Dickinson and Morris Pork Pies make the headlines again - but would you have pork pie for Christmas breakfast?!

There is a legendary pie company in Melton Mowbray who run a special pork pie shop in the town called 'Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe'. This puts them in pride of place in the home of Melton Mowbray pork pies. This company goes by the name of Dickinson and Morris and has been baking pork pies since 1851. And this year they added the title of Supreme Champion at the British Pie Awards 2017 to add to their list of award winning products. They also rate highly on our world leading pie review blog, with their Individual Pork Pie rated at 6.15/7 (which is Pierate Highly Recommended!)

And today our leading Pork Pie was featured in a video as part of a BBC News article on the quirky Leicestershire tradition of having a pork pie for Christmas breakfast! It features friends of the blog Stephen Hallam (from Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe) and Matthew O'Callaghan (Organiser of the British Pie Awards).

Check out the pork pie video now on the BBC website!

Dickinson and Morris Pork Pies

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One of the things we really enjoy on the Pierate Ship is meeting the guys and girls up and down the land who make the pies that we really enjoy eating. As such we’ve created a “Meet the Pie-ducer” series of interviews, where we lift the lid on those who are looking to piefect their trade…

Calum Franklin

The pie page on the Holborn Dining Room website begins with the slightly understated first line of "Holborn Dining Room Executive Head Chef Calum Franklin has kept London foodies talking with his artful creations..."

I'd personally say less talking, more drooling! For the craftsmanship on Calum's pastry creations would be enough to make anyone go "wow!" as he creates pastry decor to pie-fection - some of which take over 4 hours to create, such is the intricate detail in the pastry work (see the tweet below). When he kindly allowed me to join him for a chat during British Pie Week, he only had half of his giant, multi-layered Pork and Black Pudding Pie left, such had been the demand for it. And that certainly wasn't the first one of those giant pies he'd made that week! Sure, there may have been a bit of spike in demand during Pie Week, but people were coming from near and far to get just a slither of one of Calum's top notch pies!

On the a la carte menu, Calum is looking forward to releasing his new Mutton Curry Pie, one which he says he is particularly looking forward to seeing the reaction to. These certainly aren't your typical pies - and the customers at Holborn Dining Room would expect nothing less - so the bar is always set high and Calum is certainly delivering.

Having originally trained in Birmingham at the then College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies (now UCB), Calum has been at Holborn Dining Room for three years now and is keen to change the menu slightly from having just one pie on rotation to a wider ranged pie menu. There are plans in place to provide a steak and kidney steamed suet pie, alongside a chicken, mushroom and cider shortcrust pie and the Mutton Curry Pie in puff pastry - alongside the classic pork pies they already sell. Different flavours, different pastries. Calum and his team of chefs are being trained up well to rise to the challenge of professional pie making.

Calum Franklin Pork and Black Pudding Pie at Holborn Dining Room

It was the training element that Calum mentioned which really got my attention as we chatted. Having admitted when he first started in pastry that he had quite a lot to learn, he is now not happy just to master the art himself, but he is training up the pastry chefs of tomorrow in his kitchen. Trainee chefs from around the UK (and even the world) have been requesting time to learn skills in pastry work with Calum, and they could certainly go far worse than learning from the pastry master himself! And with plans to create a dedicated pie room with a serving hatch onto the street, they really are taking their pies seriously!

Just put this in the oven for Dave's great Zelman Bake Off pic.twitter.com/ftlv5xWLwg

— calum franklin (@chefcalum) March 23, 2017

We very much enjoyed our taster in pie week and look forward to visiting Holborn Dining Room to rate the selection of pies on the pie menu once it launches! Until then, we'll just have to stick to drooling over the pie photos Calum regularly posts on his Twitter feed! Many thanks to Calum for meeting us and donating a few slices of pie to us to try!

