Pie fans ahoy! With over 600 pie reviews, Pierate is surely the web's premier pie resource. We've been eating and rating pies according to the 'Seven Cs' since 2009. Follow us on @pierateers. pierateship@yahoo.co.uk
Sunday, 31 March 2013
Stop horsing around! What do horse pie and zebra pie ACTUALLY taste like?
Pie Review of Horse Pie and Zebra Pie made by the Pierateers at Pierate HQ
The UK food industry has been rocked in recent weeks by headlines relating to traces of horsemeat being found within products that were packaged as being beef, with spaghetti bolog-neighs being one of the controversial items unintentionally on offer. This has lead to some significant changes in attitudes towards what consumers choose to eat, some grovelling apologies from major UK supermarket chains but also for some inquisitive people to wonder: what does horsemeat actually taste like?!
Well here at pierate.co.uk we have tried to contact a number of major food producers involved in the horsemeat scandal in an attempt to obtain an actual horse pie, so that we could inform the nation of what horsemeat actually tasted like. Unfortunately Tesco, Findus and IKEA did not get back to us regarding our tweets. So we took things into our own hands by ordering some horsemeat from exoticmeat.co.uk – and while we were at it, we thought it rude not to pick up some zebra meat (and a few other steaks too – you’ll hear more about these in the coming weeks and months!)
So with the horse and zebra steaks having arrived and been defrosted, Pierateers RAS, SJL and ARL met together to celebrate RAS’s birthday with some pie. Here’s the video to find out how they looked coming out of the oven:
And so on to what the horse pie and zebra pie actually tasted like, in the equine frenzy which the punters dubbed “The Pierate Steaks”:
Horse Pie
The meat was quite chewy, with a strong flavour (which several Pierateers likened to kidney). In trying to compare it to a more commonly eaten meat, it had quite a beefy kick to it. You could see why, texture wise, it could easily have been mistaken for beef in the previously mentioned beef ready meals. It was not bad but not as nice as the Zebra. However the Pierateers would buy a horse pie in a shop if it was being sold commercially.
Zebra Pie
All the Pierateers agreed the Zebra pie was really good – a pleasant surprise for those who had not eaten Zebra previously. The meat was a lot tenderer than the horsemeat, with a texture likened to pork and a very nice meat to eat pieces of – complementing the pastry nicely. The Pierateers would certainly be tempted to buy more zebra for a special occasion or African themed pie party, and definitely have it again if it was being sold in a pie shop.
The summary was that the horse was outdone by its stable mate, leaving the
zebra to be the reigning champion in the "Pierate Steaks". There was no need for
a photo finish, as the zebra won by far more than a nose. Perhaps the horse was
dazzled by its equine competitor?!
One thing’s for sure, the zebra zigzagged, left us zonked and outstripped its neigh-bour.
continue reading "Stop horsing around! What do horse pie and zebra pie ACTUALLY taste like?"
The UK food industry has been rocked in recent weeks by headlines relating to traces of horsemeat being found within products that were packaged as being beef, with spaghetti bolog-neighs being one of the controversial items unintentionally on offer. This has lead to some significant changes in attitudes towards what consumers choose to eat, some grovelling apologies from major UK supermarket chains but also for some inquisitive people to wonder: what does horsemeat actually taste like?!
Well here at pierate.co.uk we have tried to contact a number of major food producers involved in the horsemeat scandal in an attempt to obtain an actual horse pie, so that we could inform the nation of what horsemeat actually tasted like. Unfortunately Tesco, Findus and IKEA did not get back to us regarding our tweets. So we took things into our own hands by ordering some horsemeat from exoticmeat.co.uk – and while we were at it, we thought it rude not to pick up some zebra meat (and a few other steaks too – you’ll hear more about these in the coming weeks and months!)
So with the horse and zebra steaks having arrived and been defrosted, Pierateers RAS, SJL and ARL met together to celebrate RAS’s birthday with some pie. Here’s the video to find out how they looked coming out of the oven:
And so on to what the horse pie and zebra pie actually tasted like, in the equine frenzy which the punters dubbed “The Pierate Steaks”:
Horse Pie
The meat was quite chewy, with a strong flavour (which several Pierateers likened to kidney). In trying to compare it to a more commonly eaten meat, it had quite a beefy kick to it. You could see why, texture wise, it could easily have been mistaken for beef in the previously mentioned beef ready meals. It was not bad but not as nice as the Zebra. However the Pierateers would buy a horse pie in a shop if it was being sold commercially.
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| Horse Pie |
All the Pierateers agreed the Zebra pie was really good – a pleasant surprise for those who had not eaten Zebra previously. The meat was a lot tenderer than the horsemeat, with a texture likened to pork and a very nice meat to eat pieces of – complementing the pastry nicely. The Pierateers would certainly be tempted to buy more zebra for a special occasion or African themed pie party, and definitely have it again if it was being sold in a pie shop.
 |
| Zebra Pie |
One thing’s for sure, the zebra zigzagged, left us zonked and outstripped its neigh-bour.
