The Ship's Cook is making her way through pie recipes from the UK's major supermarkets and this British Pie Week outing is from Aldi. Check back this weekend to see how the Ship's Cook gets on with baking her own British Pierate Pie!

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If my calculations are correct, I must have baked my way around almost half of the UK's major supermarkets by now, and there are still more to come! That's a lot of pies, but never fear readers, because I'm happy to test them out so you don't have to (although I think you should anyway because pies are delicious).

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Square Pie's Rugby Pie World Cup in Grand Central Shopping Centre, Birmingham

Square Pie Rugby Pie World Cup Review



Here at Pierate HQ we’re always big fans of a pie-motion, like the tie in of the Rugby World Cup happening in England with the “Rugby Pie World Cup” happening down at Square Pie right now!

The idea is pretty simple – there’s a new pie to represent each of the 20 competing nations in the Rugby World Cup 2015, which are trying to be crowned the Pie World Cup Champion! Just like the competing rugby nations, the pies are being put through their paces and pitted against each other in a group phase and eventual knock out com-pie-tition, based on pie sales. Intriguing flavours include Chicken Teriyaki for Japan, Springbok Sausage for South Africa and Moose for Canada! It’s also great to see money being raised for the Dallaglio Foundation as part of the contest. More info can be found on the Square Pie website.



Eyes on the pies!

As you may have read from my live blogging recently, a new Square Pie outlet has opened up in Birmingham’s newest shopping centre – Grand Central. Based above the main New Street train station in the heart of Birmingham, it’s great to have an established and Pierate Recommended pie brand such as Square Pie in the centre of the city. I got invited along to try three of the Pie World Cup hopefuls recently to see how they pie rated and these are my thoughts:

Overall – The pastry on all three of these pies held together well, all passing the hand-held test (even if the Steak and Ale was a bit less firm than the others due to the more liquid filling making the base pastry a bit softer). I was impressed that none of these had soggy bottoms though, particularly with the gravy in the steak and ale. The pastry lid was particularly flaky and crisp on all three. There was a bit of a pastry overhang on the lids of these pies and by the time you got to the corners of the pies there was a bit too much pastry to filling – but there’s not really a way of avoiding this in a square product and this doesn’t detract much from the overall enjoyment.

All these special Rugby World Cup pies are the same price as their standard pie range, which I think is quite commendable seeing as, being quite unique flavours, they would be made in smaller, less frequent batches. However at £4.50 for just a pie or £6.50 for a classic meal (pie and 2 regular sides or pie and one large side) prices them as a bit expensive for just a hot pie or meal takeaway, but a reasonably priced option for a restaurant pie. It has to also be remembered that you are in the heart of Birmingham, minutes away from the central train station. There is very much a takeaway vibe to the Grand Central Square Pie shop, with food served in a box to go or eat in their array of seating – both useful options for those using the pie shop to ‘grab and go’ before getting a train. I know I will be!

Wales - Rugby Pie World Cup Review

Wales: Cheese, Leek and Potato (Vegetarian)

There were big potato chunks in the pie, which were quite well cooked, soft and tasty without being mushy. The cheese was noticeable and added flavour alongside the leek, but could have been a bit stronger. There wasn’t really anything to get your teeth into with this pie though, as a result of the potato being quite soft alongside the cheese and leek. This and the runny sauce contrasted quite strongly with the crisp pastry. Slightly smaller chunks of potato and a bit more cheese would have improved this pie a bit. A decent vegetarian pie but quite a standard flavour.

Square Pie Cheese, Leek and Potato Pie
Score: 4.68/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 5, Consistency 4.5, Condition 5, Chewiness 4.25, Cheapness 4, Content 4.5, Total: 4.68/7]

Square Pie Fiji Goat Curry Rugby Pie Review

Fiji: Fijian Goat Curry

One of the more unique flavours in the Rugby Pie World Cup, the Goat Curry pie was an interesting one to get my hands on! I’d only had a goat pie once before but that was in a gravy based pie, so the goat curry pie was a lot more dry in comparison to that. The ingredients in the pie apart from the meat were quite moist but there was no real sauce, which meant that the dryness of the meat was quite evident. This isn’t that surprising given my prior experience with goat, which is quite fatty but chewy and quite a dry meat, but this perhaps could have been factored into the pie filling. The meat was also in quite large chunks, which would have been better served spread out in more, smaller chunks in my opinion.

