ever Honourary Pierateer Toby, and – while I may be a little pie-ased – it seemed a roaring success well worth repeating! And with a fair bit of filming done while we were at the park, here is our very own #MakeAPicnicAPiecnic promotional video!
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Monday, 17 February 2014
Vegetarian Pies on the Pierate menu
Pierate is going green! Well… getting their greens, anyway!
We’ve collated the top savoury vegetarian pies so that you know where to go if you don’t want to eat meat! Here are our top 5 vegetarian pies as of today and links to the reviews, or you can view our table of all our vegetarian pies here!
Don't forget you can view lots of different pie flavour categories and also pies sold by various supermarkets and brands on our "Pies Categorised" page!
| Rank | Pie Producer | Pie Flavour | Score | By | Info |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
| Sainsbury's Taste the Difference | Roasted Butternut Squash and Feta Cheese with Filo Pastry |
6.03
|
TJP
|
V
|
2
| Piebury Corner [N7 8DL] | Goats Cheese, Spinach, Sweet Potato and Mushroom [Reg Lewis] |
5.90
|
RAS
|
V
|
3
| Canteen [W1U 8EW] | Celeriac, Mushroom and Leek |
5.85
|
SJL
|
V
|
4
| Higgidy | Sweet Potato, Feta Cheese and Pumpkin Seed |
5.76
|
TJP
|
V
|
5
| Tom's Pies / Selfridges | Spicy Cauliflower, Spinach and Lentil |
5.72
|
SJL
|
V
|
![]() |
| Our number one vegetarian pie from Sainsbury's |
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
A special Higgidy pie treat for your Christmas guests
Higgidy “Special Guest” Lincolnshire Turkey, Bacon and Stuffing Pie Review
Christmas is a time for sharing gifts with your loved ones, welcoming in special guests to your home and enjoying good food and good banter! And what better food gift to share with your special guests than a pie (of course, at Christmas time it has to be a turkey pie!) The question is... What do you put with it? Obviously it needs to be packed full of meatilicious turkey – that’s a given! But what other parts of the Christmas meal should be included in the pie if you want to really give your guests some festive cheer?!
Well I guess everyone’s going to write a slightly different list (and check it twice) to Santa when requesting what type of turkey pie they want for Christmas. But for me, it would have to be turkey, bacon/sausage and stuffing, with a nice bit of gravy! Love a good amount of dinner with my gravy! So when I saw that the Higgidy Christmas Turkey pie contained all of my requirements, it was immediately added to my ’12 Pies of Christmas’ list!
![]() |
| 4 Higgidy Pies |
Coming out of the oven, the lid of the pie was a nice lightly golden colour and the sides and base were quite good colour, though a bit paler as can be seen in the photo. Cutting through the pie, there was a strong capacity, though a bit of an air gap between filling and pastry lid. There was not much of a mix of colour inside the pie, particularly because there weren’t many pieces of bacon in the filling to add to the colour.
However tucking into the pie, there was certainly no lack of turkey inside! The pieces were quite large and spread throughout the pie, though in both my pie and those of the three friends I shared my “Four Higgidy Pies” with, the consistency of turkey, bacon and stuffing throughout the pie wasn’t quite perfect, with some mouthfuls exclusively of stuffing.
![]() |
| Inside the Higgidy Turkey Pie |
However my main disappointment with this pie was actually the level of pepper included in the recipe. Unfortunately this was a big distraction from the actual taste of the meat in the pie – so much so that when someone asked me the next day about the pie I had eaten, all that immediately came to mind was that it was far too peppery (for me and my special guests). I’m not a huge fan of pepper in pies, but this pie not only had pepper in the turkey and bacon filling and the stuffing, but also cayenne pepper in the short crust pastry!!! I can only hope that the pies we ate had been made in an overly peppery batch because the levels of pepper were so much that I’d personally rename this pie a “Pepper with turkey, bacon and stuffing” pie. To those who love their pepper, this is clearly the pie for you. Sadly, however, I don’t think this would greatly appeal to the wider turkey pie loving market. I certainly wouldn’t eat another if the recipe did not change.
