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Showing posts with label potato. Show all posts
Showing posts with label potato. Show all posts
Friday, 13 January 2017
Billy's Bakehouse - Aussie Pies from The Netherlands!
Billy's Bakehouse - Pie Reviews
You might think that after 7 years of eating and reviewing pies it has become a bit repetitive. Surely there is only so much that can happen when reviewing various pastry packages? But, like the fillings themselves, the whole experience continues to lead to the unexpected. One of these more random experiences was when an Australian from the Netherlands gave me 21 pies in Birmingham on my way to Northampton. Now let me explain...
Darren comes from a small coastal town in Australia but has been living in the Netherlands for over 20 years. Unfortunately the Dutch are not into pies and Darren missed the pies he used to get in Australia. Like us, he found many of the frozen pies he could import from the UK were not up to scratch. His Dad was a butcher and his Mum a pie lady so with this background he thought he would try and make his own. When other people tried his pies, they quickly caught on. He soon started a business making fresh pies for pubs and doing festivals during the times of year when his building work was quieter. Given that demand was varied, fresh pies would spoil before being used so Darren started making frozen pies with the emphasis on making them quick to cook on demand. The brand Billy's Bakehouse was born, marketed as producing authentic Australian pies. He also decided to make an affordable, everyday pie rather than a premium gourmet pie. The pies are small so that they can be eaten with one hand and to open up the market to younger pie fans and women who typically would want a smaller pie.
It struck me that Darren has really thought about his market, more so than most pie makers I come across. From my experience, it does feel he has identified a bit of a gap in the market. Sales are good for Darren, particularly at music festivals, but there is one problem. The Dutch have no idea about pies! A meat pie in particular is not a concept they are familiar with, so to make headway with Dutch supermarkets he has his work cut out. Hence Darren has an ambitious plan to break into the UK market somehow, be that via a franchise or importing pies. This brought him over to chat to some companies and he also decided to contact the Pierateers to get our opinion!
We met for a coffee at Birmingham New Street station. Darren said he would be easy to spot as he would be the one with the esky. Hmm.... only problem is I didn't know what that was. Turns out it is an Aussie name for a coolbox. I brought my own cool bag to take some pies with me as I was on my way to visit friends in Northampton. I didn't expect that Darren would be giving me the whole coolbox filled with 21 pies! The coolbox was a slightly random thing to turn up at someone's house with, fortunately my friend had a big chest freezer! (This event only added to my reputation as being completely obsessed with pies.)
Darren claimed to have come up with a unique way of making the frozen pastry work. He said that coming at it from a non-culinary background had allowed him to think outside the box. He didn't let me in on the secret but said it was a bit unusual. Hopefully nothing too weird though!
Darren gave me detailed instructions for how to cook the pies. They must be cooked in the foil and on a baking tray. He also specified the relatively high temperature of 200°C. It felt like it was a bit of a science experiment rather than baking a pie. I was glad he gave me 21 pies so I could make sure I got some right! It also allowed me to share some with Pierateer Rob. (I meant to give him meat pies and chicken pies but turns out they were all meat, oops.) Whilst I tried to follow the instructions, perhaps there was some variability to the oven because some cooked better than others. Some had perhaps been slightly defrosted in their travels which meant they weren't quite at their best.
When they did cook right though, the pastry was very good, especially given that it was frozen. It was slightly flaky but with a bit of crunch. There was a nice buttery taste to the pastry. As Pierateer Rob observed, it was nice that the sides and base cooked well too, there were no soggy bottoms here! It is actually quite unusual to achieve this for a frozen pie. This meant the pies held together well making them ideal to eat by hand. I can see they would work well as a festival pie.
The pies retail for €2.79 for a box of 2 in supermarkets, putting them just above £1 each at post-referendum rates. This is competitive with other companies such as Birdseye which dominate the frozen brands in this country. At festivals the offers vary but they tend to be around €3.20 each. This is cheap compared to pies at event we go to (like the football where prices tend to be #PieHighPrices).
But onto the fillings! I was given four different flavours, meat, spicy meat, chicken and veggie.
Meat
5.35/7
SJL/RAS
The meat was minced beef which is the traditional Aussie style. Darren said this is the pie he would always try first to see if a pie maker is worth their crust. Whilst we do tend to prefer bigger meat chunks on the Pierate Ship this has allowed Darren to make these pies both good quality and affordable. Whilst it was minced meat, it was still in relatively big pieces. This indicated the quality of the meat was better than most minced meat pies where the meat is ground so fine there is nothing at all to chew. The flavour was fairly simple, meaty with little seasoning, but not too much. The seasoning was different (in a good way) to the average meat pie in the UK, but my palette is not refined enough to determine what the differences were. I was, as advertised, a classic Aussie meat pie at an affordable price!
Spicy Meat
5.35/7
SJL
The same type of meat as the standard meat pie but this one packed more of a punch. To me, it tasted like someone had injected a meat pie with chip shop curry sauce and then added a bit more pepper and chili to make sure it was hot enough. Again, it didn't do anything fancy, it was simple but effective. I couldn't choose between this and the meat pie as my favourite, it depends on how you feel on the day.