The curry flavour was quite mild but added some flavour. I recognise goat is not the easiest meat to prepare well and overall didn’t mind this pie flavour, but a bit more flavour and leaner, tender meat would improve the pie rating.

Square Pie Fijian Goat Curry Pie
Score: 4.29/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 4.5, Consistency 3.5, Condition 5, Chewiness 3.5, Cheapness 4, Content 4, Total: 4.29/7]

Square Pie England Steak and Ale Rugby Pie Review

England: Dallaglio Foundation Steak and Ale

The steak and ale pie is a classic English flavour, so it’s no sur-pies to see the English pie filled with it. There’s no denying it is a flavour we love here on the Pierate Ship, but that does mean with so many good steak pies eaten the bar is very high. However it was a good hearty effort, with a significant ale flavoured gravy. The gravy was very runny though, which did seem to make the pastry less crisp and sag slightly under the moisture. It was still able to be picked up by hand though, with a fair bit of steak and other filler such as onion to bulk it out. A bit more steak, which was slightly less chewy, and a lower viscosity gravy would raise this even higher up the rankings but still Pierate Recommended.

Square Pie Steak and Ale Pie
Score: 5.07/7
[Colour 5.25, Capacity 5.5, Consistency 5.25, Condition 5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 4, Content 5.5, Total: 5.07/7]


Overall, we’re delighted there is a great new pie shop in the centre of Birmingham and the Rugby Pie World Cup is an ingenious idea to boost the range of pies on sale at Square Pie. With the board on the wall in the Birmingham shop celebrating the 127 flavours of pies made since 2001 – though now needing a massive overhaul following the 20 new types of pie during this Rugby Pie World Cup alone! – it seems clear pies are in good hands at Square Pie!

Grand Central in Birmingham City Centre, home to Square Pie shop

Thank you to Square Pie for hosting us for this Rugby World Cup Pie-Off in Birmingham. We'd already bought and rated Square Pie as Pierate Recommended as we celebrated eating our 100th rated pie there down in London back in 2012, and in 2013 we rated their Chicken, Leak and Wiltshire Ham pie at 5.58/7, which was another Pierate Recommended effort.

RAS

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The Ship's Cook (aka @the_cookworm) is currently on a pie mission - to find the top rated pie recipes from our nations supermarket suggestions. It started with a tweet we were sent by @jimbolimbo9 suggesting we try two pork pastry recipes from the supermarket Morrisons and from this The Ship's Cook decided to select one reci-pie from each supermarket's website or magazine to make and rate. Today is the turn of Sainsbury's Chicken and Leek pie!

If there's one thing that searching for recipes has taught me, it's that supermarkets have some funny ideas about what constitutes a pie. There are a lot of tarts and a LOT of stews with pastry lids out there, and don't even get me started on the time Tesco put up a poster with a picture of some sausage rolls and called them pies!

In the absence of real pie options, but wanting to continue in my supermarket pie quest, I have adopted a new motto: If in doubt, add a crust. Which is exactly what I've done in my next reci-pie review.

The Recipe:

This time it's a chicken and leek pot pie from Sainsbury's - you can find it here: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/find-recipes/recipes/chicken-poultry-and-game/chicken-and-leek-pot-pies 

In case you're a 'dive right in and start cooking without reading the recipe to the end' sort of person, I think I should warn you that you need separate pans for the chicken and the sauce, and also a bowl or a plate to put the leeks on. If you're not prepared you risk slight pie-related chaos in your kitchen (I speak from experience...)

The original recipe suggests you serve this pie in individual dishes - this works well, but I used slightly bigger ones than suggested so I could add a shortcrust pastry base and ensure the filling was fully encased.


The 7 Cs of Pie Rating:

Colour:
I was really impressed with the colour of this pie! Obviously when you're baking your own pie you can leave it in the oven for as long as you need to make it turn a nice golden brown, but the scrunchy bits of filo pastry seemed to brown particularly nicely. I'm going to have to investigate some other filo pies now...

