Unfortunately it appears Tesco are mis-labelling their sausage rolls as pies in their Dumfries store.

The offending sign in Tesco Dumfries

It is not simply a case of accidentally putting a packet of sausage rolls on the pie stand - which we realise a customer (rather than staff) could have done.

No - Tesco have put a giant "Fresh Pies" sign directly above an image of two sausage rolls, clearly advocating that they deem sausage rolls to be pies. Cue the...

Open letter to Tesco

I have to admit it takes a lot to shock us aboard the Pierate Ship these days. Pies - our passion and dedication for over five and a half years now - have a tough press. People often mis-label many things as pies - the shepherds pie (which should be a shepherds potato bake), pumpkin pie (which is really a tart), even whole pizzas are called pies in America!

And yet in all my days of pie rating for the web's leading pie reviewing website (www.pierate.co.uk) - which it might be worth pointing out is the number one hit when you Google "Tesco pie review" - and in fact in the 20+ years beforehand growing up, I have NEVER... EVER... seen a sausage roll called a pie before!

May I just take this opportunity to remind you that we run www.pierate.co.uk and not "ratemyroll" or any such thing. We have a readership of over 10,000 readers a month at present and they want to read our PIE reviews, not sausage roll reviews. Similarly, when they shop in a Tesco store, if they want to buy a pie, they want a pie - not a sausage roll.

I'm sure this error will be rectified immediately at the Dumfries Tesco store at which the error was made - and will also be checked at other Tesco stores nationwide to ensure that the same error has not been replicated across the country. Sure, to many of your customers the mis-labelling of a sausage roll as a pie won't be even generate the batting of an eyelid. And for sure it did not ruin our holiday to Scotland last week - just taint it with confusion and bafflement. But I am sure you will understand that we want to promote pies as much as we can and a sausage roll is NOT a pie! Let's face it - it's not called a "Sausage Pie", is it!!!

To help you out here, our Pierate Pie Dictionary clearly states what a true pie actually is:- filling fully encased in pastry with clearly defined base, sides and lid. A sausage roll does not meet these stringent criteria and never in all my days have I heard someone refer to a sausage roll as a pie before. Of course you are probably aware of our campaign to change pie pub provision, but the selling of top-crust pies has been significantly trumped by this outrageous claim that a sausage roll is a pie! Even the British Pie Awards - who have a far more liberal definition of a pie than us (they have a pasty category, for example) would not consider a sausage roll to be a pie!

As I bring this letter to a conclusion, I hope this has been useful to explain the issues surrounding the mis-labelling of food (we only need to mention "Horsemeat" to kick that off again) and will lead to a correction in your store's advertising. I am happy to speak to you further if you wish to - just email pierateship@yahoo.co.uk to arrange this.

Yours in pie,

Pierateer RAS

I am pleased to say that following this incident in Tesco Dumfries we can confirm that both Sainsburys and Greggs do know what a sausage roll looks like and label them correctly.

Sainsbury's sausage rolls

Gregg's sausage rolls

Feedback from Tesco on Twitter (updated as provided)

We helpfully pointed out to Tesco that they are mis-labelling their products and have received the following replies to date:

@pierateers Hi there, thanks for getting in touch, to let us know about this. That does seem a bit strange. (1)

— Tesco (@Tesco) July 9, 2015

@pierateers Can you advise which store this is in and when you've seen this? Thanks - Joanne (2)

— Tesco (@Tesco) July 9, 2015

Slightly later in the day Tesco had a chance to speak to the Dumfries Store Manager and then had this to report:

@pierateers Hi There. I am very sorry that this sign has upset you. It was not our intention. (1)

— Tesco (@Tesco) July 9, 2015

@pierateers I have spoken to our Duty Manager who has ordered a new poster which has pies on it. Kind regards Gemma (2)

— Tesco (@Tesco) July 9, 2015

We hope that Tesco might be able to send us a photo of the new pie poster when it takes "pie-de" of place in their pie aisle, and we've sent them a request to do so. We will update you with any news!

RAS

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"Why I'm NOT voting to #savethepie!" - Pierateer RAS gives his views on the latest pie news to grab the Scottish newspaper headlines

Yes, it may be yet another attention grabbing headline by Pierate Pie Reviews - and we're not short of a few of those, with our Tiger pie review and Pies Don't Make You Fat! article - but it's true! I WON'T be supporting the latest pie e-petition by signing up to bring back the Greggs Macaroni pie, for a number of reasons, which Pierateer SJL has very helpfully touched upon already in his recent Macaroni pie review. Of course you'll never catch me saying I'm anti-pie, but this e-pietition has not grabbed my attention and here's why:

Firstly, is it really a pie? While SJL may have managed to dig out a fully encased version for this review, nearly all Macaroni pies I've seen are not even fully encased. More of a tart, you might argue.