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Do they stock pie in this joint that will make us Fuller’s?
Fuller's Ale and Pie House Pie Review from The Old Joint Stock Pub in Birmingham City Centre
Chicken, Mushroom & Silver Onion Pie (£9.75)
Pierateer
RAS went for a Chicken, Mushroom and Silver Onions Pie. The chicken, mushroom
and onion content in a light white wine and cream sauce was a delicious mix
which was filling and complemented each other well. The chicken and mushroom
were perfectly cooked through, tender and not at all chewy, with a slight
crunch provided by the Silver Onions present. The creamy sauce was perfect,
keeping the content moist and lightening the overly solid sides and base of the
pie. That turned out to be the main flaw in the pie, as the puff pastry lid was
very light and tasty, but the sides and base of the pie were very difficult to
cut through, let alone chew on. All in all, a very nice pie filling and glad to
be served a pie that was fully encased in pastry, but a slightly less firm base
and sides would be preferable.
Chicken, Chorizo & Sun-Dried Tomato Pie (£9.95)
Great pie, unusual tomato taste sauce which I liked, good quality meat, could have been more chorizo. This pie was really let down by the solid pastry base as were all the pies in this establishment.
Fuller's Ale and Pie House [Old Joint Stock] Chicken chorizo sundried tomato Pie
Score: 5.57/7 (SJL)
[colour 7 consistency 6 capacity 6 chewiness 3 cheapness 5 content 6 condition 6]
Old Joint Stock House Pie (£9.75)
I opted for the Old Joint Stock House pie, which is a pie consisting of "diced gammon, hard boiled egg and sweet corn in a creamy wholegrain mustard & white wine sauce." Certainly a novel addition of the hard boiled egg there - apart from the Jumbuck's Bacon and Egg pie, I'm not sure I've seen egg featuring so prominently in a pie before. Is it an under-rated pie ingredient? No! It works well! As do all of the ingredients in this delicious house pie. The sauce was creamy, and the mustard complemented the gammon well.
I also like the look of this pie. The square lid juxtaposed against the round base gives this pie a quirky appeal. Sometimes you get the feeling that chefs put a pie on the menu because they have to. This doesn't seem to be the case in the Old Joint Stock. Here, the puff pastry bursts out flamboyantly, as if this pie really is proud to be a pie after all. There's an interesting array of pies available in this establishment - enough to keep a Pierateer coming back for more.
My only qualm really is that the pastry base was pretty solid. I found it difficult to cut without accidentally tipping the pie up onto its side and spilling the contents.
Fuller's Ale and Pie House [Old Joint Stock] House Pie (Gammon and Egg)
Score: 5.68/7 (TJP)
The three
Pierateers descended on the Old Joint Stock pub, part of the Fuller’s Ale and Pie House chain, on a rainy Birmingham evening. While not a factor in the pie
reviewing itself, it was a great setting for the Pierateers to enjoy a pie
together, on the upper mezzanine overlooking the main bar. While the weather outside
was miserable, the Pierateers were in good spirit following a highly productive
two hour Pierate AGM. Many great ideas had been discussed and shared, with the
mission still clearly to not stop eating and reviewing pies until every pie had
been added to the blog. But however high the spirits were, this was not to bias
the reviews. So let’s get eating:
Chicken, Mushroom & Silver Onion Pie (£9.75)
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| Fuller's Ale and Pie House Chicken, Mushroom and Silver Onions Pie |
Pierateer
RAS went for a Chicken, Mushroom and Silver Onions Pie. The chicken, mushroom
and onion content in a light white wine and cream sauce was a delicious mix
which was filling and complemented each other well. The chicken and mushroom
were perfectly cooked through, tender and not at all chewy, with a slight
crunch provided by the Silver Onions present. The creamy sauce was perfect,
keeping the content moist and lightening the overly solid sides and base of the
pie. That turned out to be the main flaw in the pie, as the puff pastry lid was
very light and tasty, but the sides and base of the pie were very difficult to
cut through, let alone chew on. All in all, a very nice pie filling and glad to
be served a pie that was fully encased in pastry, but a slightly less firm base
and sides would be preferable.
Fuller's Ale and Pie House [Old Joint Stock] Chicken, Mushroom and Silver Onions Pie
Score: 5.75/7 (RAS)Chicken, Chorizo & Sun-Dried Tomato Pie (£9.95)
Great pie, unusual tomato taste sauce which I liked, good quality meat, could have been more chorizo. This pie was really let down by the solid pastry base as were all the pies in this establishment.