RAS


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Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe Pie Reviews - The Shambles, York

On a recent visit to the Viking city of York I was pleased to find a proper, traditional pie shop in the heart of the city. The narrow street called The Shambles is rich in history. Some of the timber framed buildings date back to the 14th century. It is also rich in pie history with the street having previously been packed with butcher's shops. There is a high kerb running down the street. I heard was so the blood and gore could flow away down the centre of the street.... a bit different to your modern supermarket meat aisle! The street is now primarily focused on tourists with gift shops and quaint cafes. Fortunately one shop is tapping into the street's heritage, they don't even have a sign, just a picture of a pie hanging from the side of the shop. Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe has a lovely display of pies sitting proudly in the window. They also had some interesting flavours so I couldn't restrict myself to only trying one. Many of them were in the style of a pork pie and could be eaten cold but they also had pies that they could heat up for you to eat straight away. I grabbed a Scotch Pie to have hot for £1.50 then to have later I got a Pork & Black Pudding and a Wild Boar pie at £1.70 and £2.00 respectively.

Some of the pies they had made themselves and some of them were brought in. This really showed as I have never had such a mixed experience from one shop.


Pork & Black Pudding

The pork and black pudding pies and the wild boar were both clearly premium, hand-made products in excellent Condition. As you can see from the picture, the rustic appearance fit in perfectly in the Viking banquet reconstructed in the Yorkshire Museum (which was well worth a visit by the way). They had ample golden glaze giving a delicious Colour. Something I always look for in a good pork pie is a bit of a crunch to the pastry unlike the soggy fare from mass produced pies. This pie did not disappoint being incredibly crunchy. This must have been made for strong Viking jaws. At one point I wondered if I had accidentally picked up one of the fake loaves of bread from the banqueting table.

The Content certainly a bit different to your average pork pie. Instead of jelly the pie relied on the black pudding to give keep it moist. It had quiet a pungent aroma which reminded me of charcuterie and was slightly over powering. I did enjoy the black pudding which added a bit of variety which is normally lacking for a pork pie. It was let down by some of the pig meat being a bit Chewy. It had a decent sized capacity and for a premium product at a premium location, £1.70 seemed relatively Cheap.

Pork & Black Pudding (Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe [YO1 7LX])
4.87/7


Wild Boar

The Wild Boar pie looked like it had the same pastry that the Pork & Black Pudding but if anything it was even more crunchy! The pastry actually squeaked against my teeth in a very peculiar way and bordered on being a bit dry. It was a bit softer on the inside and somehow it just about worked. This pie was helped by having an excellent Content. The wild boar was cured in big, salty pink chunks that tasted a bit like gammon. The pieces of meat were firm which gave plenty to get your teeth into. There was a lot of jelly in all the gaps which kept it moist and held the fragmented filling together like a delicious glue. As you can see from the photo, it was very greasy, turning the bag translucent, like all good pork pies should! It was a bit different to your average pork pie but overall the unique Consistency worked. Another Pierate Recommended Wild Boar pie to add to a surprisingly long list. 

Wild Boar (Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe [YO1 7LX])
5.23/7




Scotch Pie

Last and definitely least was the Scotch pie. It was by far the worst Scotch pie I have ever had. You may be aware that I am quite a fan of Scotch pies, having reviewed a fair few in my search for what makes the best Scotch pie. It is relatively rare to find one in England so I thought I had to go for it but soon regretted it. There was nothing too it really. I bit into it and the lid sunk down to the base because there was barely any filling. The pastry was too dry and not enjoyable to eat. Whilst the filling was very moist, there just wasn't enough of it to soften the pastry. The filling wasn't unpleasant to eat but seemed quite watery and runny. I think it was probably beef but it was hard to say for sure. I couldn't really find anything good to say about this pie so it unfortunately goes to the bottom of our Scotch pie rankings. The only saving grace for Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe is that they didn't actually make this one, having bought it in from catering giants Bako.

Beef Scotch Pie (Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe [YO1 7LX])
2.87/7

The Scotch pie was one blip on an otherwise very enjoyable trip to York. It is a fine city with lots of interesting history, particularly Roman and Viking. Sadly the Jorvick viking museum was closed due to the terrible flooding they experienced in 2015. Due to reopen in 2017, they are trying to meet some of the cost via crowd funding, I might have to pay another visit when they reopen but will know to avoid the Scotch pie next time.



SJL

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Pierateer Rob is particularly excited at the moment as today marks not only two weeks until his sister Carly gets married to Alex, but he managed to persuade them to have pork pies at the wedding buffet in the evening! The main catch was that he'd have to pay for them himself... but that's alright for a once in a lifetime op-pie-tunity! He's therefore delighted to say he has commissioned two "wedding pies" - yep, they're a thing! - to be made by Bray's Cottage for the big day on Saturday 4th June!