Chicken & Mushroom
4.85
SJL
The flavour of this pie was so much nicer than your average chicken and mushroom pie in this price range. It was a world away from the horrible grey gloop that you often find. There was plenty of leek which added of flavour with a good amount of salt. The mushroom added nicely to the texture and variety of the pie without over powering the flavours. It seemed like a different variety of mushroom to what we typically eat in the UK. The chicken was in quite small pieces but just about big enough to get your teeth into. Unfortunately, the sauce was a bit too thin for me which, was surprising when the others had quite a thick sauce. Hence, it lost marks against Consistency. The leek was also a little Chewy which detracted from the texture. A shame when it did some aspects very well.
Potato & Sweet Potato
4.50
SJL
Given the choice of filling, it is not too surprising that this was quite a soft pie. It had a consistency like a cheese & onion pie or a butter pie. There was again, a welcome flavour from the leek, so this pie avoided being bland. There was, of course, not much to chew, this type of pie slips down too easily to be something I would choose regularly, but it was tasty enough to eat again. Perhaps as a 'side' to one of the meat pies, it would be a bit like pie and mash then!
So to summarise, the Aussie pies from the Netherlands turned out to be pretty good! The Meat and Spicy Meat both receive Pierate Recommended status. Given the business trip to UK, perhaps we will one day see Billy's Bakehouse pies on these shores, there is certainly an appetite for this kind of pie in the UK, but probably more com-pie-tition in the market place too. It strikes me that these would be
perfect pies to eat at football matches. They cook quickly, they are easy to hold in your hand and for the most part the hold together very well. For some reason in England, most football pies tend to be stodgy and gloopy affairs that make a mess everywhere. Here's hoping that a club signs this talented foreigner up! We wish Darren and Billy's Bakehouse good luck in the future.
SJL
You might think that after 7 years of eating and reviewing pies it has become a bit repetitive. Surely there is only so much that can happen when reviewing various pastry packages? But, like the fillings themselves, the whole experience continues to lead to the unexpected. One of these more random experiences was when an Australian from the Netherlands gave me 21 pies in Birmingham on my way to Northampton. Now let me explain...
Darren comes from a small coastal town in Australia but has been living in the Netherlands for over 20 years. Unfortunately the Dutch are not into pies and Darren missed the pies he used to get in Australia. Like us, he found many of the frozen pies he could import from the UK were not up to scratch. His Dad was a butcher and his Mum a pie lady so with this background he thought he would try and make his own. When other people tried his pies, they quickly caught on. He soon started a business making fresh pies for pubs and doing festivals during the times of year when his building work was quieter. Given that demand was varied, fresh pies would spoil before being used so Darren started making frozen pies with the emphasis on making them quick to cook on demand. The brand Billy's Bakehouse was born, marketed as producing authentic Australian pies. He also decided to make an affordable, everyday pie rather than a premium gourmet pie. The pies are small so that they can be eaten with one hand and to open up the market to younger pie fans and women who typically would want a smaller pie.
It struck me that Darren has really thought about his market, more so than most pie makers I come across. From my experience, it does feel he has identified a bit of a gap in the market. Sales are good for Darren, particularly at music festivals, but there is one problem. The Dutch have no idea about pies! A meat pie in particular is not a concept they are familiar with, so to make headway with Dutch supermarkets he has his work cut out. Hence Darren has an ambitious plan to break into the UK market somehow, be that via a franchise or importing pies. This brought him over to chat to some companies and he also decided to contact the Pierateers to get our opinion!
We met for a coffee at Birmingham New Street station. Darren said he would be easy to spot as he would be the one with the esky. Hmm.... only problem is I didn't know what that was. Turns out it is an Aussie name for a coolbox. I brought my own cool bag to take some pies with me as I was on my way to visit friends in Northampton. I didn't expect that Darren would be giving me the whole coolbox filled with 21 pies! The coolbox was a slightly random thing to turn up at someone's house with, fortunately my friend had a big chest freezer! (This event only added to my reputation as being completely obsessed with pies.)
Darren claimed to have come up with a unique way of making the frozen pastry work. He said that coming at it from a non-culinary background had allowed him to think outside the box. He didn't let me in on the secret but said it was a bit unusual. Hopefully nothing too weird though!
Darren gave me detailed instructions for how to cook the pies. They must be cooked in the foil and on a baking tray. He also specified the relatively high temperature of 200°C. It felt like it was a bit of a science experiment rather than baking a pie. I was glad he gave me 21 pies so I could make sure I got some right! It also allowed me to share some with Pierateer Rob. (I meant to give him meat pies and chicken pies but turns out they were all meat, oops.) Whilst I tried to follow the instructions, perhaps there was some variability to the oven because some cooked better than others. Some had perhaps been slightly defrosted in their travels which meant they weren't quite at their best.
When they did cook right though, the pastry was very good, especially given that it was frozen. It was slightly flaky but with a bit of crunch. There was a nice buttery taste to the pastry. As Pierateer Rob observed, it was nice that the sides and base cooked well too, there were no soggy bottoms here! It is actually quite unusual to achieve this for a frozen pie. This meant the pies held together well making them ideal to eat by hand. I can see they would work well as a festival pie.
The pies retail for €2.79 for a box of 2 in supermarkets, putting them just above £1 each at post-referendum rates. This is competitive with other companies such as Birdseye which dominate the frozen brands in this country. At festivals the offers vary but they tend to be around €3.20 each. This is cheap compared to pies at event we go to (like the football where prices tend to be #PieHighPrices).