Fuller's Ale and Pie House [Old Joint Stock] Chicken chorizo sundried tomato Pie
Score: 5.57/7 (SJL)
[colour 7 consistency 6 capacity 6 chewiness 3 cheapness 5 content 6 condition 6]
 |
| Old Joint Stock House Pie |
I also like the look of this pie. The square lid juxtaposed against the round base gives this pie a quirky appeal. Sometimes you get the feeling that chefs put a pie on the menu because they have to. This doesn't seem to be the case in the Old Joint Stock. Here, the puff pastry bursts out flamboyantly, as if this pie really is proud to be a pie after all. There's an interesting array of pies available in this establishment - enough to keep a Pierateer coming back for more.
My only qualm really is that the pastry base was pretty solid. I found it difficult to cut without accidentally tipping the pie up onto its side and spilling the contents.
 |
| You can really see the egg. |
Fuller's Ale and Pie House [Old Joint Stock] House Pie (Gammon and Egg)
Score: 5.68/7 (TJP)
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Gillingham FC have a pie shaped heart!
Here at Pierate HQ we're all for the humble pie review in a big way. But we also like to bring you the latest pie-litical headlines (such as how the pie tax might affect you), big name pie-artnerships in the world of sports advertising and sometimes, just simply a story that will warm your pie-shaped heart.
Read the full story on the BBC Sport website at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21924388
Yes, for those who missed the big sporting headline this weekend, all three points go to Gillingham Football Club for their generous gesture of providing free pies to the 28 fans from Accrington Stanley (Who are they? Exactly!) who braved the snowy weather on a 270-mile trip to watch their football team lose. All credit to Gillingham FC, who I'm pleased to see have made a big turnaround from the last time they made the headlines following a fan's altercation with a Wycombe Wanderers footballer during the Chairboys 1-0 win over Gillingham earlier in the season.
Let's just hope the pie they served hit the back of the net!
And while we're talking about pies, why not check out the pie chart BBC Sport produced a few months ago?
continue reading "Gillingham FC have a pie shaped heart!"
Read the full story on the BBC Sport website at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21924388
Yes, for those who missed the big sporting headline this weekend, all three points go to Gillingham Football Club for their generous gesture of providing free pies to the 28 fans from Accrington Stanley (Who are they? Exactly!) who braved the snowy weather on a 270-mile trip to watch their football team lose. All credit to Gillingham FC, who I'm pleased to see have made a big turnaround from the last time they made the headlines following a fan's altercation with a Wycombe Wanderers footballer during the Chairboys 1-0 win over Gillingham earlier in the season.
Let's just hope the pie they served hit the back of the net!
And while we're talking about pies, why not check out the pie chart BBC Sport produced a few months ago?
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
At the next Junction take the cheeky ox pie to the right...
Ox Cheek Pie Review from The Junction Pub in Harborne
It may not
feel like it, but winter should be on its way out and spring should truly be
beginning! Which is why I thought I best get a nice winter warmer of a pie from
a local pub before they changed their menu. And with a recommendation of The Junction Pub in Harborne, Birmingham, when out for a meal with my pie friends
Caroline and Justin, I wasn’t going to say no! The research had already been
done and a cheeky pie was on the menu.
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| Ox Cheek Pie Review at The Junction, Harborne |
It must be
pointed out at this point that the busy hustle and bustle of the pub was a
great sign of good quality food and a nice welcoming atmosphere. We just about
managed to find a free table and with a slight vantage point over the kitchen
wall we could see some of the meals being made. It was sadly at this point that
the evening took a slight downturn as, unfortunate to say, before the pie was
even presented onto my table it could be seen that they were in fact making me
not a proper fully encased pie, but instead just a casserole with a puff pastry
top crust. This was disappointing to say the least and would have to be
reflected in the final score, but I’ve had to eat plenty of top crusts in my
time and as they say in show business, the show must go on! So what about the
pie...
I delved through
the nice, golden flaky puff pastry crust and got my first taste of ox cheek.
And it was definitely worth the wait! The meat was deliciously tender and mixed
beautifully with the red wine gravy inside the bowl. Flavoursome and not at all
chewy, the ox cheek was delightful and certainly worth the price, for this was
more on the high end of the cost scale. However as mentioned, the quality of
the meat made it totally worth every penny. The pie was very filling and the
content was packed to capacity, but sadly without it being a fully encased pie it
did leave me wishing what could have been. I certainly was left with a lot of
meat and no pastry to eat it with quite early on, and while the meat was
delicious this pie was screaming out for more pastry! Certainly a recommendation
for the chef there, as this could have been one of the highest ranked pies had
it been fully encased!
All in all,
this pie was at the higher end of the price market, but worth every penny for a
great atmosphere and filling to enjoy. There’s not much I can fault with this
pie in terms of the delicious filling. It’s just a shame they didn’t execute on
the fully encasing pastry to turn this from being one of the best top crusts I’ve
eaten, to one of the best pies I’ve eaten.