The individual Bray's Cottage Pork Pie we rated previously

Rob was therefore left drooling at the slightly teasing photo below that Sarah, owner of Bray's Cottage with the quite apt www.perfectpie.co.uk web address, uploaded to twitter the other day. It was in fact a pie made for a different wedding, but it certainly made him want to lick his phone screen! (Disclaimer: Rob didn't actually lick his phone screen!)

The 14" wedding pork pie, chilled and about to be wrapped. Mediums in the background. #veryverynear #farfaraway pic.twitter.com/G0BQICwCay

— Sarah Pettegree (@Brays_Cottage) May 19, 2016

Sarah, who has appeared on TV with Heston Blumenthal on a show about pies (and only went and made the news in the "Thetford and Brandon Times" online newspaper about it!!!) and been in countless pie articles in newspapers and magazines (like the Guardian), really is passionate about making top quality pies and the pork pies we've tried of hers have been some of the best we've had. Check out the review Sam did previously, where it was really only the cost of the pie that brought the average down a bit but still it pie rated very highly! Of course, you often only get top quality food when you're willing to part with your cash and we are very excited to sample the wedding pie in two weeks time!

Until then, Rob best start finish the little speech he's writing for the wedding, which ***SPOILER ALERT*** may possibly mention the word "pie" in it...

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Pork Farms - Pork Pie Reviews

I often wonder when I buy a Melton Mowbray whether it actually makes for a better pork pie than a 'standard' pork pie. We have already investigated what makes a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie different but does this actually make it any better?! There are a number of criteria that must be met in order to call a pork pie a Melton Mowbray such as a minimum percentage of pork. However, there is no guarantee that the pork is going to be any good...

An offer on Pork Farms pork pies in Morrisons provided an excellent chance to do a head to head comparison. Packs of both 4 'standard' and 4 Melton Mowbray mini pork pies were only £1. At the same price would the Melton Mowbray be any better? I started by checking out the vital statistics for these pies.

'Standard' Pork Pies: pastry 55%, pork filling 31%, jelly 13%, milk. The pork filling was only 67% pork, plus pork fat. The rest was flour and starch. Jelly is pork gelatine

Melton Mowbray Pork Pie: pastry 53%, pork filling 36%, jelly 10% Pork filling is 95% pork. Jelly is pork gelatine.

So it seems that the Melton Mowbray has much more pork content, it has to meet the minimum Melton Mowbray standard of 30% pork. The standard pie does not meet this requirement given that only 67% of the 'pork filling' is actually pork meat! But it's not all about who is telling porkies regarding their meat content, it is about how good they taste so it is time for a head to head comparison!

Melton Mowbray (L) alongside the 'standard' pork pie (R)

	Melton Mowbray Pork Pie	'Standard' Pork Pie
Condition	2.80 - Quite mis-shapen despite coming out of a machine. Some boil out.	2.90 - Looked very much the same as the Melton Mowbray but without the boil out.
Colour	3.90 - A decent dark brown colour which is expected from a Melton.	3.90 - These are very much the same as the Melton Mowbrays in appearance, perhaps they are made in the same factory.
Cheapness	4.00 - This price is pretty good but there wasn't a lot to these pies and they are normally more expensive than this.	4.00 - Same as the Melton Mowbrays.
Capacity	3.20 - As you would expect from a pie so small, there isn't much filling. They had quite big airgaps, perhaps by making the pie lighter this increases the percentage of meat?	4.00 - Also a small pie, but smaller air gaps.
Chewiness	3.40 - The pork was in discernible pieces and was fairly firm. Let down by some really chewy pieces. Some of the pastry had a nice bit of crunch but most of it was too soft.	3.40 - The filling was just a mush, there was no texture as such. Despite the meat being in such small pieces I did find one chewy bit. The pastry for this pie was very much the same.
Content	3.30 - An okay peppery taste but it lacked jelly and was dry.	3.50 - The filling just tasted like sausage roll. Cooked (not cured) pork meat which is the same as a Melton Mowbray. It was too salty but wasn't dry.
Consistency	3.00 - Overall this pie just didn't work for me, it was soft and a bit soggy in places and dry in others.	3.10 - A bit too soft and mushy, this pie was not as good as other mini pork pies we have had, but at least it avoided the dryness and some of the chewiness of the Melton Mowbray.
Total	3.37 out of 7	3.54 out of 7

The first thing this investigation showed was that there was actually quite a lot of difference between the two types of pork pie. However, the normal pork pie managed to beat the Melton Mowbray on this occassion. I think this was because at this price it is difficult to do a good Melton Mowbray, to get the higher meat percentage the quality of the meat will suffer. To maintain the meat percentage in the Melton Mowbray they were less able to bulk the pie up with fat and starch, this meant the pie was more dry.