But onto the fillings! I was given four different flavours, meat, spicy meat, chicken and veggie.
Meat
5.35/7
SJL/RAS
The meat was minced beef which is the traditional Aussie style. Darren said this is the pie he would always try first to see if a pie maker is worth their crust. Whilst we do tend to prefer bigger meat chunks on the Pierate Ship this has allowed Darren to make these pies both good quality and affordable. Whilst it was minced meat, it was still in relatively big pieces. This indicated the quality of the meat was better than most minced meat pies where the meat is ground so fine there is nothing at all to chew. The flavour was fairly simple, meaty with little seasoning, but not too much. The seasoning was different (in a good way) to the average meat pie in the UK, but my palette is not refined enough to determine what the differences were. I was, as advertised, a classic Aussie meat pie at an affordable price!Spicy Meat
5.35/7
SJL
The same type of meat as the standard meat pie but this one packed more of a punch. To me, it tasted like someone had injected a meat pie with chip shop curry sauce and then added a bit more pepper and chili to make sure it was hot enough. Again, it didn't do anything fancy, it was simple but effective. I couldn't choose between this and the meat pie as my favourite, it depends on how you feel on the day.Chicken & Mushroom
4.85
SJL
The flavour of this pie was so much nicer than your average chicken and mushroom pie in this price range. It was a world away from the horrible grey gloop that you often find. There was plenty of leek which added of flavour with a good amount of salt. The mushroom added nicely to the texture and variety of the pie without over powering the flavours. It seemed like a different variety of mushroom to what we typically eat in the UK. The chicken was in quite small pieces but just about big enough to get your teeth into. Unfortunately, the sauce was a bit too thin for me which, was surprising when the others had quite a thick sauce. Hence, it lost marks against Consistency. The leek was also a little Chewy which detracted from the texture. A shame when it did some aspects very well.Potato & Sweet Potato
4.50
SJL
Given the choice of filling, it is not too surprising that this was quite a soft pie. It had a consistency like a cheese & onion pie or a butter pie. There was again, a welcome flavour from the leek, so this pie avoided being bland. There was, of course, not much to chew, this type of pie slips down too easily to be something I would choose regularly, but it was tasty enough to eat again. Perhaps as a 'side' to one of the meat pies, it would be a bit like pie and mash then!So to summarise, the Aussie pies from the Netherlands turned out to be pretty good! The Meat and Spicy Meat both receive Pierate Recommended status. Given the business trip to UK, perhaps we will one day see Billy's Bakehouse pies on these shores, there is certainly an appetite for this kind of pie in the UK, but probably more com-pie-tition in the market place too. It strikes me that these would beperfect pies to eat at football matches. They cook quickly, they are easy to hold in your hand and for the most part the hold together very well. For some reason in England, most football pies tend to be stodgy and gloopy affairs that make a mess everywhere. Here's hoping that a club signs this talented foreigner up! We wish Darren and Billy's Bakehouse good luck in the future.
SJL
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
TV's Radford Family expand pie business
Radford’s Pie Company Steak, Chicken and Meat and Potato Pie Reviews
It’s always great to be approached by pie producers asking us to rate their pies – but rarely do we get approached by anyone with as much TV exposure as the Radford family. For those who don’t know, the Radford’s featured on Channel 4’s 15, 16, 17 and now “18 kids and counting” and are – as you might guess – one of the largest families in the UK! With so many mouths to feed, you can imagine the pie consumption must be pretty high in their house up in Lancashire, but it helps that the family run bakery – which supports the continually growing family - sells, amongst other things, pies!
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| Radford's Pie Company Review |
So having been sent some pies, how do the pies rate? Made with shortcrust pastry, one of the more obvious things you notice about them is they are packed near to capacity when you cut through them. They all travelled well, important for a home delivery pie, holding their shape well when cooked and removed from the foil. One interesting thing to note was that while the instructions recommended cooking them in the foil, I tried one of the steak pies cooked out of the foil and it really helped firm up the base of the pie, making it crisper and firmer than the steak pie I’d cooked in foil. However whether cooked in foil or not they all held together pretty well for a shortcrust pastry pie, some of which can crumble quite heavily upon biting into. The crimped edge added a slightly firmer crunch and the pies were all golden colour.
At £2.95 these are a pretty decent sized pie for that price considering the home delivery and that they are packed with meat. The local ingredients, from butchers and vegetable sellers near to the bakery, also adds to the appeal of these pies. No worries about air miles here! Here’s the breakdown of the four flavours we tried:
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| Radford's Pie Company Chunky Steak Review |
Large chunky pieces of steak, just as the label promised! The meat was quite nice and tender, though a few pieces could have been a little leaner. However it was very meaty, with 45% beef steak. The gravy was quite a nice thickness, making it quite moist to contrast with the quite crisp outer pastry, which being shortcrust was a little dry in places. The thick chunks of meat and moisture of the gravy did seem to mean in places the base of the pie didn’t crisp up quite as well as the rest of the pie.
