Marks and Spencer Handcrafted in Yorkshire All Butter Pastry Steak and Old Peculier Ale Pie Review

The Pierateers arrrrgh always searching from the crow’s nest for a pie bargain to be had, so when I was informed of a 3 for 2 pie offer in Marks and Spencer the Pierate Ship plotted a course down to our local store. While the 3 for 2 offer extended further than just pies, we have our eyes firmly on the pies at Pierate HQ!

Of course you will all recall that the first of these pies formed the first ever episode of ‘Pie Factor’ a few weeks ago. Through to the next round with a very reasonable 5.4/7 was the Gastro Pub Beef And Ale Pie. However the Gastro Pub Aberdeen Angus Steak Yorkshire Pudding Pie sadly was not actually a pie – and was rather embarrassingly escorted from the studio by security.

Well the steaks have been raised for episode two – quite literally. But don’t worry – the only thing peculier about this pie is its content. For this pie contains Old Peculier Ale as its compliment for the pieces of steak in nice, rich ale gravy. Or at least that’s what you’d think from the box...

Let's welcome down Pie Factor contestant number 3...

What's your name and where are you from?
I'm the Steak and Old Peculier Ale Pie from Marks and Spencer.

 


Steak and Old Peculier Ale Pie

And what do you do?
I’m one of the 3 for 2 individual sized Yorkshire Pies that you can buy, handcrafted in Yorkshire and ready for you to enjoy for your tea.

You mean dinner?
No, definitely for your tea. I’m from Yorkshire, you see. So we call tea... well... tea.

But what if you want a cup of tea? Do you not get confused?
You mean a cup of cha?

No, I don’t want you to cha cha cha! This isn’t Strictly you know! It’s the Pie Factor. Right, anyway, what will you be filling your performance with tonight?
Well the steaks are high this week, or perhaps I should say big. Big, meaty pies of steak to be precise. However before you can get to these big steaky chunks you’ve got to get through the onion layer.



Steak and Old Peculier Ale Pie - You can only really see onion

The onion layer? Oh...
That's right... we’ve packed quite a lot into this little fully encased in pastry pie – including plenty of onion!

Right... okay. Well I’m glad to hear you’re fully encased in pastry, but...well... I have to say I’m a bit disappointed by the onion layer. I mean, as soon as I started to dissect your performance it was just oozing with onion. Had to wait to get to the steak. If you’re going to give me lots of onion, I want it in moderation. Steak first, onion if necessary.
Point taken. There was rather a lot of onion to be fair. Not sure why.

It was a shame really. I’d expect it from one of the – how do I put this – less affluent contenders. But Marks and Spencer... you don’t normally associate them with “padding out the pies”!
I know, I know. But the steak – that was good right? And the pastry?

The steak was very good and tender – I can’t deny that! And the Old Peculier Ale can’t be ignored. It certainly tasted different to other steak and ale pies I’ve had before, which was nice to see. I’d say the flavour of the gravy was good, though a little too peppery in flavour for my taste buds. The pastry though was very nice – particularly the pastry lid. Not too thick and held together well.
It’s fortunate we fully encased the performance in pastry then this time!

It sure is! While the excess onion was a downer and the pie was a little small for an individual dinner (or tea) portion, I would say it was the best Marks and Spencer’s Pie of the ‘Pie Factor’ so well done!


In summary then, three of the contestants have performed and we have two more to come before we can crown our Marks and Spencer ‘Pie Factor’ winner! Tune in next time for our final instalment of the “Pie Factor!”

Marks and Spencer Handcrafted in Yorkshire All Butter Pastry Steak and Old Peculier Ale Pie
Score: 5.5/7
[Colour 6/7; Consistency 5.5/7; Cheapness 4/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 5/7; Capacity 6/7; Total: 5.5/7]
RAS

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Crombies of Edinburgh - Scotch Pie Review

The day after the Scotch Pie Awards I had some time in Edinburgh so started to investigate what the best Scotch Pies on offer there were. Crombies of Edinburgh seem to be highly regarded and won a Bronze award at the Scotch Pie Club Awards in 2011. It was a short walk from the city centre and I was glad I made the journey. There wasn't just Scotch Pies available but a large range of others. I would have liked to have tried more but there was a limit to how much I could eat in a short time. In addition to the Scotch Pie I bought a Mr Cs Chicken & Ham which I reviewed at a later date. Overall the shop was an appealing, up-market butchers. The staff were friendly which made for a nice experience. Strangely the staff seemed to know they had won the fish pie category at the Scotch Pie Awards despite the winners not being announced for two months!