In this case the Melton Mowbray was not as good, but there certainly are good ones out there! Just have a look at our article on Melton Mowbrays. My conclusion is it is not worth buying a cheap Melton Mowbray, in that case you are better off with a normal pork pie. But if you are paying more then they are worthwhile. I have also concluded that Pork Farms make some pretty bad pork pies. They make Melton Mowbrays for some supermarkets (such as ASDA) and I have found that these tend to be lower quality.

SJL

P.S. Here's a fact for all you pork pie geeks out there. Pork Farms are the only producer of Melton Mowbray Pork Pies who are not a member of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association. It's like they want all the benefits of being in the club without having to contribute to the club. Reminds me of the Tory party's view on the European Union.

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Wall's - Mini Pork Pie Review


Wall's meat products have been around since Richard Wall opened a market stall in London in 1786. His descendent carried on the business and began to make ice cream in the summer when the demand for their sausages and pies fell, hence how they ended up being in two very different markets. Wall's meat business is now run by Kerry Foods and the observant amongst you may have noticed they also made the Millers Bakery pork pie I reviewed recently. So you might think the writing's on the wall for this one, it will probably be very much the same as the Millers pie. However, this was not the case, the Millers pie did at least get some things right, whereas there wasn't much that was good about this Wall's version.
 
Condition – 3.50 out of 7 - The pies were pretty average in shape but they were pockmarked by burnt on filling which had boiled out.
Colour – 2.50 out of 7 – The Wall's pies were quite literally pale imitations of the Millers version, there was no nice dark brown here, it certainly could not be mistaken for a melton mowbray pork pie. The filling was a mix of pink and grey but with some white fatty bits which you could tell were going to be chewy. I thought it all looked quite unappealing.
Cheapness – 3.20 out of 7 – £1.16 from a local corner shop, this isn't great value as you could get a pack of four mini pies for a similar price in a supermarket.
Capacity – 3.50 out of 7 – These mini pies always suffer with capacity, it is very difficult to get enough filling in. These pies didn't have very big airgaps but this was partly due to quite a thick pastry. To give them some credit, they were slightly bigger than most other 'mini' pork pies on the market.
Chewiness – 1.50 out of 7 – If you like your pies soft, stodgy and chewy then you will not be able to get enough of these pies! I fear that Wall's are targeting quite a niche market with this texture combination. The majority of people with functioning sensory perception will find this quite horrible. The problem mainly lay with the thick and soft pastry which Wall's had somehow made chewy! Combine this with chewy bits in the filling and you are on to winner if you are selling pies to people who only eat pies which have been through a liquidiser.
Content – 3.00 out of 7 – The actual flavour of the filling was okay. It was seasoned like sausage meat but, as is common with cheaper pork pies, it was overly salty. The meat was at least in chunks and not just a mush like some pork pies.
Consistency – 2.50 out of 7 – They say Wall's well that ends well and at least once I had eaten this pie I was happy enough. I knew I wouldn't have to eat one again. Okay, it was edible, perhaps I have been a bit harsh for comic effect but it was such a low standard for the price, I would avoid it if you can.



Mini Pork Pie (Wall's)
2.81/7

SJL

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Millers Bakery - Pork Pie Review

Looking through the list of pies I have eaten this year and not yet reviewed (known on the Pierate Ship as the 'pie backlog') I came across this intriguing specimen from Millers Bakery. This was a special from my corner shop who tend to sell brands that no-one has ever heard of. They were certainly new to me, but reading the back of the packet it seems like Millers are part of the large Kerry Foods company (despite it claiming to be a 'family bakery') and this was almost certainly churned out of some huge factory somewhere. But, there are some pretty good mass produced pies out there so I didn't let this put me off sinking my teeth into the porkie goodness.