The Junction
Ox Cheek and Red Wine Pie
Score: 5.95/7
RAS
Saturday, 16 March 2013
The elusive Pietanic Pieminister pie
Pieminister 'Pietanic' pie review
My quest to try every pie in the Pieminister range led me to their Pieminister Leather Lane store. Here they have a lovely wide range of pies, albeit at a bit of a premium price of £6 for a pie and gravy. So you think you've tried the full Pieminister range in the supermarket? Think again. Their supermarket offerings are just the tip of the iceberg. The great thing about the store is that you can find some of their rarer pies that you're less likely to come across in the high street supermarket.
One such 'rarer' pie is the Pietanic fish pie. It contains smoked haddock, salmon, pollock and prawns in a creamy sauce - but the BIG selling-point of this pie is that, unlike most other fish pies that are topped with mashed potato, the Pietanic has a filling that is totally and wholly encased in pastry. Of course, according to the British Pie Awards, this makes it a true pie.
As I've already mentioned, it's £6 for a pie and mash. But seeing as we're a "pie review website" and not a "pie-and-mash review website", I'll tell you that the price for the pie alone is £4.20. This seems to be only a modest mark-up from the £3.50 you'd expect to pay in a supermarket - and you can buy the pies from the Leather Lane store cold for £3.50 too. So £0.70 to have the pie heated and boxed for you seems quite reasonable actually.
I really like the look of this pie, and I love the fact that it comes in a take-away box that feels warm in my hands (it's cold outside). The pie is golden, and the condition is good. As I cut through the pie with my wooden take-away knife, I note that the pastry is crispy and crunchy - in true Pieminister style.
I was quite intrigued as to what fish encased in pastry was going to taste like, but it was very nice. The fish tasted fresh, and the sauce was creamy. The pastry was nice and crunchy, and not chewy. The pie was well filled and had good capacity. The consistency Pieminister have shown in producing enjoyable pies is really quite commendable. I have to give them extra points to for not being tempted to top their fish pie with mash.
Pieminister Pietanic Fish Pie
Score: 6.03/7
TJP
continue reading "The elusive Pietanic Pieminister pie"
My quest to try every pie in the Pieminister range led me to their Pieminister Leather Lane store. Here they have a lovely wide range of pies, albeit at a bit of a premium price of £6 for a pie and gravy. So you think you've tried the full Pieminister range in the supermarket? Think again. Their supermarket offerings are just the tip of the iceberg. The great thing about the store is that you can find some of their rarer pies that you're less likely to come across in the high street supermarket.
One such 'rarer' pie is the Pietanic fish pie. It contains smoked haddock, salmon, pollock and prawns in a creamy sauce - but the BIG selling-point of this pie is that, unlike most other fish pies that are topped with mashed potato, the Pietanic has a filling that is totally and wholly encased in pastry. Of course, according to the British Pie Awards, this makes it a true pie.
As I've already mentioned, it's £6 for a pie and mash. But seeing as we're a "pie review website" and not a "pie-and-mash review website", I'll tell you that the price for the pie alone is £4.20. This seems to be only a modest mark-up from the £3.50 you'd expect to pay in a supermarket - and you can buy the pies from the Leather Lane store cold for £3.50 too. So £0.70 to have the pie heated and boxed for you seems quite reasonable actually.
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| Crispy crunchy pie crust |
I was quite intrigued as to what fish encased in pastry was going to taste like, but it was very nice. The fish tasted fresh, and the sauce was creamy. The pastry was nice and crunchy, and not chewy. The pie was well filled and had good capacity. The consistency Pieminister have shown in producing enjoyable pies is really quite commendable. I have to give them extra points to for not being tempted to top their fish pie with mash.
Pieminister Pietanic Fish Pie
Score: 6.03/7
TJP
See where this pie ended up in the Pierate Pie Rankings or find other pies of a similar flavour - as well as all the other Pieminister pies.
Make sure you Follow @pierateers
and let us know your thoughts!
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Friday, 15 March 2013
Apple Pie Cookies - A new pie/cookie hybrid?
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| A strudel is not a pie |
They're made with "the famous apple strudel recipe", with apple, cinnamon and raisins. Now, last time I checked, an apple strudel was NOT a pie. And a pie was NOT a cookie. So what am I to make of an apple pie cookie made with that "famous" apple strudel recipe?
Well actually they're pretty tasty. They don't really taste like apple pie to me, but they're nice and cinnamony. Unfortunately they don't really represent anything to do with pies at all, given that there's no pastry involved. This is a bit disappointing, as I was drawn in with the hope of finding some exciting pie/cookie hybrid. Nice cookies, but not a pie.