Consistency:
This had a nice thick sauce thanks to the addition of flour, and the cheese and milk mixture made it really creamy. Once I'd filled up the pies there was some sauce left in the pan to use like gravy, which I liked.


Capacity:
Sigh. A big fail here, as the original recipe was called a pie but was really a stew with a top crust. Once you add a bottom crust to turn it into a real pie, there's a lot of filling so you can get a really good crust:filling ratio.


Chewiness:
The chicken was lovely and tender, the leeks were soft but flavoursome and the peas added a bit of bite - lots of points scored here.

Cheapness:
The addition of filo pastry makes this a bit more expensive than your average pie, but the rest of the ingredients aren't too bad - a lot of them are things you might buy anyway, like garlic, mustard, and peas. The recipe does feed a lot of people - it says six and I think that's about right.

Content:
I really enjoyed the flavours of this pie. I thought the mustard might be a bit overwhelming, but it wasn't at all - you could still taste the chicken, leeks, and peas and the creamy sauce was lovely with the crispy filo pastry. Yum.

Condition:
Two words - soggy bottom. These pies looked absolutely delicious when they came out of the oven, with brown crispy tops and a tempting smell, but the shortcrust base was a bit soggy despite me blind baking it before adding the filling. I can see why this was originally a stew with a lid - but you could probably make the sauce a bit thicker and put the filling in the fridge before filling the pies to try and avoid this problem.


The Ship's Cook 

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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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Chicken, Gammon and Leek and Thyme crust pie and Lamb, Rosemary and Garlic Potato and Honey pie from Lovett Pies

It has to be said we can get a bit passionate about our pies – even if we do sometimes struggle to match Keegan at his best! And it’s great to find local pie producers who are passionate about their pies too. Lovett Pies in Bath are a fine example of top artisan pie making and you can read more a more detailed introduction to them in our initial review of their pies. And with strong recommendations following the Lovett pies Pierateer SJL had already rated, and a couple of them frozen and saved for a joint review between Pierateers SJL and RAS, it was time to give the final two flavours a rating.

The pies of choice were the Chicken, Gammon and Leek and Thyme crust and the Lamb, Rosemary and Garlic Potato and Honey. It must be noted that having been frozen this did seem to adversely affect the flavour slightly, with the content being a bit drier compared to the other pies that Pierateer SJL ate both hot and cold. However with that considered in the scoring, these pies were still very much appreciated. You could tell the handcrafted nature of these pies and that a lot of thought had been put into the flavouring and quality of ingredients.

Chicken, Gammon and Leek and Thyme crust

The Lovett pies follow a fine tradition of being filled with plenty of meat and this chicken, gammon and leek pie was no exception. It was very meaty and there was a good mix. The content was reasonably moist and the stuffing had an interesting flavour to it which complimented the meat filling. The more unusual addition of a thyme crust added additional flavouring to compliment the pastry, with the thyme layer sitting just below the top pastry lid.

The pastry was quite crisp and held together well, flaking nicely but keeping the shape of the pie. While not the biggest pie for £3.50, it was certainly full of meat and the Thyme certainly added to the flavouring. Well worth having again.

Chicken, Gammon and Leek and Thyme crust pie
Score: 5.43/7

Lamb, Rosemary and Garlic Potato and Honey

Once again what immediately struck Pierateer RAS – rating Lovett pies for the first time – was the great capacity for a small pie. This meant that what it lacked in size it certainly made up for in filling, with a very strong capacity to the pie. The lamb was really lovely, very light and tender and delightful to eat. However while the capacity was strong, there was a fair bit of potato present and it felt like this was padding the pie out slightly.

We Pierateers do like our meat pies to be really meaty, so whilst the potato, rosemary and honey added to the pie and made it taste a bit more unique, these ingredients would need to make a bigger impact in terms of being more flavoursome to really warrant their place in this pie. The pastry was nice and flaky, but with not much gravy in the pie it also felt a bit dry in places. A good pie but could be tweaked slightly to make it even more highly rated.