Condition – 4.00 out of 7 - Whilst on first appearances it may look like any other pork pie, it almost seemed to call to me from the shelf, I just couldn't resist, so they must be doing something right. Perhaps it was their catchy slogans on the packaging.
Colour – 4.10 out of 7 – A nice dark brown to the pastry, but the filling was a bit of a lurid pink.
Cheapness – 3.70 out of 7 – This was a decent size for an individual pork pie. It certainly wouldn't do for lunch on it's own, but as it is only £1, why not get two?
Capacity – 3.60 out of 7 – Whilst not terrible, there was a sizeable air gap to this pie, more so than suggested in the picture. When will pie companies learn that air adds nothing to the flavour of a pie?!
Chewiness – 4.40 out of 7 – This filling had a nice granular consistency, a bit like a melton mowbray pork pie. The pastry sides had a nice crunch but it was let down by the rest of the pastry being soggy and soft.
Content – 4.90 out of 7 – It was nice and peppery which added a bit of flavour (like my favourites from Dickinson & Morris) it was seasoned with salt but not too much. This was very nice to find with a pork pie which are too often overly salty. Sadly the jelly had all fallen to the bottom which left it a bit dry in places. 
Consistency – 4.30 out of 7 – At times it soared high like the sails of a windmill (millers, get it?) but at others it plunged to the depths of the soggy bottom that it had. A real mixed bag this one, overall it has ended up with a pretty run of the mill score but despite this I look fondly on my experience with Millers Bakery.



Pork Pie (Millers Bakery)
4.14/7

SJL

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Toppings Dinky Pork Pie Reviews

This British Pie Week we got a huge delivery of pies from Toppings Pies - over 6kg worth of pie (and some stray quiches and pasties!) - and included in them where a new range of Dinky Topped Pork Pies that are proving to be popular. So popular in fact that they are being launched in Selfridges, Manchester this morning!

So what's in the range and how do they rate? The Dinky Pork Pie range includes Cranberry, Pickle and Wensleydale Cheese, Stilton, Caramelised Red Onion and Normandy Chutney. I think it's important to note that this range of pies is quite a niche product, as it contains a number of toppings in place of the lid of a traditional pork pie that would cause mixed reactions in the kitchen. I certainly noticed that, with certain pies in the range being a lot more popular than others due to the nature of the topping. The Caramelised Red Onion proved the most popular from the selection below, while the Cranberry topped pork pie was considered a bit too sweet by many. I guess it really is horses for courses when you start providing alternative toppings to your pies.

Toppings Dinky Pork Pies Review

We on the Pierate Ship do consider only a fully encased pie to be a proper pie, however we do understand in reality more and more places are offering other forms of pie, either bottom-less in the case of a top-crust or lid-less in the case of these Dinky Pork Pies. Due to the niche flavours used, not all of which are to my personal liking I must admit, I have rated the Stilton Topped Pork Pie and would then advise you to select the topping you personally prefer when purchasing, which can be done online as well as in some shops, at a very reasonable RRP of £1.50 for a 120g pork pie.

The pastry was quite crisp, holding together well when cut into pieces. It was the classic hot water pastry crust done well. The pies were quite small but packed a punch with their original toppings. While I (and a few other people I shared them with) felt there could have been a little more pork to counter the strong flavours of the toppings, the quality of the pork meat was obvious and the toppings certainly added flavour to the pie. The capacity was very strong, with minimal jelly and a quality tasting meat content. While they lose some marks for not being fully encased they still score well.

Toppings Dinky Pork Pie Range
Score: 5/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 4.5, Consistency 5, Condition 4.5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 5.5, Content 5, Total: 5/7]
RAS

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Dicksons Steak, Minced Beef and Onion and Pork Pies

Dicksons Chunky Steak Pie Review

It is great to hear when pie sellers such as butchers and bakeries celebrate important milestones, like the recent 60th anniversary of Dicksons family butchers last year. It is a sign of great quality that a local company – in this case from a family of pie makers – is still going strong so many years after founding, and now even has an online pie shop! With the recent upsurge in artisan pie makers, it is good to see that there are also the old hands still banging out good quality pie produce week in, week out.