At £3 per pie, I think this is very reasonable for a good sized, meaty Christmas pie. In addition, the pie box contained a token that – when 10 are collected – would allow me to get a free Higgidy pie, so I’m already well on my way to a free pie having eaten 4 Higgidy pies for the ’12 Pies of Christmas’ music video.
I don’t like to end on a sour (or peppery) note, but hopefully this was just an overly-peppery batch and the recipe will be slightly tweaked to provide a delicious turkey pie for next Christmas! There’s certainly a lot of potential in this Christmas pie if the recipe is just tweaked slightly.
Higgidy “Special Guest” Lincolnshire Turkey, Bacon and Stuffing Pie
Score: 5.36/7
[Colour 5, Capacity 6, Consistency 4, Condition 7, Chewiness 6.5, Cheapness 6, Content 3, Total: 5.36/7]
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!
|
Sunday, 29 September 2013
Unmis-steak-ably steak and stilton pie from Higgidy
Higgidy British Beef, Stilton and Ale pie review
Ah, Higgidy. We had a Higgidy celebration back in July, in aid of our 200th pie review. Back then we tried the Slow Cooked Steak & Red Wine pie, the Sweet Potato, Feta Cheese and Pumpkin Seed pie, and the Chicken Pot Pie with Ham and Leek. Today I'll be reviewing the British Beef, Stilton and Ale pie from the Shoreham-by-Sea company.
The lack of pastry lid to this pie is my immediate concern. We strongly favour pies that have a filling totally and wholly encased in pastry (have we ever mentioned that before...?), so the omission of a lid here is guaranteed to lower the final score. This also detracts from the colour of the pie, as I often assess the pastry lid for a rich pine colour. Here, despite cooking the pie for the allotted time at the allotted temperature, I appear to have burnt the potato topping slightly. However, the condition of the pie is good.
Moving on to content now - and this is where this Higgidy offering starts losing points rapidly. As I cut the pie open, I noticed something very strange about the filling. Therefore I separated out all the pastry and mash from the steak, ale and stilton filling, and was very disappointed with what I found. Have a look at this close up of the filling:
This photograph - apart from a few bits of gravy still stuck to the pastry which I couldn't scrape off - is the entire filling of this pie. I haven't included the potato mash here, because that is technically the lid. As you can see (or perhaps not quite so clearly), the chunks of beef are few and far between. Most of what you see here is gravy with some fibres of beef swimming around in it - there are a couple of small chunks of beef at the top of the photograph. This was extremely disappointing and not what I would expect from a premium beef pie. If you're expecting a big meat feast with this pie, then think again. For those who like their meat pies with meat in, this might not be for you. I could have probably eaten the entire filling here in one large spoonful. Is this a sign that Higgidy isn't ready yet to compete with the big carnivorous players?
That fact aside, the filling was actually delicious. There was definitely a fairly strong taste of stilton. I know for some people this will be a big negative, but for use fans of blue cheese, this is definitely a 'plus' point. Good on you Higgidy! Be brave with the stilton taste! Big flavours. Just need to be bigger on the chunks of meat.
Overall, at about £3.50, this was priced at the premium end of the supermarket pie spectrum - but the quality is clear. The meat (when it was there) was not chewy, and the pastry was great quality. It loses points for no pastry lid, a lack of filling and a lack of beef in the filling, and also it is slightly expensive.
Higgidy British Beef, Stilton and Ale pie
Score: 5.17/7
TJP
continue reading "Unmis-steak-ably steak and stilton pie from Higgidy"
Ah, Higgidy. We had a Higgidy celebration back in July, in aid of our 200th pie review. Back then we tried the Slow Cooked Steak & Red Wine pie, the Sweet Potato, Feta Cheese and Pumpkin Seed pie, and the Chicken Pot Pie with Ham and Leek. Today I'll be reviewing the British Beef, Stilton and Ale pie from the Shoreham-by-Sea company.