The Scotch Pie was only a pound and while I was too late apparently they do serve them hot to take away around lunch time. The wrapper claimed that this was the 2nd best Scotch Pie in the world. I assumed this meant they were runners up in the past at the Scotch Pie Club Awards. However, I couldn't see the evidence of this on the Scotch Pie Club website and wondered if it was quite an old award and they are living on past glories!

After purchasing the pie I decided to see some of the sights of Edinburgh. Given that this pie was 'of Edinburgh' I thought it might be a good companion for my tour.

Scotch Pie at the changing of the guard

Scotch Pie on the wall of Edinburgh Castle

Scotch Pie at the Camera Obscura

But the real question is what did this pie taste like? This Scotch Pie went for the traditional lamb meat option and the fat from the lamb certainly helped keep the pie nice and moist. The filling was certainly not the most seasoned that I had ever had but sometimes Scotch Pies can be over seasoned and miss the right balance of flavour. There was a bit of an onion kick to it, but less so than the Edinburgh Piemaker pie (to which it was quite similar). I felt the pastry tasted a bit flour-y to me and had a bit too much crunch in places. The filling had some texture when compared to other Scotch Pies, but I still found it a bit mushy. However, it was a decent effort and while it might not be 2nd best in the world it is worth a visit to Crombies.


Mutton Scotch Pie (Crombies of Edinburgh [EH1 3RZ])
Score: 4.72/7
SJL

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Piemaker - Scotch Pie Review

After a day of judging at the Scotch Pie Club Awards I had a bit of time to kill. What better use of that time than to try and answer the question for myself; what is the best Scotch Pie? Scotch pies on the go aren't as easy to find in central Edinburgh as they are in other parts of Scotland. That is why Piemaker provides such a valuable service and is usually so busy. Located on South Bridge they are really in the heart of the city with many hungry people rushing by.


After having looked at their website and the promise of '30 different products' I was slightly underwhelmed by the selection of pies they actually had. There was a relatively small hot counter and while there were numerous products not that many were actually pies considering the name 'piemaker'. Some were top crusts and others were alternative pastry products such as bridies, pasties or tattie rolls. However, all of your favourites are there, macaroni pie, steak & ale and of course the all important Scotch Pie.


Costing £1.15 this might be slightly more than you can get a Scotch Pie for but that is not the full picture. At Piemaker what I liked is that they have a counter where you can sit and take a short break to enjoy your pie. Too often, because the Scotch Pie is such a portable delight it is easy to end up eating it on the move. Considering you can (kinda) sit in I think £1.15 scores very well against the cheapness category. They also serve proper coffee and other food which all adds to the experience. However, make no mistake, this is an old school establishment, nothing like the modern gourmet pie and mash shops such as Urban Pie, but the lack of pretension was something I liked about Piemaker.


So what were their Scotch Pie actually like? I must admit that I was really hungry at the time but I found this pie particularly satisfying. It wasn't exactly the leanest of meat in the pie but this helped keep it moist. It seemed like it was mutton to me, particularly as that is normally more fatty. The pastry had just the right amount of crunch necessary for a Scotch Pie but wasn't dry. There was a strong onion taste which meant it wasn't lacking in flavour. The meat was quite compacted and there was a little bit of an air gap under the pastry lid. The meat seemed to be formed into a disc shape, quite independent of the pastry, almost like it was simply a burger which had been placed inside some pastry. This made it seem a bit mass produced. It didn't taste dissimilar to a burger either which isn't unusual for a Scotch Pie. However, overall the texture and taste was about right and this is one I would eat again.

One thing that seemed a bit ironic was that upon questioning I found out Piemaker didn't actually make this pie. It was made by FAS Products Ltd in Airdrie. But at the end of the day it doesn't really matter and for a mass produced pie this one was pretty good.

Mutton Scotch Pie (Piemaker, Edinburgh [made by FAS Products Ltd])
Score: 5.45/7
SJL

P.S. If you read 'Piemaker and the story of pies' they try and claim to have single-handedly saved the world from bad pies. They seem to have a sense of humour!

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Article updated 20th November 2016

What is a Scotch Pie?

An iconic product, there is nothing quite like the Scotch Pie. There is even a Scotch Pie Club which holds the Scotch Pie Awards every year in order to find the best.  It is a hot water crust pastry pie filled with minced meat. Traditionally only mutton was used but now beef is more common. Sometimes a mixture of beef and mutton is used. It is normally highly spiced, often with the addition of onion to add to the flavour. Especially when mutton is used a Scotch Pie will be a relatively greasy pie, given there is no gravy within the pie, the fat is important for keeping it moist.

The hot water crust gives it a solid pastry which holds the pie together and helps make it easy to eat by hand. Often the base is dried (or 'cured') for a few days in order to allow it to hold the wet filling. It also gives a crunch to the pastry which is a characteristic of a good Scotch Pie. This provides a contrast in texture to the moist filling and sets a Scotch Pie apart from other pies. A Scotch Pie must have an extra rim at the top above the pastry lid. This is in order to hold mash or gravy.