So having celebrated their 60th birthday last year in 2013, we wanted to give Dicksons pies a rating. We were sent 6 pies – a double pack of Steak pies, Minced Beef and Onion pies and Pork pies. They were very nicely packaged, immediately catching your eye as being a traditional product with a great wealth of history to the company. Surprisingly though, there was no indication of any cooking instructions, which I think most general members of the pie eating public would find a little strange. Fortunately, being the piefessionals that we are, we heated the Steak and Minced Beef and Onion pies for about 20 minutes in the oven at Gas Mark 6, by which point the pastry started getting all crisp and golden. We ate the Pork Pies cold.

So how did the pies rate?

Chunky Steak Pie

Dicksons Chunky Steak Pie Review

Steak pies with a luscious meaty gravy are traditionally my personal favourite when it comes to pies, so I was expecting good things from the Dicksons steak pie. Arriving in decent condition, when it came to cutting through the pastry shell there was a reasonable moisture to the pie innards, though unfortunately the content of the pie lacked a reasonable gravy to really complement the meaty taste and was a bit too seasoned for me. There was a bit of gristly meat, which was disappointing, but in general the meat was of a reasonable standard. Unfortunately when looking for piefection, top quality tender meat is a given. With a bit more gravy to moisten the filling, this would have been a nicer filling and stronger scoring pie.

The pastry was crisp and flaky, getting quite golden through the cooking process. It did taste a little dry in patches and I don’t think I would have wanted to eat all the pastry of two pies in a row. Also the filling to pastry ratio for this size of pie wasn’t quite right, being a bit too pastry heavy, but I did enjoy eating these steak pies (gristle aside).

Dicksons Steak Pie
Score: 5.18/7
[Colour 5, Capacity 6, Consistency 5, Condition 5, Chewiness 4.5, Cheapness 5, Content 5.75, Total: 5.18/7]


Minced Beef and Onion



Dicksons Minced Beef and Onion Pie Review

Often a minced beef pie can suffer from having a minced meat filling that doesn’t quite hit the spot as much as tender chunks of steak (or other meat). It can have the negative stereotype of being a lesser pie as a result, possibly even the poor man’s pie. Which is why I was so delighted that Dicksons have clearly used a quality mincemeat in their pie and developed a very nice sauce to make this Minced Beef and Onion pie really stand out.


It really reminded me of a delicious minced meat pie that a friend of mine (with many years of plate pie making experience) had made me just a few months earlier. The meat was lovely and tender, flavoursome and leaving me wanting more. The pastry was again crisp and flaky, occasionally a little dry but on the whole balance well with the moist filling. The filling to pastry ratio could again have been slightly improved ideally, as it was a rather shallow pie, but on the whole this really did stand out as a top mincemeat based pie. And at just £1.89 for 2 pies, this is a bargain! It’s not often I would rate a mincemeat pie higher than a steak pie, but in this instance I have to give it to the Minced Beef and Onion Dicksons pie!


Dicksons Minced Beef and Onion Pie
Score: 5.64/7
[Colour 5, Capacity 6, Consistency 5.5, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 6, Cheapness 5.5, Content 6, Total: 5.64/7]


Pork Pie



Dicksons Pork Pie Review

The pork pies were quite reasonable as pork pies go, with nice meat but a bit lacking in filling. There was a clear air gap between the filling and pastry, with no jelly. The pastry was fine, though it wasn’t very crisp and didn’t really blow me away. They weren’t that big either, but it was a reasonable pork pie, even though with such a great gourmet pork pie market out there I wouldn’t rush out to buy another.

Dicksons Pork Pie
Score: 5/7
[Colour 4.5, Capacity 5, Consistency 5, Condition 4.5, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5, Content 5.5, Total: 5/7]




Dicksons Pork Pie Review

With pies being produced for over 60 years and a real heart of the business being family run, it’s great to see that the north-east are being well looked after. Here’s hoping they are still producing Pierate Recommended pies in another 60 years!

RAS

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#MakeAPicnicAPiecnic

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

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#MakeAPicnicAPiecnic

The Pierateers enjoying an ASDA apple pie at a Piecnic

Bray's Cottage Pork Pie - a great piecnic option!