Score: 5.5/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 6, Consistency 5, Condition 5.25, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 5.75, Content 5.75]
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| Radford's Pie Company Steak and Mushroom Pie Review |
At 40% beef steak, this pie is firmly focused on the meat, which is my kind of steak and mushroom filling! The mushroom was nice and spread throughout the pie, though not a lot in there. The gravy was quite rich and meaty, not overly runny and the meat in quite large chunks. A nice, if quite subtle, change on the Chunky Steak pie.
Score: 5.5/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 6, Consistency 5, Condition 5.25, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 5.75, Content 5.75]
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| Radford's Pie Company Meat and Potato Pie Review |
The meat and potato pie was very potato focused, with a nice texture to the potato in decent chunks, however the mince beef was quite lacking at just 11%. It meant the gravy wasn’t that rich in flavour and there was less fluid gravy in the pie, possibly due to absorption into the potato. The pastry was crisp and held together better in this pie, with a firmer and crisper base. For those who like a heavier potato content to their meat and potato pie this would be just up your street, but for me there wasn’t quite the right balance to really get my teeth into any of the meat.
Score: 4.71/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 5, Consistency 4, Condition 5.25, Chewiness 4.5, Cheapness 4, Content 4.5]
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| Radford's Pie Company Chicken Pie Review |
Chicken Pie
With this pie consisting of 41% chicken breast, the pie certainly wasn’t lacking in meat either and top of the range meat at that. It was a very enjoyable pie, with my only suggestion that the pieces of chicken were quite chunky and thus not quite as succulent as it could have been if perhaps in slightly more small pieces. However the cream sauce was good, adding a nice blend to the flavour, so I think would have blended perfectly with the chicken if it had been mixed in with smaller pieces of meat. Excellent capacity and good content means this one just pips the rest.
Score: 5.68/7
[Colour 5.75, Capacity 6, Consistency 5.25, Condition 5.75, Chewiness 5.25, Cheapness 5.75, Content 6]
All in all, some very good pies from Radford’s and it’s a luxury to find a fully family run business like this that uses ingredients from local producers in the area. Worth getting online and ordering a batch for sure, as they are Pierate Recommended!
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Monday, 12 October 2015
Square Pie try something different with Rugby World Cup!
Square Pie's Rugby Pie World Cup in Grand Central Shopping Centre, Birmingham
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| 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.
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| Eyes on the pies! |
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!
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| Wales - Rugby Pie World Cup Review |
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]
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| Square Pie Fiji Goat Curry Rugby Pie Review |
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]
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| Square Pie England Steak and Ale Rugby Pie Review |
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!
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| 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
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Wigan Pie Week - Pound Bakery Meat and Potato Pie
This Pound Bakery Meat and Potato Pie review forms part of our #WiganPieWeek set of reviews. This week we are rating 5 pies from Wigan on our 7 Cs of pie rating. Find out more about our quest in our overarching “Wigan Pie Week” article!
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| 2 pies for £1! |
But wait – I was wrong! They weren’t selling pies at £1 each in Pound Bakery. They were selling 2 meat and potato pies for £1 in Pound Bakery! Yes – I said TWO pies for ONE pound! Seriously. Could this actually work? Could there really be hot pies on sale for just 50p a pie? How does this make any economic sense?!
Ultimately I had my reservations on how they could possibly be selling 2 meat pies for £1 but as a piefessional, I could only give you a true representation of the quality and rating of the pie having eaten one. It was time to take the 50p pie test!
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| Pound Bakery Meat and Potato Pie Review |
My first thoughts on the condition of the pie was that it looked in quite a good condition for such a cheap pie, but upon breaking open the pie it did start to crumble somewhat. The filling of this pie – like many meat and potato pies I had eaten in the local Wigan area – was primarily consisting of potato, with quite large pieces of potato in it, and a mix of mincemeat and a little gravy. However the pastry was quite dry and while the meat/potato/gravy content was reasonably moist, it didn’t do enough to balance the dryness of the pastry.
I was surprised by the amount of mincemeat in it for such a cheap pie, but it didn’t taste like particularly high quality meat and ultimately I wouldn’t ever choose to eat another one of these pies unless I was completely strapped for cash one day. But what can you expect? I paid 50p per pie, so I can’t say I was expecting Michelin star food. I would be foolish to say that in these days of austerity I’d turn my nose up at a cheap pie if that was all I could afford. However, given the choice and knowing that pies aren’t exactly the most expensive food item out there anyway, there are many better pies to enjoy for a few pounds more.
Pound Bakery Meat and Potato Pie
Score: 3.71/7
[Colour 3, Capacity 3.5, Consistency 2.5, Condition 3, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 5, Content 4, Total: 3.71/7]
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Wigan Pie Week - Galloways Meat and Potato Pie
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| Galloways in central Wigan |
This Galloways Meat and Potato Pie review forms part of our #WiganPieWeek set of reviews. This week we are rating 5 pies from Wigan on our 7 Cs of pie rating. Find out more about our quest in our overarching “Wigan Pie Week” article!
For a reasonable sized pie, warmed up and sold on the High Street of Wigan, I thought £1.48 was quite reasonable for this meat and potato pie. However the side and base pastry did look rather anaemic, and the colour of the top of the pie was significantly paler than I would hope for in a highly rated pie. Picking up the pie out of its foil tray, the pie was immediately starting to struggle to encase the filling. Within a bite or two, the filling was collapsing all over the place and I was requiring the foil tray to stop me losing the pie all over the floor.