Secondly, should we be promoting corporate chains over local bakeries? I personally hope that this decision by Greggs will actually mean people buy MORE pies - but pies from their local craft bakeries instead, of which we know there are many great ones in Scotland.

Finally, with no disrespect to Greggs per-se but they have hardly set the pie world alight! Despite the TV show based on their bakeries being called "More than meats the pies", I've yet to see a pie sold in any of their stores and the pie rating of their Mince Beef and Onion pies was beyond shocking. Greggs are clearly more interested in maintaining profits than selling pies, so to be quite frank I'm not sure I want them to keep selling Macaroni pies - or any pies for that matter - if that's their attitude towards the pastry beauties!


So... there you go. I'm CERTAINLY not against pies - don't get me wrong on that - and the e-petition by @Biltawulf on banning casserole dishes topped with pastry being called pies is definitely a pie-tition that gets my full support. (I've even given my sixpence on that topic in my recent "Is it Times for a change in pub pie provision?" article.)

But as for Macaroni pies no longer being sold in Greggs? I think that might actually be a blessing in disguise.

RAS

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UPDATE:

In a dramatic turn of events, it turns out that the e-petition founder Paul Tonner (@HeavyVoodoo) doesn't even like Macaroni Pies and thus isn't really that bothered about re-instating the pie in Greggs! But there is a very serious message as to why the petition was founded, and you can find out more about that in this short video from Paul himself:


We echo Paul's request for change.

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The Times newspaper reported over the weekend about the decline in pub food sales, as a result of saturation in the market place from "casual dining" establishments such as Nando's and fast food outlets. It proposed that pub chains were becoming increasingly picky when choosing future sites and that pub food sales were under threat. But one reader - Ken McDuff - thinks he has worked out why the pub food market is in jeopardy - and thinks it's pie time things changed...

Stew with a pastry lid

In his letter to The Times editor, Ken refers to the diminishing quality of pub food - and in particular focuses on the poor pie provision from a lot of establishments, looking to make a quick buck by providing just a stew with a pastry lid:

"Dare I suggest that a contributory factor to this decline is the lazy approach of certain pubs to the disgusting way they serve the ever popular (or it used to be) steak and ale pie."

He goes on to state that often the pastry lid "has only met the meat seconds before serving" - though in some cases we have found that the pastry "lid" is in fact a completely separate piece of pastry to the stew and has NEVER met the meat, but simply been plonked on top of a ceramic dish without always covering the content of the bowl satisfactorily!

Ken concludes by saying that "it might be helpful if a name could be found for this combination of meat and pastry, but pie it certainly is not."

I think Ken could be trying to get a job on the Pierate Ship with such a thought through and well argued dismissal of the top crust stew with a pastry lid that, sadly, so many pubs up and down the land provide. What often makes this worse in our minds is that so many pub menus do not distinguish whether it is a proper pie - defined by us as "filling fully encased in pastry with clearly defined base, sides and lid" - or just a stew with a pastry lid. At times even the waiter or waitress do not seem to understand the importance of this distinction, claiming a stew with a lid is a "proper pie" when quizzed by us and our fellow pie eaters. Surely times have to change?

Fortunately some pubs, such as The Windmill, sell fully encased pies

I think my response to Ken's question of a name is to say it as it is. To call a spade a spade. To mention on the menu that a stew with a pastry lid is "a stew with a pastry lid"!

Why re-invent the wheel? Why trick fans of the fully encased pie into purchasing a non-fully encased in pastry stew with pastry lid?

Of course Ken and the Pierateers are not the only ones to be outraged by this phenomenon, as attested to by Colin V Young's response to Ken's letter and an e-petition calling for criminal charges against establishments who call on these stews "pies", which was launched over a year ago and has been reported on by many national newspapers.

Condition and Capacity are severely compromised in a "stew with pastry lid"

Our view on the Pierate Ship is clear - that for a proper pie it has to be filling fully encased in pastry with clearly defined base, sides and lid. That's the only way you can challenge for top marks on board the Pierate Ship. Anything else is not a proper pie, and will be heavily criticised while giving it a rating on the 7 Cs of pie rating.