Lamb, Rosemary and Garlic Potato and Honey pie
Score: 5.36/7

So with two more Lovett pies earning the “Pierate Recommended” status, we can certainly say that we would Lovett if we eat more of them. And we will certainly keep our eyes peeled for any new, creative flavours they produce.

RAS and 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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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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Square Pie - Chicken, Leek and Wiltshire Ham Pie Review

Square pie have been visited by the Pierateers before on the very special occasion of our 100th pie review. (You might think that was a long time ago as we approach 250 pie reviews but it was infact just last year!) But in case you aren't familiar with this old London pie favourite let me remind you. A fast food style pie establishment, the pies are already cooked and waiting in a warm counter for the eager customers to eat within minutes of entering the restaurant. You have a choice of veg and potato options to make your pie a meal if you desire. This type of fast pie is fairly unique, Battersea Pie Station and Urban Pie are the only others I can think of who are doing the same thing. The benefits from this format are clear. It offers a pie restaurant experience a bit cheaper than your average pub and the pies tend to be fairly gourmet with an interesting variety of flavours. However, Square Pie seem to be the original, having established their first outlet in Old Spitalfields Market back in 2001.


Despite having visited a number of times before the fast pie experience keeps drawing me back. It is just a very convenient way to get a pie. A recent trip saw me grab a Chicken, Leek and Wiltshire Ham Pie with peas and gravy for £6 from Old Spitalfields Market. This was one of their more expensive pies so I hoped to taste the best Square Pie offer. For comparison a similar pie meal at Urban Pie would cost £4.95 and £7.00 in Battersea Pie Station (to eat in). So we are looking at a fairly competitive price (as usual remembering we are in expensive London).


But of course I had high expectations given that this was a restaurant where the pies are the main attraction. They earn their crust making pies every day and claim to be a cut above mass produced pies. I am pleased to say they didn’t disappoint. I think this was the best square pie I have had so far. In the photo I have pulled out some of the filling so you can see there were big chunks of chicken and plenty of ham too. Pieces of leek were easy to find and they added plenty of flavour. This pastry was perfect; buttery and soft. There was plenty of thick gravy inside the pie with a real meaty taste. It is actually difficult to say that there was anything wrong with this pie at all, it did everything right. So why did it not get a full score for a pie which left me very full? I think this was mainly down to the chicken, the texture of which didn’t quite do it for me. Also the pastry perhaps slips down too easily, it is quite gooey and I think my ultimate pie has a bit of crunch. However, these are minor criticisms and overall this pie squares up very well to the competition.


Chicken, Leek and Wiltshire Ham (Square Pie) 
5.58/7

SJL

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




Co-op Chicken, Bacon and Leek Lattice Pie

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



Score: 5.4/7

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It is surely the case that Morrisons are the supermarket of choice for the pie lover. It is always a delight to visit the pie counter where the pies are free and unboxed. I would say a normal supermarket is like going to a pie zoo. The pies are cooped up in boxes, people say they are happy but how can you know? More often than not you can't even see the pies themselves. Whereas Morrisons is like a pie safari. The beef and onion is free to terrorises the sausage rolls. The chicken curry proudly displays its golden pastry, glowing under the artificial lights. If you are lucky you might catch a glimpse of the king of the pie counter, the steak and ale, lording it over his fellow pastry products because he knows his line was the best selling last year, is best selling this year and will sell the best again next year. He is just an unstoppable force of nature and awe inspiring to behold.

I have recently moved house and the fact that I am now near a Morrisons is not quite the reason I moved here but it certainly adds a little extra joy to life. It is great to visit every week. Sometimes I don't even buy anything from the pie counter but just enjoy window shopping. The guy at the counter perhaps thinks I'm a bit weird as I stand salivating at the pies. My high expectations were perhaps the reason I was a bit disappointed recently. I chose a fantastic looking Steak, Mushroom & Bacon square pie which was puffed up proudly, promising a pie packed with content. However upon cutting it open, I was disappointed to find this was not the case. About half the pie seemed to be empty. This pie was a bit more expensive than most so I would expect better. However it was a fairly big pie so overall it wasn't such bad value. The filling tasted okay although the meat was a bit chewy. Thankfully the combination of short crust pastry side and puff pastry lid was to a very high standard. The shortcrust in particular held its shape well but at the same time managed to be lovely and gooey. So overall not a bad effort.