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| Galloways Meat and Potato Pie Review |
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| Galloways Meat and Potato Pie Review |
However what the structure of this pie lacked, the flavour of the filling certainly made up for. The potato was very small pieces within a mainly mash-like consistency, which combined really well with pieces of mincemeat. The content was well seasoned and flavoursome throughout the pie. Eaten on a plate – rather than trying to eat by hand – I think this pie would have worked quite well, though a slightly firmer pastry would have been ideal. A nice pie that I would eat again, it was the highlight of the afternoon trip pie hunting in Wigan town centre.
Galloways Meat and Potato Pie
Score: 4.36/7
[Colour 3.5, Capacity 4, Consistency 3.5, Condition 3.5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 5, Content 6, Total: 4.36/7]
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
|
Monday, 22 June 2015
Wigan Pie Week - Greenhalgh’s Meat and Potato Pie
This Greenhalgh’s Meat and Potato Pie review forms part of our #WiganPieWeek set of reviews. This week we are rating 5 pies from Wigan on our 7 Cs of pie rating. Find out more about our quest in our overarching “Wigan Pie Week” article!
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Greenhalgh’s Meat and Potato Pie review |
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Greenhalgh’s Meat and Potato Pie review |
Greenhalgh’s Meat and Potato Pie
Score: 3.43/7
[Colour 3, Capacity 3.5, Consistency 2.5, Condition 2.5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 3.5, Content 4, Total: 3.43/7]
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Will the Wycombe pies be a phat lot of good?!
Phat Pasty Co Steak and Potato Pie Review
It’s a tough job keeping track of all the comings and goings in football’s summer transfer window, especially with the distraction of the World Cup (and our World Cup pie blog) this summer! But one transfer we Pierateers did spot was a change in the pie supplier at Wycombe Wanderers FC, who are the local club of the Pierateers.
As you may well know, the Pierateers have rated pies in grounds up and down the country and are looking to expand the number of pies in their Pieremiership table! But in amongst all this, having already rated last season’s pie at Wycombe, we rated the new offering at Adam’s Park – made by Phat Pasty Co. who we also rated at Portsmouth FC – as Wycombe Wanderers took on Southend United. Would they hit the back of the net?!
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| Phat Pasty Co's Steak and Potato Pie Review |
Not only do we want tasty pastry and a fabulous filling, but the pie needs to be able to be eaten by hand and have a not-too-runny consistency to save spills on your football shirt! It can also be difficult to get value for money when in a sports arena, but we take that into account when looking at the cheapness. The steak and potato pie by Phat Pasty Co certainly looked appealing, with a good depth to it and cleverly including the word “phat” into the top pastry. However when Pierateer RAS went to take his pie out of the foil, there was a monumental collapse of the pastry, resulting in the lid and parts of the side being completely separated from the rest of the pie.
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| Phat Pasty Co's Steak and Potato Pie Review |
The content itself was on the whole pretty good, though it was noted that a meat pie – rather than meat and potato – would most probably have scored higher. The potato in this pie though was cooked well, and nice and flavoursome. There could have certainly been a bit more meat and there was a bit of chewy meat in there, but overall the flavour of the filling was enjoyed. The capacity was pretty much spot on and at £3 for a pie, that’s pretty good value for a hot pie of that size eaten out.
Our post match summary then: While we commend a big meat and potato pie with an enjoyable filling, the pastry on this pie sadly wasn’t strong or tasty enough for top marks. It was too thick and still tasted quite floury. For a football pie, the pastry didn’t hold together well enough to pick it up and eat it, so a longer baked and stronger pie pastry would be ideal.
Phat Pasty Co Steak and Potato Pie
Score: 3.36/7
[Colour 3.5, Capacity 5, Consistency 2, Condition 3, Chewiness 2, Cheapness 4, Content 4, Total: 3.36/7]
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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Friday, 31 October 2014
Should you be going to get a Bowen?
Bowen Butter, Steak and Meat and Potato pie reviews
Attending the book launch of Martin Tarbuck’s book “Life of Pies” it was of course inevitable that there had to be free pies available. These were provided by “Bowen – Award winning pies and puddings”, based in nearby Adlington. Of course the only thing I was interested in was the pies (despite their being a few cheese and onion slices for the veggies out there) and I was not to be disappointed! Around 120 pies were set out on the table – primarily their Butter Pies, Meat and Potato Pies and Steak Pies.
Did you know? The Bowen Meat and Potato Pie was selected as the pie of choice for the World Pie Eating Championships in Wigan!See the Bowen website for more details! |
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| Bowen Pies on show! |
The pastry did compliment the filling, even if there was perhaps a bit too big a difference between the softness of the potato filling and the crispness of the pastry casing for my pallet. However I can’t say I’d go out of my way to try another butter pie – with no offence to Bowen Pies or any other butter pie producers.
I can understand why Butter pies exist. Not everyone can afford the expense of a meat filled pie or necessarily even wants meat in their pie, however being sold at £1.30 compared to just £1.60-£1.80 for the producer’s steak pies, I just can’t really think of any good reason why I’d choose a butter pie out of the two.