Scotch Pie at the Scotch Pie World Championships

Traditionally thought to have originate in Scotland (hence the name) they are certainly ubiquitous in butchers and bakers shops across Scotland. Scotch pies can be found in other parts of the UK as well as commonwealth countries such as Canada. They are typically more of a "working class" pie in part because they are normally sold relatively cheaply (around £1 or less), but this stigma is constantly being challenged by the many high quality pies being produced nowadays.

The Best Scotch Pies

The Pierateers have sampled a range of Scotch Pies and the current leader was produced by JB Christie in Airdrie. This pie was the World Scotch Pie Champion in 2013. JB Christie gave us a tour around their production facility which provided a facinating insight into how the best Scotch pies are made. Then in British Pie Week 2016 we visited the 2014 and 2016 World Scotch Pie Champions The Kandy Bar Bakery in Saltcoats to meet Stephen, Rona and Team Kandy Bar, a real treat!

Scotch pies often score highly on the 'cheapness' criteria by which we rank our pies. A range of both Mutton and Beef Scotch Pies have been consumed and it must be noted that this has a big effect on how the pie tastes. You can spot a mutton Scotch Pie by the higher fat content which will often ooze out as the pie is bitten into.

Scotch Pie Rankings

 

Rank	Pie Retailer & Producer	Location	Type
1	JB Christie	Airdrie	Beef
2	The Kandy Bar Bakery	Saltcoats	Beef
3	Simpsons of Stranraer	Stranraer	Beef
4	Piebury Corner (made by Irvine's Ltd)	London (made in Beith)	Beef
5	Piemaker (made by FAS Products Ltd)	Edinburgh (made in Airdrie)	Mutton
6	Crombies of Edinburgh	Edinburgh	Mutton
7	Bon Bon Cake Shop	Airdrie	Beef
8	The Little Bakery	Dumfries	Beef
9	Morrisons	Nationwide	Beef
10	Loaf & Larder (made by South England Pastries)	Various (made in Scotland)	Beef
11	Quality Butchers	Dunbar	Beef
12	McIntosh	Nationwide (made in Forfar)	Beef
13	Dunbar Community Bakery	Dunbar	Beef
14	Duncan McGregor	Nationwide	Beef & Chicken
15	Greggs	Nationwide	Beef (& Mutton)
16	Bells	Nationwide (made in Shotts)	Beef
17	Ye Olde Pie & Sausage Shoppe (made by Bako)	York (made in Scotland)	Beef

Scotch Pie Gallery

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The Scotch Pie Club Awards ceremony 2014 took place on the 15th January. The World Scotch Pie Champion was named as The Kandy Bar in Saltcoats! Many congratulations to them.

Stephen McAllister from The Kandy Bar said “I am delighted! To have been given the ultimate accolade and to be able to call our pie the WORLD CHAMPION as judged by a panel of experts is just fantastic. This award is proof that The Kandy Bar team are the best in the land. I am really looking forward to the year ahead and to selling more of our winning pies than ever.”

Stephen McAllister from The Kandy Bar

The overall winners of each category are below, congratulations to them all. What is good to see is that pies won all the categories where they were up against other savoury products. It seems the real winner here is pie! Do also have a look at our thoughts on the winning Steak Pie by Brownings. We were also pleased to see that JB Christie, the 2013 World Scotch Pie Champion, were 2nd runner up in the Scotch Pie Category, recognising a pie which we thought was fantastic.

Category	Winner	Location
Scotch Pie	The Kandy Bar	Saltcoats
Steak Pie (hand held)	Brownings the Bakers	Kilmarnock
Apple Pie	Boghall Butchers	Bathgate
Football Pie	Kilmarnock FC`s Steak Pie (by Brownings)	Kilmarnock
Hot Savoury	Mr C's (for Haggis, Neeps & Tattie Pie)	Nr Newburgh
Cold Savoury	The Little Bakery (for Sweet Pepper & Chicken Pie)	Dumfries
Vegetarian Savoury	Hendersons (for Veg Curry Pie)	Hamilton
Fish Savoury	Crombies (for Salmon, Prawn & Dill Pie)	Edinburgh
Bridie	Thomas Johnston Quality Butchers	Falkirk
Sausage Roll	Nicolls Rosebank Bakery	Dundee

The Pierateers were represented on the Scotch Pie Club Awards judging panel. See below for the review of the day.