![]() |
| Higgidy Beef, Stilton and Ale Pie |
I had always thought of Higgidy as being a primarily vegetarian company, but here they are delving deep into the domain of hardy meat fans. Beef, blue cheese and ale is a pretty butch combination. I'm desperate to know - can the quirky, cute, family-business Higgidy pull it off?
So the pastry is short crust, but doesn't totally encase the whole filling (much like other pie offerings from Higgidy). Instead, the pastry lid is replaced with potato mash. That's not good! Why not opt for a pastry lid?
This is a very British affair - not only is it made by a British company, but the beef is British, the stilton is British, and I imagine the ale is probably British. I like that.
![]() |
| The pie has no pastry lid |
![]() |
| The inside of the pie |
![]() |
| This was all the filling |
That fact aside, the filling was actually delicious. There was definitely a fairly strong taste of stilton. I know for some people this will be a big negative, but for use fans of blue cheese, this is definitely a 'plus' point. Good on you Higgidy! Be brave with the stilton taste! Big flavours. Just need to be bigger on the chunks of meat.
Overall, at about £3.50, this was priced at the premium end of the supermarket pie spectrum - but the quality is clear. The meat (when it was there) was not chewy, and the pastry was great quality. It loses points for no pastry lid, a lack of filling and a lack of beef in the filling, and also it is slightly expensive.
Higgidy British Beef, Stilton and Ale pie
Score: 5.17/7
TJP
See where these pies 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!
|
Sunday, 7 July 2013
200 Pie Reviews – A Higgidy celebration
Pie Reviews from Higgidy
When you’re reaching a big landmark in pie reviewing, you need a pie that says “quality” all over it. And when that said quality pie is given to you for free, well... how can you resist?! For that was the proposition when Higgidy, the pie ***mutters under breath “and other pastry products”*** manufacturer contacted the Pierateers on twitter and offered to send them free pie vouchers to eat and rate their pies. Well, they had certainly come to the right place if they wanted their pies reviewed! And while it has been a little while since the vouchers were sent and the pies were found and eaten, we thought the 200th pie review deserved something a bit special. So here it is: the 200th, 201st and 202nd pies eaten and reviewed on surely the world’s leading pie reviewing blog: www.pierate.co.uk
After searching around a number of stores, Pierateer RAS found his Higgidy pie in Co-op Stirchley (Birmingham). The packaging was very attractive, with a number of intriguing features including how the pie was made and the background love story behind the Higgidy brand, and a cheeky see through plastic glimpse of the pie in question. It immediately appealed and I couldn’t wait to get it in the oven. What must be pointed out, which you can’t tell from the photo, is the intricacy of the design of the pie, from the perfect shape to the small pastry pimples on the base of the pie which slightly lift the base from the baking tray to aid in the cooking process. These people clearly love their pies! The box states the pie was “lovingly made in Shoreham, West Sussex” and I can definitely feel the love!
Onto the eating, after I take the golden pastry pie out of the oven, and my first impression when I cut open the pie is the steak slowly oozing out of the pie as I cut into it. The pastry is golden and perfectly held together. The pie is fully encased in pastry, with short crust pastry sides and base and a buttery puff pastry lid. It’s a delightful combination that works so well and this pie really pulled it off brilliantly. The pastry was not heavy at all and the lid perfectly crisp. The steak was tender and delicious, with my main query being a lack of bacon taste and a slight over packing of mushroom for my liking. The chunks of steak were quite big to and could have been slightly better spread throughout the pie. The gravy certainly had a bit of a kick to it, with thyme and other flavourings adding to the gravy flavour. This certainly wasn’t your standard steak and ale but full flavour behaviour!
While the pie could have been a bit bigger for the price (£3.49 for a 250g pie), it was certainly being sold as and delivered as a pie on the top end of the market. A bit more meat would have boosted it ever so slightly higher in the rankings, as it wasn’t at full capacity when you cut into the pie, but all in all this was a pie I certainly hope to eat again.