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| A pie is not a cookie |
TJP
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Life of pi(e) - Mr Kipling Apple Pies on Pi Day
It will probably come as quite a large surprise to hear that the Mr Kipling Apple Pie has not actually been formally reviewed on www.pierate.co.uk (it certainly came as a surprise to the Pierateers themselves, when they were trawling trough the archives to celebrate 150 pies reviewed and found only the Mr Kipling Apple & Blackcurrant listed!) and for that, we’re sorry. We’re sorry that we’ve let you, the pie blog reading public, down. We realise you want to know the score when it comes to top pies and for too long we have not informed you whether the apple variety of Mr Kipling’s range really are exceedingly good. I can assure you – they are!
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| Mr Kipling Apple Pies at the Aston University Charity Cake and Pie Sale for Comic Relief |
Whether on a roadtrip, at a cake and pie sale, having just played sport, or at a friend’s leaving meal... the possibilities for cracking out a top tasting Mr Kipling Apple Pie are almost endless! And rest assured, while this may be the first time we have officially reviewed this pie, there has certainly been no lack of consumption of this pie in the past 10 years or so (easily pre-dating the creation of the Pierate Blog!) I would make a relatively safe guess that between the Pierateers there have been well over 200 Mr Kipling Apple Pies eaten (often all 6 in a pack eaten in one group sitting), which make this surely the most eaten pie in Pierate history!
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| Pierateer RAS ate 3.14 Mr Kipling Apple Pies for Pi(e) Day |
Mr Kipling Apple Pie
Score: 6.42/7
RAS
Tuesday, 12 March 2013
British Pie Week - Day Seven
The final day of British Pie Week aimed to cap off a fine week of pie
consumption for Pierateer RAS by also celebrating National Butchers Week, which
happened to coincide with British Pie Week (4th to 10th
March 2013). Having already picked up a pork pie from his local butchers, Berry
Bros in Selly Oak (Birmingham), he was set to give the local produce a rating.
We’ve no doubt all heard about the various controversies in the news about
supermarket meat produce not always being what it was labelled as, so I was
assured to get straight to the source (or at least as close as possible!) buy
going to my local butchers for pie, who informed me that it was a local farm seller
who produced the pork pies they sold.
However before I review, let me just point out that the final couple of Morrisons Apple Pies went down a treat on Sunday, having one for breakfast and then another to celebrate the end of a fantastic Yonex All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham, hosted once again by Badminton England.
PIE REVIEW:
Have a butchers at this: Would it be a Berry good pie?
Going to your local butchers, you hope to have a bit more confidence in getting exactly what it says on the tin, or in the case of this pork pie from Berry Bros in Selly Oak, exactly what is says on the sticker! Unfortunately it didn’t have anything on the sticker, but I was assured this was a locally sourced pork pie from a farmer near the Birmingham area.
The pork pie itself was golden brown, a little soft pastry-wise in places but still nice and fresh. The meat was on the whole very nice, not too grisly but a tad spicy (certainly left a bit of a kick after eating it, unlike some other pork pies I have tried recently). There was also certainly a layer of jelly around the cured meat in the pie, which I wasn’t too fond of but I recognise some pork pie fans would have enjoyed. All in all, a nice and fresh pie option from Berry Bros, but just a shame that they don’t sell meat-in-gravy pies too. I’m Berry disappointed as their pork pies are nice!
Berry Bros Butchers Pork Pie
Score: 4.0/7 (RAS)
So there we have it for Pierateer RAS: seven days, twenty pies and a whole lot of pastry boosted calories! Still, it was worth every second of it! More reviews to come, but for now, I hope everyone had a great British Pie Week and look forward to reviewing more next March!
RAS Pie Count Day Seven: 3
RAS BPW Total: 20
SJL started day seven with another Co-op Apple Pie and a cup of tea for pre-breakfast. A trip to Waitrose the day before meant lunch was planned. A Waitrose Essentials Beef & Onion pie in the same shallow shape the same as the 50p Asda ones reviewed on Day Three and Day Five. This pie cost a fair bit more at 89p but this meant that it contained a whopping 20% meat. The soft puff pastry was very much the same as the Asda ones. The extra meat certainly made a difference and the filling was more noticeable, but not much more. It didn't justify it's extra price tag and so sadly this pie will be left languishing in the bottom of the pie rate rankings. Not bad, but not great for the price and certainly not recommended to bother buying if at all possible. It tasted very similar to a Pukka Pie only not as good. It is interesting but not perhaps surprising to note that the Waitrose cheapest range is more expensive than the Asda standard range and also slightly better.
Later in the day to celebrate the end of British pie week SJL embarked on some pie baking. This time he opted for a much more normal type of pie in the form of a chicken and chorizo pie. The technique adopted was to boil the whole chicken for some hour and half with some onion, celery and seasoning. This made the meat nice and soft and also provided some stock for the filling. The stock was mixed with some fried chorizo and white sauce and a pie filling was born. Gluten free pastry was made especially for the pie. While this tends to be more crumbly and the texture isn't quite as good the taste is fine and the pastry did a fine job of containing the filling. All in all we were quite happy with this pie and the time put into it's preparation was worth it. There was also plenty of pie left over to ensure that while British Pie Week might have come to an end the pie consumption certainly has not.