You'll be pleased to know we clearly label all "stews with a pastry lid" as such in our pub pie reviews on the web's leading pie review website. Let's hope that - for the sake of pub pie provision nationwide - pubs start doing likewise!

RAS

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Lock away your pies, a mysterious group are rating all the pies in Britain!

The Pierate Ship - with the 7 Cs

It is like a scene from a time long ago, Pirateers have been raiding shops across Britain. However in this case it is not your gold they are after but your golden pastry! These are Pie-rateers as opposed to Pirateers and so they are only interested in raiding pie establishments. They have a mission and they won’t stop until they have rated all the pies in Britain!

But who are they and why are they doing this? The motley crew are all members of the Pie-rate Ship, the world’s leading pie rating website who have now written 500 pie reviews. And how do they rate their pies? Well they sail the 7 Cs of pie rating, of course! These are the seven qualities they rate their pies against: Condition, Colour, Capacity, Content, Chewiness, Consistency and Cheapness.

Who eat all the pies?! We do!

Nowadays many pie companies are desperate to have their pies reviewed by the crew of the Pierate Ship! Free pies delivered to your door is a position many of us would love to be in, but how did the Pierateers manage it?

The Pierateers have said they have always had a passion for pies but that the idea of a pie rating website came about because they thought up the name Pie-Rate. It seemed like it must already exist as a pie review website, however, upon finding that it didn’t, they decided to set it up themselves back in November 2009. They had no special plans other than highlighting the good and bad pies they had found to one another. However their insatiable appetite for pies saw them pass the landmark of 250 pie reviews in November 2013 and now 500 pie reviews in April 2015. Eventually they realised that they were the world's leading pie review website.

Pierateers filming with BBC Sport

In this time, the Pierateers have appeared on Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice with their crocodile pie being rated by Michel Roux Jr, filmed with BBC Sport in a video on the best pies in football, spoken on BBC Local Radio and even reviewed Mr Kipling pies before they were actually in the shops!

The Pierateers also love to explore the world to find countries which share Britain's love of pies. They have found pies in Australia, New Zealand, Borneo, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Greece. This has given an international flavour to their pie treasure map, however the key reason the Pierateers say they have kept rating pies across the UK is to help the general public find a top rated pie near them!

Written to celebrate reaching 500 pie reviews on 10th April 2015. For more information or to find out more, please feel free to contact us on pierateship@yahoo.co.uk

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After "The Pies" Road Graffiti it's "Vote Pies" now!

You may recall that in July 2014 we Pierateers felt the need to clarify that we were NOT behind a "The Pies" bit of graffiti on a road bridge across the M6 near Chester (between Junctions 17 & 18), an article which over 1,000 of you have now viewed!

Having been queried by a colleague at work (yes, sadly Pierateering is not quite a full time profession just yet!) who had taken the photo below on the motorway towards Chester, we officially confirmed we were not doing a Banksy and adding pie signage to road bridges up and down the country. If we'd been thinking of doing such a thing, we would certainly have been a bit wittier and put "Pierate" or "Who rate all the Pies?" or similar! It did however lead us to investigate why this "The Pies" graffiti was probably there!


But now, thanks to a tweet by Anna Evans it appears that those behind the railway bridge graffiti have gone all political on us, changing the wording to now say "Vote Pies" - something we can really get our teeth into! After all, we've rated almost 500 pies on our pie review blog, so surely no-one has got behind the pies as much as we have!

So if you're still chewing over all the election literature and deciding who your pie-litical vote should go to, perhaps we should all just get behind the pies instead! After all, we certainly don't want to see quiches, tarts or pasties getting into power!

"Vote Pies" sign - Photo credit: Anna Evans

"The Pies" sign - Photo credit: Jas

In other pie-litical news, we were saddened to hear the news from pie e-petition founder Biltawulf that the petition to make it a crime to serve a top-crust pie has been closed due to the upcoming General Election. However we were pleased to see that thousands of you had signed it and thus backed the fully encased pie, which we fully support (as can be seen in our pie dictionary definition)!

The pie petition has been suspended due to parliament dissolving. Fairly extreme lengths just to try and shut me up. http://t.co/7CpnPD1Wem
— Tiahowler Biltawülf (@Biltawulf) March 30, 2015

RAS

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On a wet and miserable Bank Holiday Monday, a debate was rumbling North of the border. It captured the attention of the host and listeners of BBC Radio Scotland and hit the headlines in a number of newspapers and other news outlets. Oh, and I’m not talking about the Scottish Referendum, by the way. (Or the far more important Scottish debate – Should the Scotch Pie be independent?)