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| Bowen Butter Pie Review |
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| Bowen Steak Pie Review |
It was great to hear from Sales Director Paul Bowen how the company had turned to focusing on their pies following increasing pie sales in the butchers and, while sadly the butchers has struggled to compete against the large supermarkets in the area, it’s certainly been for the benefit of their pie production. The quality of the steak in those pies was a real plus point and why it rated so highly!
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| Bowen Meat and Potato Pie Review |
Overall, this was a great shout by Martin at his “Life of Pies” book launch. A very tasty and affordable pie selection from Bowens, which rated highly with Martin too in his book. I can certainly see why they decided to focus on pies from the ones I got to rate! A highly recommended and recommended pie, plus a nice tasting butter pie too. Let’s hope I’m going to get another Bowen soon!
Bowen Butter Pie
Score: 4.57/7
[Colour 5, Capacity 5, Consistency 4.5, Condition 5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 4, Content 3.5, Total: 4.57/7]
Bowen Steak Pie
Score: 6.14/7
[Colour 6, Capacity 6.5, Consistency 5.75, Condition 6, Chewiness 6, Cheapness 6.75, Content 6, Total: 6.14/7]
Bowen Meat and Potato Pie
Score: 5.21/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 5, Consistency 4.5, Condition 5, Chewiness 5, Cheapness 5.5, Content 6, Total: 5.21/7]
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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Tuesday, 21 October 2014
Reci-pie Review: Indian Hot Water Crust Pie
It seems that Pierateer TJP had an unfortunate experience with a meat free 'pork pie' the other day. I have to say I quite agree with his review - if you want to eat a pork pie, eat one. If you don't, well, I might just have the perfect pie recipe for you.
The Recipe:
Weeks after the event I'm still ridiculously over excited about our brief appearance on 'Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice' (did we mention that?!) and even though the show is over for another year I've still got Bake Off on the brain. Chetna was one of my favourite bakers this year and I've been dying to try her Indian hot water crust pies, and this weekend I finally got round to it.
No weird fake 'pork' here - just potatoes, vegetables and lots of delicious spices! You can find the recipe here along with Chetna's chicken pie: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/indian_hot-water_crust_81459
Re-live the pielights of British Bake Off 2013's finale with their Picnic Pie Challenge! See all the pies and our Pierate analysis in our article "Great British Bake Off - The Final: Pie Review Tweets"Or see how we got on baking a Paul and Mary reci-pie!
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Colour:
This pastry turns a lovely golden brown - just make sure your egg wash is even (unlike mine!)
Consistency:
There's not a lot of liquid in this pie, and the recipe gives you the quantity of potatoes by number rather than weight, so you're probably best keeping an eye on the filling as you make it and adjusting how much potato and tomato you put in. I used quite large potatoes and the filling was a tiny bit dry, so I probably should have added an extra tomato. That being said, the consistency wasn't unpleasant at all, and I always think that hot water crust pies need to have a fairly solid filling, so keep an eye on how much potato you use and I think this will come out perfectly.
Capacity:
This pie is lovely and big with plenty of filling, and no air gaps because you fit the lid tightly on top of the filling. A very high score.
Chewiness:
Nothing chewy here, but there were some lovely textures. Fluffy potatoes, nice soft onions, a bit of bite from the lentils and some liquid from the tomatoes. Yum.
Cheapness:
As with all pies, the cheapness of this recipe will vary according to the contents of your cupboard. If you have to buy all the spices it might set you back a bit, but I only had to buy the curry leaves and a few other ingredients, which meant it was very cheap indeed. Plus the pie is massive - we're going to get at least three dinners out of it and it doesn't need any accompaniments (except maybe some Indian pickles or chutneys).
Content:
I wasn't sure how well potatoes would work as the main component of a pie, but I needn't have worried. This is an unusual filling with lots of delicious flavours, and is just spicy enough to have a bit of a kick. This is definitely a good choice if you're baking something special for vegetarian friends, or if you fancy something a bit different from the usual pork or Scotch hot water crust pies. Top marks.
Condition:
One of the things I love about hot water crust pies is how robust they are, and this pie is no different. It's solid, slices well, and it looks and smells amazing. I couldn't wait to dive into this one and I'm looking forward to my second helping!
The Ship's Cook
P.S. Since writing this review I've had a chance to eat some of the leftover pie. It's even better after it's had a day to sit and soak up all the lovely flavours!
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
You can also check out all the Ship's Cook reci-pies here!Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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Thursday, 9 October 2014
The Ark pies went in two by two, hurrah, hurrah!
The Ark Steak and Black Cat Ale and Meat and Potato Pie Reviews
Having already rated a pie from “The Ark” catering company in Burnley during British Pie Week, owner Jonny sent a couple more pies for us to rate recently. Having already reviewed the Steak and Ale pie (using Guinness) sent over previously, they had now started producing a steak and ale pie in conjunction with the local Moorhouse’s brewery, using their Black Cat Ale.
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| The Ark Steak and Ale (left) and Meat and Potato (right) Pies |
It was great to see that, despite still being relatively new to pie catering, Jonny had been seeking ways to improve his Steak and Ale pie recipe with this alteration and the latest pie was delicious. The pie was made with baked Suet pastry, which was a lovely golden colour and crisp to eat, while the steak is locally reared from a farm butcher and was lovely and tender.