Waitrose Essentials - Beef & Onion - 3.17
SJL Pie Count Day Seven: 3
SJL BPW Total: 24
Day Seven Total: 6
British Pie Week Total: 50
continue reading "British Pie Week - Day Seven"
However before I review, let me just point out that the final couple of Morrisons Apple Pies went down a treat on Sunday, having one for breakfast and then another to celebrate the end of a fantastic Yonex All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham, hosted once again by Badminton England.
PIE REVIEW:
Have a butchers at this: Would it be a Berry good pie?
Going to your local butchers, you hope to have a bit more confidence in getting exactly what it says on the tin, or in the case of this pork pie from Berry Bros in Selly Oak, exactly what is says on the sticker! Unfortunately it didn’t have anything on the sticker, but I was assured this was a locally sourced pork pie from a farmer near the Birmingham area.
The pork pie itself was golden brown, a little soft pastry-wise in places but still nice and fresh. The meat was on the whole very nice, not too grisly but a tad spicy (certainly left a bit of a kick after eating it, unlike some other pork pies I have tried recently). There was also certainly a layer of jelly around the cured meat in the pie, which I wasn’t too fond of but I recognise some pork pie fans would have enjoyed. All in all, a nice and fresh pie option from Berry Bros, but just a shame that they don’t sell meat-in-gravy pies too. I’m Berry disappointed as their pork pies are nice!
Berry Bros Butchers Pork Pie
Score: 4.0/7 (RAS)
So there we have it for Pierateer RAS: seven days, twenty pies and a whole lot of pastry boosted calories! Still, it was worth every second of it! More reviews to come, but for now, I hope everyone had a great British Pie Week and look forward to reviewing more next March!
RAS Pie Count Day Seven: 3
RAS BPW Total: 20
SJL started day seven with another Co-op Apple Pie and a cup of tea for pre-breakfast. A trip to Waitrose the day before meant lunch was planned. A Waitrose Essentials Beef & Onion pie in the same shallow shape the same as the 50p Asda ones reviewed on Day Three and Day Five. This pie cost a fair bit more at 89p but this meant that it contained a whopping 20% meat. The soft puff pastry was very much the same as the Asda ones. The extra meat certainly made a difference and the filling was more noticeable, but not much more. It didn't justify it's extra price tag and so sadly this pie will be left languishing in the bottom of the pie rate rankings. Not bad, but not great for the price and certainly not recommended to bother buying if at all possible. It tasted very similar to a Pukka Pie only not as good. It is interesting but not perhaps surprising to note that the Waitrose cheapest range is more expensive than the Asda standard range and also slightly better.
Later in the day to celebrate the end of British pie week SJL embarked on some pie baking. This time he opted for a much more normal type of pie in the form of a chicken and chorizo pie. The technique adopted was to boil the whole chicken for some hour and half with some onion, celery and seasoning. This made the meat nice and soft and also provided some stock for the filling. The stock was mixed with some fried chorizo and white sauce and a pie filling was born. Gluten free pastry was made especially for the pie. While this tends to be more crumbly and the texture isn't quite as good the taste is fine and the pastry did a fine job of containing the filling. All in all we were quite happy with this pie and the time put into it's preparation was worth it. There was also plenty of pie left over to ensure that while British Pie Week might have come to an end the pie consumption certainly has not.
Waitrose Essentials - Beef & Onion - 3.17
SJL Pie Count Day Seven: 3
SJL BPW Total: 24
Day Seven Total: 6
British Pie Week Total: 50
Sunday, 10 March 2013
British Pie Week - Day Six
The weekend of British Pie Week gave even more time fore pie eating. Upon taking a trip to a Co-op in Ipswich SJL was pleased to find they stocked pies made by a local Suffolk pie company called Hollybush Farm. There was a great selection of pies to choose from but SJL decided that the one that would be best to eat cold was the Onion Marmalade Pork Pie. A bit of a twist on the classic pork pie this pie was a delight to eat. The pastry was crumbly and soft. The filling was not at all chewy or fatty and the onion marmalade gave it a lovely sweet edge. This was one of the best pork pies SJL had tasted and at 99p it was quite good value for a sizeable pie.
While in co-op SJL also grabbed a box of apple pies in order to compare them to their contemporaries in other supermarkets. The day involved a long shopping trip in Ipswich to buy things for a new house which SJL had moved to. SJL was hugely thankful he had the pies as they gave a much needed energy boost. Three were consumed and it must be said they were pretty good. For once these pies actually looked better in real life than on the box! The pastry was soft, the filling sweet and full of apple and there wasn't much air gap in the pies. They also arrived in good condition unlike some of the Morrissons pies reviewed recently....