I decided to tweet about this pie to Morrisons, indicating that while it wasn't bad it was a bit disappointing. I was surprised that Morrisons took this so seriously, sending me vouchers to get another pie. It is commendable that they are listening to their customers so closely. If only all companies were so good! It was by no means a formal complaint, it just shows how seriously Morrisons take their pies.

So I tried again with a Chicken, Ham and Leek pie and two rather gourmet looking medium Pork Pies. I still had money left over from the £3 vouchers I was sent after buying these three indicating they were great value.

Firstly the Chicken, Ham and Leek pie. I almost fell off my pie reviewing stool when I got home and saw the pie had been labelled as a 'pasty'! It certainly was not a pasty having well defined sides, base and lid. They really need to be more careful with this very important distinction. It was very stressful for a moment when I thought I had bought a pasty by mistake!

Fortunately this was a pie and once I delved in this golden delight it was a return to form for Morrisons. There was a lovely thick sauce oozing out with actual proper chucks of meat. While the capacity of the pie was still big this time it was really packed with content. I felt like I was getting a great value pie experience. Again the pastry was great; Morrisons certainly know how to mix their flour and fat. This was almost the perfect pie, however it just needed a bit more of a full on flavour, a shame as it did everything else so well. However, for the price this was still one of the best value supermarket pies I have had.


The hand crimped pork pies were also rather special. These weren't like traditional pork pies. You can see from the photos that they had an ergonomic shape which meant they were rather satisfying to hold in the palm of the hand. I spent a while just admiring this pie not wanting to ruin its delicate edges. You might think that it seems like it has too much pastry given that pastry for a pork pie is often rather solid. However the pastry for this pork pie was quite soft and light and the extra pastry was a pleasure to eat. The meat was pink, unlike the grey of a melton mowbray pork pie, and it had a taste somewhat reminiscent of a sausage roll except it had a much more satisfying texture because it wasn't at all mushy. It also lacked the jelly of a traditional pork pie which made it seem much less fatty. Overall it was a lighter, flakier version of a pork pie, but because it still retained wonderful solidness it was perfect for a summer picnic.




So, after a slight disappointment Morrisons show their Northern Soul with two fantastic pies. It is great that we can still rely on the only supermarket with a pie counter. However, Morrison are not the only ones to have a pie counter. The Pierateers also have a pie 'counter' which has just ticked over 200 pies reviewed. We can count on more Morrisons pies to get us to 300.

Steak, Mushroom & Bacon (Morrisons Pie Counter)
4.12/7

Chicken, Ham & Leek (Morrisons Pie Counter)
5.76/7

Hand-Crimped Pork Pie (Morrisons Pie Counter)
5.55/7

SJL

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Pie Reviews from the Melton Mowbray Pub in Holborn, part of the Fuller's Ale and Pie House chain

They say you can take the pies out of Melton Mowbray but you can’t take Melton Mowbray out of the pie. Or come to think of it, perhaps they don’t say that and we just completely made that up... Anyways, the important thing to clarify here was that these pies were eaten in the Melton Mowbray pub, which is actually a pub in... well, London. But their “house pie” (the Dickinson & Morris Pork Pie) was brought down from Melton Mowbray, as all top pork pies should be! In any case, with another Fuller’s Ale and Pie House on the horizon, two of the Pierateers – TJP and RAS – honed in on the Melton Mowbray pub in Holborn, central London for another pie. And intriguingly, the pies on offer were all different to any of the other Fuller’s Ale and Pie Houses they had been to (bar the classic “Steak and Fuller’s Ale” pie, which you would expect at every Fuller’s establishment). And with such a variety of new pies on offer, the talk immediately turned to the Pie Tasting Board. With 5 pies – four new pies and a Dickinson & Morris Pork Pie to follow – the Pierateers were in for a busy evening!



Melton Mowbray Pie Platter

Score: 5.46/7 (RAS and TJP)


Score: 4.95/7 (RAS and TJP)


Score: 4.25/7 (RAS and TJP)


Score: 3.88/7 (RAS and TJP)

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