While not part of the actual pie eating, it is worth noting that this Pierateer actually found it rather tricky to get his hands on this buried treasure! Rather than sailing the seven seas, it was more a case of searching the seven stores, as one by one I failed to find Higgidy pies on sale in numerous stores in central Birmingham. It does make me wonder why they aren’t more readily available, as they certainly score highly in my eyes and it was frustrating not to get my hands on these pies more easily! Here’s hoping the Higgidy marketing team get their pies out to the masses soon!
Higgidy Slow Cooked Steak & Red Wine Pie
Score: 6.35/7 (RAS)
Sweet potato, feta cheese and pumpkin seed Pie Review from Higgidy
Introducing the sweet potato, feta cheese and pumpkin seed pie from Higgidy. Although difficult to source, this pie will have you asking why you didn't seek out a vegetarian Higgidy pie sooner. With a similar quirkiness to Pieminister, the box looks jolly and the pie looks tasty. And so it should, at a retail price of £3.49 ( although the nice folks at Higgidy were kind enough to spare us the expense, thank you!). It might be pricey, but the pie doesn't let you down. The feta gives a wonderful creaminess and the high quality pastry is lovely and crunchy.
However, you'll note that the pie has no top crust! The Pierate rules on pie crust are quite strict, following the lead of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association and the British Pie Awards. I have to say also that the colour of the inside of the pie is a bit strange, don't you think? However the pie arrived in excellent condition. The creaminess of the pie allows for a very smooth consistency. I am impressed, but not being fully encased in pastry is quite a downer.
Higgidy sweet potato, feta cheese, pumpkin seed pie
Score: 5.76/7 (TJP)
(Note: in 2015 our vegetarian pie reviewer, Pierateer ARL, reviewed this pie giving it a score of 4.2 out of 7. This gives an average score of 4.98)
Chicken Pot Pie with Ham and Leek Pie Review from Higgidy
It took a long time to track one of these pies down but I finally found one in Co-op near Liverpool Street station. I could only find reduced pies because they were all on their sell by date. However the pie was still over £3 and seemed quite expensive for an individual pie. I picked up a chicken pot pie with ham and leek.
However upon opening it the pie had an excellent height, which gave it the capacity one would expect from an up market pie. It looked resplendent once it came out of the oven, certainly one of the best presented pies I have seen in a long time. The shortcrust base and sides gave it a wonderful solidness. There was absolutely no collapsing in the oven from this one. This is, in my opinion, a quintessential example of how to make a proper pie.
It also provided one of the best cross-sections I have ever seen in a pie. The filling had such viscosity that it stayed within the sliced pie. With a lovely golden colour it was already very high scoring on capacity, colour and condition.
First impressions were that this pie had a full on flavour. Higgidy had opted for a cream and cheese based sauce rather than a traditional stock based sauce. It was consequently quite cheesy. There was also quite a kick of mustard in this pie which left it anything but bland. The meat was great quality and the numbers game shows that it was around two thirds chicken, ham and leek. Hugely impressive to have so much filling compared to pastry and sauce. The pastry had a good texture although it was pretty low key when compared to the filling.
The Dijon style mustard, cinnamon, pimento and white wine vinegar left quite a continental taste in the mouth rather than what would be expected from a British pie. Not that this was necessarily a bad thing. It did taste nice, although the flavour verged on over powering. However it wasn't quite what I would be expecting when buying this pie. In fact it wasn't the kind of flavour I would expect from a pie at all. It comes as no surprise to me that Higgidy are primarily quiche makers and their quiches are much more widely available. I can't say that the choice of flavour particularly appealed to me. It was a bit too cheesy and after just a small amount I just didn't really want any more. It wasn't that it tasted bad but a pie should really leave you wanting more. Such a shame when it did other things so well.