Hollybush Farm Produce - Onion Marmalade Pork Pie - 5.60/7
Co-op Bramley Apple Pies - Bramley Apple Pies - 4.55/7
SJL Pie Count Day Six: 4
SJL BPW Total: 21
With just two days of British Pie Week remaining, there was no time for Pierateer RAS to start resting on his laurels! However following a nice lie in, there was no need to have a breakfast pie on day six, as RAS went straight into lunch. Of course, the lunchtime menu contained pie. A Tesco Chicken and Bacon Lattice Pie, to be precise. But as much as he would have liked to eat the family sized pie all himself, RAS used this pie eating time as an opportunity to spread the love of pie with his new Italian housemate, Vincenzo. While Vincenzo had eaten a pork pie already in his first month of living in the UK, now that he had just moved in to live with a professional pie eater this was his first op-pie-tunity to try out a full meat and sauce/gravy pie. Vincenzo wasn’t to be disappointed!
The Tesco Chicken and Bacon Lattice Pie was very good (full review coming
soon) and Vincenzo described his first proper pie experience as being “Deliziosa!”
Here’s to many more delightful pies in the weeks and months to come!
Following the dinner, Pierateer RAS continued his Morissons Pie consumption with pie number 9 of his boxes of 12, before submitting the review of those pies (which became the 150th and 151st pies to be reviewed on the world’s premier pie blog – www.pierate.co.uk!)
But possibly the highlight of the day was the opportunity that Pierateer RAS
had that evening to share the joys of pie blogging with about 200 other
volunteers at the Yonex All England Badminton Championships. Following the conclusion
of play on Saturday, the volunteers had a buffet and drinks reception, put on
by Badminton England. And to his delight, Pierateer RAS was asked to say a few
words about pierate as he handed a prize out of official pierate merchandise –
a bag of goodies which included a pierate t-shirt, mug, pen and book! The 60
seconds to promote the blog and some useful networking after the event helped
make it the biggest audience to date for promoting pierate. It was good networking
experience for when the Pierateers go to the British Pie Awards later this year
(which we all have down in our diaries for Wednesday 24th April 2013.)
Pierateer RAS then caught up with two university friends (Stu and Helen), to hang out and chat pie, and then met another old university friend at the end of his sponsored 100 mile bike ride. Well done Dan! To celebrate this amazing achievement, Pierateer RAS had his own celebration with a Steak and Kidney Pukka Pie and chips! This was RAS’s 5th Pukka Pie of the year, as part of the Pierateers joint attempt to eat 50 Pukka Pies in 2013 to celebrate 50 years of Pukka Pies!
RAS Pie Count Day Six: 3
RAS BPW Total: 17
Day Six Total: 7
British Pie Week Total: 44
continue reading "British Pie Week - Day Six"
Hollybush Farm Produce - Onion Marmalade Pork Pie - 5.60/7
Co-op Bramley Apple Pies - Bramley Apple Pies - 4.55/7
SJL Pie Count Day Six: 4
SJL BPW Total: 21
With just two days of British Pie Week remaining, there was no time for Pierateer RAS to start resting on his laurels! However following a nice lie in, there was no need to have a breakfast pie on day six, as RAS went straight into lunch. Of course, the lunchtime menu contained pie. A Tesco Chicken and Bacon Lattice Pie, to be precise. But as much as he would have liked to eat the family sized pie all himself, RAS used this pie eating time as an opportunity to spread the love of pie with his new Italian housemate, Vincenzo. While Vincenzo had eaten a pork pie already in his first month of living in the UK, now that he had just moved in to live with a professional pie eater this was his first op-pie-tunity to try out a full meat and sauce/gravy pie. Vincenzo wasn’t to be disappointed!
 |
| Vincenzo's "Deliziosa" Pie! |
Following the dinner, Pierateer RAS continued his Morissons Pie consumption with pie number 9 of his boxes of 12, before submitting the review of those pies (which became the 150th and 151st pies to be reviewed on the world’s premier pie blog – www.pierate.co.uk!)
Pierateer RAS then caught up with two university friends (Stu and Helen), to hang out and chat pie, and then met another old university friend at the end of his sponsored 100 mile bike ride. Well done Dan! To celebrate this amazing achievement, Pierateer RAS had his own celebration with a Steak and Kidney Pukka Pie and chips! This was RAS’s 5th Pukka Pie of the year, as part of the Pierateers joint attempt to eat 50 Pukka Pies in 2013 to celebrate 50 years of Pukka Pies!
RAS Pie Count Day Six: 3
RAS BPW Total: 17
Day Six Total: 7
Pork Pie by Pork Farms
This pie review is of a medium sized pork pie from Pork Farms.