So when you’re reaching into the fridge for some picnic goodies, just add a pork pie to your hamper. Or if you’d rather something sweet than containing meat, just grab a box of fruit pies to sweeten the meal. It really is that simple! So simple in fact that we’ve boiled it down to two, easy-to-follow steps:

1) Add pie to your picnic
2) You now have a piecnic

All that leaves me to say is – why wouldn’t you?! Enjoy the sunshine this summer and make your picnic a piecnic. Just add pie!

Why not rate your pie at the Piecnic?!

Here’s some pie companies that have got on board:

The Real Pie Company are encouraging you to have a fruit pie as part of your piecnic:

It's a glorious day today.. Having a picnic, so why not try some of our scrumptious Fruit Pies. Buy them for yourself or loved ones
— The Real Pie Co (@TheRealPieComp) July 26, 2014

Sarah from Bray's Cottage regularly tweets about piecnics (or "pignics" - but let's face it, we'd rather have pie in the title ;-) )

“@PaulEele: The best pork pie EVER!! :-) @Brays_Cottage” < How kind! :) x #pignic
— Sarah Pettegree (@Brays_Cottage) June 8, 2014

Here's Chunk of Devon PIEmoting their pies for your picnic!

Our Award winning Pork Pie for your perfect picnic! Look out for our Pie Van! @pierateers #MakeAPicnicAPiecnic pic.twitter.com/ts0MpyuEJF
— Chunk of Devon (@Chunk_of_Devon) July 28, 2014

RAS

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Robinsons Bakery Steak and Guinness, Steak and Kidney and Pork and Apple Pie Reviews

We recently had the pie-leasure of visiting Robinsons Bakery in Failsworth, north Manchester, as part of their 150 year celebrations. Yes, that’s right – one hundred and fifty years of pie making in Manchester’s oldest craft bakery. It’s still family run and – having rated their mince pies very highly in their 149th year – I was delighted to get a tour round the bakery and try a few more of their pies.

Robinsons Bakery Pies - 150 years old!

Having already tried their mince pies, I wanted to give their meat pies a rating. You won’t be surprised to see I went for their steak pies, given how strongly they feature at the top of our pie rankings. The pies in question were the Steak and Guinness Pie and the Steak and Kidney Pie, while I was also kindly given an apple-topped pork pie to rate as well.

You can find out more about Robinsons Bakery and their 150 year anniversary in our “150 Years of Pie Making: Celebrating with Robinsons Bakery” article, so I’m going to get cracking with the pie reviews here:

Overall opinion

The pies were all decent value at just £1.50 each – could have been slightly bigger though with a bit more content to make them a meal. We ended up eating 2 meat pies each for dinner, indicating they are more snack size than meal size. Mind you, we are piefessionals. Both the Steak and Guinness and Steak and Kidney pies were reasonably well filled, though they could have had a slightly stronger capacity. The pies did vary slightly in capacity between the pies we got – as we had bought 5 of each flavour – which indicates a slight inconsistency in the filling levels but is not surprising when they are all handmade, rather than industrially filled.

The colour was quite golden on them all and they held together well, despite quite a bit of travelling being done by the pies! The bases of the pies were a little softer than the crisp lid and sides but this did not detract from the taste of the pie too much, with the pastry lid on the steak pies being particularly nice.

Robinsons Bakery Steak and Guinness Pie Review

Steak and Guinness Pie Review

The Steak and Guinness pie was the first to be eaten and was quite well filled with tender chunks of steak. There could have ideally been a bit more steak in the pie and the pie was overly peppery, but in general the Guinness gravy complimented the steak well and at just £1.50, this was a good value pie. The pastry was quite crisp and the pie held together well, so with a bit more steak and bit less pepper inside it would be a very well rated pie.

Robinson’s Steak and Guinness Pie
Score: 5.21/7
[Colour 5, Capacity 5, Consistency 5, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5.5, Content 5, Total: 5.21/7]

Robinsons Bakery Steak and Kidney Pie Review

Steak and Kidney Pie Review

The Steak and Kidney pie was reasonably well balanced between the steak and kidney, with a nice gravy. The pie I rated was nicely seasoned – not overly peppery like the Steak and Guinness – so was a lot more enjoyable in flavour. I would have preferred a bit more of a weighting towards the steak but the flavour was good. £1.50 was a decent price for this pie and it was a bit better filled than the Steak and Guinness, but a bit more filling to maximise the capacity would have been ideal and bumped up the score by improving the pastry:filling ratio.