I was left with the inevitable question, would I buy this pie again? It is not the kind of pie you would expect to have in a pub with a pint of beer. While it is spectacular in its appearance it is too small to serve at a dinner party to impress guests with this refined specimen. However, it almost feels gratuitous to buy and eat such a gourmet pie by yourself. Perhaps then it is for taking on a picnic? However having to cook it, cool it down and slice it up doesn't seem practical. In fact this is perhaps an occasion that you might buy a Higgidy quiche for.
At the price it comes as no surprise that I could only find this pie in London where people will pay to look like they have refined taste no matter what the cost. Would I pay full price for this pie? I think I might buy it again if only because of its archetypal pie appearance. However next time I might try another flavour to see if I can combine this classic pie look with a classic British pie flavour.
Higgidy Chicken pot pie with ham and leek
Score: 4.87/7 (SJL)
continue reading "200 Pie Reviews – A Higgidy celebration"
When you’re reaching a big landmark in pie reviewing, you need a pie that says “quality” all over it. And when that said quality pie is given to you for free, well... how can you resist?! For that was the proposition when Higgidy, the pie ***mutters under breath “and other pastry products”*** manufacturer contacted the Pierateers on twitter and offered to send them free pie vouchers to eat and rate their pies. Well, they had certainly come to the right place if they wanted their pies reviewed! And while it has been a little while since the vouchers were sent and the pies were found and eaten, we thought the 200th pie review deserved something a bit special. So here it is: the 200th, 201st and 202nd pies eaten and reviewed on surely the world’s leading pie reviewing blog: www.pierate.co.uk
![]() |
| Higgidy Slow Cooked Steak and Red Wine Pie |
Slow Cooked Steak & Red Wine Pie Review from Higgidy
After searching around a number of stores, Pierateer RAS found his Higgidy pie in Co-op Stirchley (Birmingham). The packaging was very attractive, with a number of intriguing features including how the pie was made and the background love story behind the Higgidy brand, and a cheeky see through plastic glimpse of the pie in question. It immediately appealed and I couldn’t wait to get it in the oven. What must be pointed out, which you can’t tell from the photo, is the intricacy of the design of the pie, from the perfect shape to the small pastry pimples on the base of the pie which slightly lift the base from the baking tray to aid in the cooking process. These people clearly love their pies! The box states the pie was “lovingly made in Shoreham, West Sussex” and I can definitely feel the love!
Onto the eating, after I take the golden pastry pie out of the oven, and my first impression when I cut open the pie is the steak slowly oozing out of the pie as I cut into it. The pastry is golden and perfectly held together. The pie is fully encased in pastry, with short crust pastry sides and base and a buttery puff pastry lid. It’s a delightful combination that works so well and this pie really pulled it off brilliantly. The pastry was not heavy at all and the lid perfectly crisp. The steak was tender and delicious, with my main query being a lack of bacon taste and a slight over packing of mushroom for my liking. The chunks of steak were quite big to and could have been slightly better spread throughout the pie. The gravy certainly had a bit of a kick to it, with thyme and other flavourings adding to the gravy flavour. This certainly wasn’t your standard steak and ale but full flavour behaviour!
![]() |
| Cross section of the Higgidy Steak Pie |
While not part of the actual pie eating, it is worth noting that this Pierateer actually found it rather tricky to get his hands on this buried treasure! Rather than sailing the seven seas, it was more a case of searching the seven stores, as one by one I failed to find Higgidy pies on sale in numerous stores in central Birmingham. It does make me wonder why they aren’t more readily available, as they certainly score highly in my eyes and it was frustrating not to get my hands on these pies more easily! Here’s hoping the Higgidy marketing team get their pies out to the masses soon!