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| The Ark Steak and Ale Pie Review |
Once again, the pastry held together well (you could pick up this pie and eat in your fingers) and the meat was very good. I would have liked a bit more gravy, as while the content was not dry it did lack a little in level and consistency of gravy, but in general this was an improvement on the previous Steak and Ale pie but also cheaper!
The Ark Steak and Black Cat Ale Pie
Score: 5.96/7
[Colour 5.5, Capacity 6, Consistency 6, Condition 6, Chewiness 5.75, Cheapness 6, Content 6.5, Total: 5.96/7]
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| The Ark Meat and Potato Pie Review |
It is hard for a mincemeat pie to compete with a steak pie, just because the chunky pieces of steak will generally always be more appealing, but this pie does still hold its own. Again the pie did lack a bit on the gravy front, which did limit the flavour rather too much, though the filling was quite moist. The short crust pastry used did seem to suffer as well, being rather too dry and therefore quite crumbly. This is evidenced in the photo of the two pies side by side after cooking.
The combination of dry, crumbly pastry and a lack of gravy meant this pie did not appeal to me as strongly, which made me wonder whether this pie would be better suited to also being served in the same suet pastry as the Steak and Ale pie. However the capacity was still good and once the pastry is worked on a bit more, I would certainly eat this pie again.
The Ark Meat and Potato Pie
Score: 4.5/7
[Colour 4, Capacity 4.5, Consistency 5.5, Condition 3.5, Chewiness 5.5, Cheapness 4.5, Content 4, Total: 4.5/7]
It is encouraging to see that Jonny at The Ark Caterers has taken feedback from us and others on his pies and is now producing an even better Steak and Ale pie, which pushes him ever closer to Pierate Recommended status! He can be assured that he is safely sailing the Seven Cs of pie rating with a top quality pie and with a bit more work I am sure his short crust pastry will match it!
RAS
Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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Tuesday, 5 August 2014
Reci-pie Review: The Great British Steak Pie Bake Off
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| #TeamMary Pie |
I am currently very VERY excited, and you should be too.
Why? Because the new series of Great British Bake Off is nearly here! To keep myself occupied while I wait impatiently, I’ve been conducting a reci-pie review in honour of the two great baking deities that are Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood.
Yes, you read that correctly, I tested out two pies at once this time. It was the battle of the baking legends… Mary Berry vs Paul Hollywood in the GREAT BRITISH STEAK PIE BAKE OFF!
Re-live the pielights of British Bake Off 2013's finale with their Picnic Pie Challenge! See all the pies and our Pierate analysis in our article "Great British Bake Off - The Final: Pie Review Tweets"
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| #TeamPaul Pie |
The recipes:
It was difficult to choose which pies I wanted to bake because between them Mary and Paul have a pretty extensive baking repertoire. For a fair comparison I chose two steak pies – Mary Berry’s steak and mushroom and Paul Hollywood’s meat and potato.
Mary Berry’s steak
and mushroom pie – from Mary Berry’s
Complete Cookbook, p. 224
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The filling:
I large onion, chopped
750g stewing steak, cut into 1 inch pieces
30g plain flour
½ pint beef stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
500g mushrooms
I large onion, chopped
750g stewing steak, cut into 1 inch pieces
30g plain flour
½ pint beef stock
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
500g mushrooms
The pastry:
Shortcrust pastry, brushed with beaten egg
Shortcrust pastry, brushed with beaten egg
The method:
Fry the onions and brown the steak, then add the flour and cook for a few minutes. Then add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and simmer for 2 hours. Add the mushrooms and simmer for a further 30 minutes before leaving the filling to cool. Meanwhile, make the shortcrust pastry. Use a thin strip around the edge of the pie dish, then top the pie with the rest –(use a pie bird in the middle). Cut off the excess pastry and crimp the edges, make sure there’s a hole in the top for the steam to come out and then brush the pastry with beaten egg. Cook at 200 degrees C for 30 minutes.
Fry the onions and brown the steak, then add the flour and cook for a few minutes. Then add the stock, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and simmer for 2 hours. Add the mushrooms and simmer for a further 30 minutes before leaving the filling to cool. Meanwhile, make the shortcrust pastry. Use a thin strip around the edge of the pie dish, then top the pie with the rest –(use a pie bird in the middle). Cut off the excess pastry and crimp the edges, make sure there’s a hole in the top for the steam to come out and then brush the pastry with beaten egg. Cook at 200 degrees C for 30 minutes.
Paul Hollywood’s meat
and potato pie – from Paul Hollywood’s
Pies and Puds, p.92
2 large onions, chopped
700g chuck steak (braising steak), cut into 1 inch pieces
400g waxy potatoes, cut into small chunks
400g floury potatoes, cut into small chunks
Salt and pepper
The pastry:
Suet pastry
Suet pastry
The method:
Put the onions, steak, salt and pepper in a pan, with just enough water to cover them. Simmer for 1 ½ hours, then add the potatoes and simmer for another ½ hour or until the potatoes are cooked. Pour off some of the liquid to use as gravy (leave enough so that the mixture still has some sauce) then leave the filling to cool while you make the pastry. Use a thin strip around the edge of the pie dish, then top the pie with the rest, cutting off the excess pastry and crimping the edges. Make a hole in the top for the steam to come out then cook at 200 degrees C for 30-40 minutes then rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Put the onions, steak, salt and pepper in a pan, with just enough water to cover them. Simmer for 1 ½ hours, then add the potatoes and simmer for another ½ hour or until the potatoes are cooked. Pour off some of the liquid to use as gravy (leave enough so that the mixture still has some sauce) then leave the filling to cool while you make the pastry. Use a thin strip around the edge of the pie dish, then top the pie with the rest, cutting off the excess pastry and crimping the edges. Make a hole in the top for the steam to come out then cook at 200 degrees C for 30-40 minutes then rest for 10 minutes before serving.