Robinson’s Steak and Kidney Pie
Score: 5.36/7
[Colour 5, Capacity 5, Consistency 5.5, Condition 5.5, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 5.5, Content 5.5, Total: 5.36/7]

Robinsons Bakery Apple Topped Pork Pie Review

Apple Topped Pork Pie

Unfortunately as this pork pie was topped with apple, not pastry, it was not a fully encased pie. The apple layer was reasonably thick, giving a strong tang to the pie and in my opinion was a little too strong. The pork was reasonable quality, though for a top rated pork pie I would expect a bit better. The condition wasn’t perfect on this pie – most notably because it wasn’t fully encased - but the pastry was quite nice, crisp and held the filling in well. In summary I could see why this was a strong seller from the bakery but it loses marks with us as it’s not fully encased. I would say it was a bit too sweet for my pallet and the meat could have been a bit more flavoursome.

Robinson’s Apple Topped Pork Pie
Score: 4.21/7
[Colour 4, Capacity 4, Consistency 4.5, Condition 3.5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 4.5, Content 4, Total: 4.21/7]


With such a strong score for their mince pies (who even featured in our Christmas pie music video!), it was always going to be a hard act to follow for their meat pies. But at just £1.50 each for a hot pie, this is excellent value and I would happily eat again. Both steak pies are Pierate Recommended. While their apple-topped pork pie wasn’t quite for me, I’d look to try a traditional pork pie from them on my next visit. All in all, the hard craft of pie making is in safe hands 150 years on from the first Robinsons Bakery pies!

RAS

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Brompton Food Market - Bray's Cottage Pork Pie Review

Food delis tend to be pretty upmarket but Brompton Food Market in affluent South Kensington is one of the most posh. We love to try a broad range of pies, some cheaper, some more expensive as you never know which are going to be the best value for money. I thought I simply had to try one of the pork pies on offer at Brompton Food Market, at £3.50 for a small pie I was expecting something good. There were a few variations on offer but I decided to go for the standard pork pie. They said they are made by a company called Bray's Cottage. See below for a breakdown of the score.


Condition – 6.5 out of 7 – Very nice indeed, a lovely zigzag pattern around the top and some odd holes which look like air vents but aren’t. There wasn’t much that could be improved in the condition. I don’t often say this for a cold pie but this pie had a lovely, spicy aroma.

Colour – 6.8 out of 7 – I really liked the glossy golden colour to this one. There was nice variation in the glazing which made it look handmade (but I don’t know if it was) and there was some evidence on the outside as to the juicy filling on the inside.

Cheapness – 3.0 out of 7 – For an individual sized pork pie this just wasn’t cheap at all but you do get what you pay for. This is good quality pork.

Capacity – 5.8 out of 7 – The pie was quite tall so the capacity was large for its size. It was completely full of content.

Chewiness – 6.4 out of 7 – There was a great texture to this pie, only one tiny chewy piece. The pastry was softer than many pork pies but still had a really satisfying crunch to the outside. The filling was granular and not at all mushy. This pie didn't seem to have any jelly but was still very moist.

Content – 5.9 out of 7 – This pie was filled with proper grey pork meat rather than cured pork, in a similar way to a Melton Mowbray Pork Pie. Although, there did also seem to be some pink bits to it which I now realise is because they mix in some smoked bacon! This is a nice touch and makes this pie stand out. The pork had some of the best flavour I have ever had in a pork pie. I was however expecting it to have a bit more spice to it. Maybe it is because they didn’t want to hide the flavour of the meat but for me, I like a bit more of a peppery taste. There was a really great flavour to the pastry. I am not sure what they used to glaze it but there was almost a sweetness to the taste which I loved.

Consistency – 6.5 out of 7 – This really worked well as a package, in many departments I would say this would be my ultimate pork pie.


Overall, a really very good pie from Brompton Food Market. However, for £3.50 it seemed a bit much, for me it is hard for any individual pork pie to justify such a price, no matter how good it is. I would expect the best I have ever tasted. In fact, it almost was the best I have ever tasted so not a bad effort. The seasoning is probably a personal preference anyway. If you can find these pies sold elsewhere, perhaps a bit cheaper, then they are well worth a try.

Pork Pie (Brompton Food Market/Bray’s Cottage)
Score: 5.84/7
SJL

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