Here's a short video on the unwrapping and assessment of the pie in question:
Traditionally, of course, pork pies are served cold, so my quest for pie was not impeded by having to heat the oven up!
As you can see from the video, this Pork Farms pork pie (which I bought from Sainsburys for about £1.80) is a pretty solid affair. Pork pies always seem to deliver highly on the air:filling ratio of the content - although I did note a pocket of air at the top of the pie where the jelly seemed to be absent. The photo below also highlights this fact quite well:
The colour is good, and the crimping is quite pretty. It's hard to assess the quality of the meat because of the mushed nature of the pork that is inherent to pork pies. Overall I enjoyed it, especially with some pickle. I wouldn't be saying anything special about it, however.
Pork Farms Pork Pie
Score: 5.23/7
TJP
Saturday, 9 March 2013
Best pie in the world? 150 pie reviews!
Love pie? The pie review food blog has reviewed over 150 pies! Including pies from Pieminister, Pukka Pies, McDonalds, Tesco, Sainsburys, ASDA, Morrisons, Peters, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, Piebury Corner, Mr Kipling, Urban Pie, Pieface, Square Pie, Jumbucks, Paul's Pies and many many food outlets...
continue reading "Best pie in the world? 150 pie reviews!"
And we certainly have no intention of stopping there - not until we've tried every pie on the planet!
We've eaten apple pie, steak pie, chicken pie, chocolate pie, venison pie, popcorn pie, fruit pies, pork pies, all kinds of pie crust and even tried our own recipes for pie. We did just celebrate British Pie Week, which was epic, but there's also the British Pie Awards coming up which should tell us the best pie in Britain. However, we want to find and eat the best pie in the world - maybe you can suggest the best pie in the world?
Click here to learn about how we rate our pies according to the Seven Cs...
- Colour
- Consistency
- Capacity
- Chewiness
- Cheapness
- Content
- Condition
...and here to see how all 150 pies rank in our pie rankings.
For all the instant pie updates, follow us on Twitter: @pierateers
We're also setting up Pinterest for lots of pictures of pies.
British Pie Week - Day Five
Another morning, another two Morrisons Apple and Blackcurrant pies for pudding as Pierateer RAS kept up his #piepledge of having a pie a day. However with the Badminton not kicking off until 5pm that evening, there was op-pie-tunity to get a cheeky pie in town with his friend Adam before they went to the National Indoor Arena. And with it being Friday Pieday, there was no excuse for buying anything else for lunch. So after having been out of the pie-eating circuit for a long three hour stint between 10am and 1pm (following dental treatment which involved having a numb mouth for a few hours – not ideal for eating hot pie with!!!), Pierateer RAS was looking for a good pie to test his new filling out on!
Being in the centre of Birmingham, there was really only one option when wanting a top quality pie eating establishment! Urban Pie it was! Heading over to the Bullring, Pierateer RAS noticed that he had the added bonus of being able to cash in on a free pie, as he had eaten enough pies at Urban Pie to qualify for their “eaten 7 pies, get your 8th free!” promotion. Bonus! Choosing the Lamb, Potato and Veg pie with wedges, it sure filled the hole after a long few hours without eating a thing. While it certainly wasn’t the best pie flavour he’d had at Urban Pie (and believe me, he’s had a lot of them!) it was another fine example of fine Gourmet Pie dining with a takeaway edge. The full review will be added in the coming few days.
However there was further pierate news later in the day, as in the evening Pierateer RAS got handed a copy of “The Voluntary View” newsletter produced each day by a guy called James, aimed at summing up the day’s news at the YonexAll England Badminton Championships at the NIA. And low and behold, what should be the main headline of the day?! I’ll leave you to read it yourself!
RAS Pie Count Day Five: 3
RAS BPW Total: 14
With it being PieDay Friday on British Pie Week, Pierateer TJP found it easy to assemble 5 work colleagues and head to Pieminister Farringdon (for the second time this week) for a pie. To attempt to try the whole range, TJP opted for the 'Deerstalker' venison pie. This was a lovely lovely pie, and will score highly when I post the review up soon.
TJP Pie Count Day Five: 1
TJP BPW Total: 6
Using up some of the left over mash and veg from the Piezza SJL took a pie meal to work using an Asda Steak and Kidney shallow puff pastry pie, similar to the Chicken and Vegetable eaten on day three. Again the shallow shape worked against this pie, meaning there seemed to be a lack of filling. The only pieces of meat that SJL could find in this pie seemed to be kidney. At just 50p this pie is cheap but that really is the only thing that is going for it.
To raise his pie spirits and to up the low pie count for the previous two days SJL also finished off two of the mini pork pies from the #onlypiesallowed challenge on Tuesday.
Asda - Steak & Kidney - 2.95/7
SJL Pie Count Day Five: 3
SJL BPW Total: 17
Day Five Total: 7
British Pie Week Total: 37
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