The question being debated was in fact a lot closer to our heart… or in fact all our hearts, if you believe this headline from The Telegraph:

Hospital canteen's 'fry-up' pie is 'heart attack on a plate'

The pie sparking this controversy - Photo: The Telegraph

But here at Pierate we want to look at the pros and cons of making a hospital a hosPIEtal, especially after a healthy(?!) debate on BBC Radio Scotland. We tried to phone in on but sadly weren’t given the op-pie-tunity to share our views, however they did read out our tweet live on air (they just didn't acknowledge it was us):

"@BBCRadioScot: A "fry-up" pie is being sold in a hospital. @LWhiteMedia asks: Irresponsible or responding to demand?" Piefectly alright.
— Pierate (@pierateers) August 25, 2014

But first – it appears the most important two questions have not even been asked by anyone! Before we debate whether the product should be sold in the hospital, surely we need to ask:

Is it a pie? - While unfortunately not having had the chance to actually eat and rate this pie yet, having had a look at the photos this does not appear to be a fully encased in pastry product with clearly defined base, sides and lid. It certainly doesn’t meet our definition of a true pie! You can see the egg, bacon and other content – which shouldn’t be so if the pastry lid is doing its job – so I think this is really a tart.

How does the pie or ‘pie’ rate? – Before we discuss if it should be sold in a hospital, surely we should be discussing if it should be sold at all!!! If it doesn’t score strongly on the Pierateer’s 7 Cs of pie rating, then surely it is not worth selling ANYWHERE! And again looking at the photo, it is not fully encased, has a very pale pastry colour and boil out to spoil the condition, so this isn’t looking like a top scoring pie (though for just £1.50, it seems it could score well on cheapness!)


So with those two issues out of the way, we’re going to assume that it is at least worthy of being sold and briefly outline a few points regarding whether this pastry product (and pies in general) should be sold in a hospital. And thanks to some of the callers on BBC Radio Scotland’s “Morning Call” (available to listen back to until Monday 1st September) who helped me think through some of these views:

#VoteYes

1. Pie brings great joy and hap-pie-ness to all that eat them – so why would you deprive hospital patients, staff and visitors of this chance of a pastry treat as comfort food?!
2. It’s up to the patient, staff or visitor to decide if they want to eat a pie or a nutritional salad – pie contains a lot of important food substances too, even if this ‘fry up’ pie is not a great example of this.
3. Have they not read that you can eat 21 pie meals in a week and lose weight?! Incredible findings from Pierateer SJL query all this negativity about the pie being so unhealthy (and we are appalled at pie being labelled “junk food”)
4. This particular pie was on offer in the hospital shop – not even the hospital canteen or being served up to the patients! So what’s all the fuss about?!

#VoteNo

1. Well, we’re hardly to going to find many reasons not to eat pie, are we! But what I would say is that it has to be a highly rated pie, well ranked on the 7 Cs of pie rating, otherwise the pie shouldn’t be sold anywhere, let alone in a hospital! But it must be said that breakfast ‘fry up’ pie – at a reported 600-800 calories – is certainly not the most appropriate pie they could offer in a hospital. (Though we know that eating pies as part of a healthy, balanced diet can mean you lose weight.)

We may be pie-ased, but ultimately our view is that pies SHOULD be sold in hospitals – and everywhere else, while we’re at it! – but the pies on sale should be highly rated on the 7 Cs of pie rating. It is ultimately the decision of the patient, staff or visitor to decide what they eat – pie or not! So here’s our 400+ pie rankings list to help you decide which pies you should be enjoying...

RAS

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Pierateers confirm they are not behind "The Pies" Road Graffiti

With a number of photos like below doing the rounds on twitter, the Pierateers felt they should clarify that they are NOT behind a "The Pies" bit of graffiti on a road bridge near Chester.

Having been queried by a colleague at work (yes, sadly Pierateering is not quite a full time profession just yet!)  who had taken the following photo on the motorway towards Chester:

"The Pies" sign - Photo credit: Jas

Pierate can officially confirm we were not doing a Banksy and adding pie signage to road bridges up and down the country. If we'd been thinking of doing such a thing, we would certainly have put either "Pierate" or "We rate all the Pies" - our policy summed up brilliantly in our article "Who rate all the Pies?" which was produced just prior to British Pie Week this year.

Due to overwhelming views of this article we have decided to do some research on this piece of graffiti and it appears there is a history to it! Find out more in our latest article on pie graffiti.

RAS

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