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The Seven Cs:
Colour:
Both pies scored very highly in this category, with Mary’s pie turning golden brown and Paul’s a slightly darker brown. Both kinds of pastry looked crispy and appetising.
Both pies scored very highly in this category, with Mary’s pie turning golden brown and Paul’s a slightly darker brown. Both kinds of pastry looked crispy and appetising.
Consistency:
Mary’s pie scored
slightly higher here, as the gravy in this pie was a little bit thicker than
Paul’s, and the Worcestershire sauce made it taste just that little bit nicer.
However Paul’s does give you extra gravy to pour all over your pie/mash/chips/peas/beans/whatever,
which is a bonus, so again it was pretty close.
Capacity:
I hate to say it, but neither Paul nor Mary scored very highly here because both recipes call for a top crust only. Technically there was plenty of filling in the pie dish, but I’m writing for pie purists here so I’m going to have to deduct some points for the lack of pastry bottom and sides.
I hate to say it, but neither Paul nor Mary scored very highly here because both recipes call for a top crust only. Technically there was plenty of filling in the pie dish, but I’m writing for pie purists here so I’m going to have to deduct some points for the lack of pastry bottom and sides.
Chewiness:
Luckily, Paul and Mary have redeemed themselves here with top marks. The beef in both pies is deliciously soft and melts in your mouth, the mushrooms in Mary’s pie and the potatoes in Paul’s pie add an interesting texture and the onions in both are soft and melty and delicious. I kept eating both fillings while I was waiting for them to cool because they were so tasty.
Luckily, Paul and Mary have redeemed themselves here with top marks. The beef in both pies is deliciously soft and melts in your mouth, the mushrooms in Mary’s pie and the potatoes in Paul’s pie add an interesting texture and the onions in both are soft and melty and delicious. I kept eating both fillings while I was waiting for them to cool because they were so tasty.
Cheapness:
There really isn’t much in this. Both pies are very reasonable, with only a few ingredients that aren’t store-cupboard staples (in fact as I usually have mushrooms, onions and potatoes for other recipes the only things I needed to buy were beef and suet). You also get massive pies so you can either feed all your friends and family or hang onto the leftovers for future meals, so you’re going to get good value either way.
There really isn’t much in this. Both pies are very reasonable, with only a few ingredients that aren’t store-cupboard staples (in fact as I usually have mushrooms, onions and potatoes for other recipes the only things I needed to buy were beef and suet). You also get massive pies so you can either feed all your friends and family or hang onto the leftovers for future meals, so you’re going to get good value either way.
Content:
I’ll be honest, neither of these scores points for originality, but the classics are classics for a reason. Both pies are delicious. In our house Mary Berry won (but only just) because we liked the gravy in her pie better, but no self-respecting pie fan is going to turn their nose up at either of these.
I’ll be honest, neither of these scores points for originality, but the classics are classics for a reason. Both pies are delicious. In our house Mary Berry won (but only just) because we liked the gravy in her pie better, but no self-respecting pie fan is going to turn their nose up at either of these.
Condition:
Both pies came out of the
oven looking beautiful, and they held together really well when we served them.
Top marks for both.
And the winner is…
I’m just not sure I can choose – it’s going to have to be one of those rare Bake Off weeks where no contestants are sent home. When I tasted the fillings I was pretty sure Mary had won this one – I cannot oversell that delicious gravy. Unfortunately the competition was made more complicated when I tried the pastry…don’t get me wrong, I love shortcrust pastry on a pie, but Paul’s suet pastry was just so golden and crispy, with such a lovely flavour from the beef suet, that I kept going back to both pies for more!
I’m just not sure I can choose – it’s going to have to be one of those rare Bake Off weeks where no contestants are sent home. When I tasted the fillings I was pretty sure Mary had won this one – I cannot oversell that delicious gravy. Unfortunately the competition was made more complicated when I tried the pastry…don’t get me wrong, I love shortcrust pastry on a pie, but Paul’s suet pastry was just so golden and crispy, with such a lovely flavour from the beef suet, that I kept going back to both pies for more!
I’d definitely encourage
you to try these pies and see which you think is best, though I bet you won’t
be able to choose either! To be honest, I think the ultimate pie would use
Mary’s filling with Paul’s pastry – which just goes to prove that they make as
good a partnership when it comes to pie as they do when it comes to Bake Off
judging!
The Ship's Cook
The Ship's Cook
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Pierate is a pie review website charting a course to find the ultimate pie. For all the pies we have reviewed have a look at our Pie Rankings or find pies of a particular flavour under Pies: Categorised.
Or why not check out the growing list of all the Ship's Cook Pie Recipe Reviews? Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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