Higgidy Slow Cooked Steak & Red Wine Pie
Score: 6.35/7 (RAS)
Sweet potato, feta cheese and pumpkin seed Pie Review from Higgidy
Introducing the sweet potato, feta cheese and pumpkin seed pie from Higgidy. Although difficult to source, this pie will have you asking why you didn't seek out a vegetarian Higgidy pie sooner. With a similar quirkiness to Pieminister, the box looks jolly and the pie looks tasty. And so it should, at a retail price of £3.49 ( although the nice folks at Higgidy were kind enough to spare us the expense, thank you!). It might be pricey, but the pie doesn't let you down. The feta gives a wonderful creaminess and the high quality pastry is lovely and crunchy.
![]() |
| Higgidy Sweet potato, feta cheese and pumpkin seed pie |
However, you'll note that the pie has no top crust! The Pierate rules on pie crust are quite strict, following the lead of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association and the British Pie Awards. I have to say also that the colour of the inside of the pie is a bit strange, don't you think? However the pie arrived in excellent condition. The creaminess of the pie allows for a very smooth consistency. I am impressed, but not being fully encased in pastry is quite a downer.
Higgidy sweet potato, feta cheese, pumpkin seed pie
Score: 5.76/7 (TJP)
(Note: in 2015 our vegetarian pie reviewer, Pierateer ARL, reviewed this pie giving it a score of 4.2 out of 7. This gives an average score of 4.98)
Chicken Pot Pie with Ham and Leek Pie Review from Higgidy
It took a long time to track one of these pies down but I finally found one in Co-op near Liverpool Street station. I could only find reduced pies because they were all on their sell by date. However the pie was still over £3 and seemed quite expensive for an individual pie. I picked up a chicken pot pie with ham and leek.
However upon opening it the pie had an excellent height, which gave it the capacity one would expect from an up market pie. It looked resplendent once it came out of the oven, certainly one of the best presented pies I have seen in a long time. The shortcrust base and sides gave it a wonderful solidness. There was absolutely no collapsing in the oven from this one. This is, in my opinion, a quintessential example of how to make a proper pie.
![]() |
| Higgidy Chicken pot pie with ham and leek |
First impressions were that this pie had a full on flavour. Higgidy had opted for a cream and cheese based sauce rather than a traditional stock based sauce. It was consequently quite cheesy. There was also quite a kick of mustard in this pie which left it anything but bland. The meat was great quality and the numbers game shows that it was around two thirds chicken, ham and leek. Hugely impressive to have so much filling compared to pastry and sauce. The pastry had a good texture although it was pretty low key when compared to the filling.
The Dijon style mustard, cinnamon, pimento and white wine vinegar left quite a continental taste in the mouth rather than what would be expected from a British pie. Not that this was necessarily a bad thing. It did taste nice, although the flavour verged on over powering. However it wasn't quite what I would be expecting when buying this pie. In fact it wasn't the kind of flavour I would expect from a pie at all. It comes as no surprise to me that Higgidy are primarily quiche makers and their quiches are much more widely available. I can't say that the choice of flavour particularly appealed to me. It was a bit too cheesy and after just a small amount I just didn't really want any more. It wasn't that it tasted bad but a pie should really leave you wanting more. Such a shame when it did other things so well.
I was left with the inevitable question, would I buy this pie again? It is not the kind of pie you would expect to have in a pub with a pint of beer. While it is spectacular in its appearance it is too small to serve at a dinner party to impress guests with this refined specimen. However, it almost feels gratuitous to buy and eat such a gourmet pie by yourself. Perhaps then it is for taking on a picnic? However having to cook it, cool it down and slice it up doesn't seem practical. In fact this is perhaps an occasion that you might buy a Higgidy quiche for.
At the price it comes as no surprise that I could only find this pie in London where people will pay to look like they have refined taste no matter what the cost. Would I pay full price for this pie? I think I might buy it again if only because of its archetypal pie appearance. However next time I might try another flavour to see if I can combine this classic pie look with a classic British pie flavour.
Higgidy Chicken pot pie with ham and leek
Score: 4.87/7 (SJL)
See where these pies 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!
|
Labels:
chicken,
ham,
higgidy,
steak,
vegetarian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)










.jpg)