The Pierateers @ The Scotch Pie Awards 2014

There are many pie contests around the world but perhaps none more prestigious than the Scotch Pie Club Awards. Running since 2000 it has a much longer heritage than the rival British Pie Awards south of the border. The Scotch Pie has a cult following with feeling running high amongst the Scotch Pie community as to where the best Scotch Pies can be found. The Scotch Pie Club is the body which runs the eponymous awards. They know the big difference that winning the awards can make to a business and consequently take it very seriously.

This year Pierate was pleased to be able to send our very own Pierateer SJL to be an official judge at the Scotch Pie Awards 2014. It was very exciting to take our pie reviewing beyond our own website and gave us a unique opportunity to provide an insiders perspective on what the Scotch Pie Club Awards are really like.

The Scotch Pie Club Awards 2014 saw 543 entries from 99 competitors. There were 50 judges (including Les McKeown from the Bay City Rollers) who all decended on the Carnegie Conference Centre in Dunfermline. Confusingly the 2014 judging was carried out Wednesday 13th November 2013 and then the winner will be announced in January 2014. This allows time for a mystery shopping round to be carried out on the Scotch Pies (and one other category chosen at random). It is a shame to note why this mystery shopper round is needed. In the past the judges have been suspicious that people are entering pies which are not representative of the pies they sell. Some have even wondered whether some shops have entered pies made by someone else, simply in order to win an award! However, it is our opinion that such a mystery shopping round really adds to the credibility of the Scotch Pie Club Awards. A dedication to ensuring that the awards were very fair was evident throughout the day (and perhaps more so than at the British Pie Awards.)

The awards recognise the best Scotch Pie as the 'World Scotch Pie Champion' which is amusing, I am not sure whether there are any entries from outside of Scotland but there doesn't seem to be a rule against it. But that aside, it is fair to say that you would expect the best such pie to come from the Scotch Pie motherland anyway. The awards don't just stop at Scotch Pies though! There are 9 other categories with the best in each class receiving the 'Diamond & Overall Winner' award. There are then Gold, Silver & Bronze awards up to a total of 5 of each, depending on the number of entries to that category. Again somewhat confusingly, the winners of all the Hot savoury, cold savoury, steak pie, vegetarian savoury and fish categories all compete for the winner of best overall 'Speciality Savoury' judged separately by the head judge.

Looking at all the names of the categories you might be concerned that there would be a lack of pies! Fortunately the majority of the savoury products except the sausage rolls and bridies were pie entries. SJL was very pleased to be assigned to judge the steak pie category. Our pie rankings have steak pies in the top two places and they are always a favourite on the Pierate Ship.

At 11:30 there was a briefing from head judge Robert Ross. The teams split up and it then took a couple of hours for the initial judging. The Steak Pie category had 54 entries with four judges and a team leader. The judges split into two pairs and took 27 pies each. The judging form was completed for each pie. This was quite different to the usual seven Cs that the Pierateers normally use. The following criteria were judged; 'Internal Appearance' (shape, colour, boil out), 'External Appearance' (Bake, colour, texture) and 'Taste & Smell' (smell, texture, taste, balance of flavour). It was good that the 'Taste & Smell' was weighted higher than appearance as this is what is really important. In general the scoring system seemed fair, although it was noted amongst our group of judges that there should be a criteria for the filling to pastry ratio (which is incidentally something we love to talk about here on the Pierate Ship ;-) ).

Some of the best Steak Pies

The rules were closely followed, this stipulated that each pair of judges would forward their top ten pies for final judging by all the category judges and the team leader. This part of the system was great as it ensured consistency between the different groups of judges. It did however mean that these pies had to be tried again! This brought the different pies eaten by SJL up to a total of 37 with many of the pies being tried twice. At this point the pie judging went a bit free style with the pies being compared against each other and lined up in order of preference. This didn't necessarily follow the original scoring, one of the key questions being asked was does it look like a pie which can be crowned a winner? This was particularly the case for the overall winner which was one of the best looking pies. A very good tasting pie unfortunately just missed out on winning because excessive boil out meant it didn't quite look the part. There were some very good pies and it was a difficult decision. It will be very interesting to find out who actually made the best pies (the identities were secret from the judges) when winners are announced in January.

Winning Steak Pie! It looked amazing.

Once it was over it was good to see that waste was minimised. Everyone was allowed to take any spare pies they wanted and I heard that some would be sent to a homeless charity. (There was quite a bit of spare pie as four were submitted to allow for repeat judging).

My overall impression from the event was extremely positive. It was well organised and I don't think it could have been judged in a much fairer way. It was a lot harder work than I had expected, despite only trying a small piece of each pie I still ate a lot. I think this was the first point in my life where I really didn't want to eat any more pie. The event was quite long and I was surprisingly tired when I left around 16:00. It was worth it as I really enjoyed the experience. I didn't find it a problem being new to this type of pie judging. Everyone was extremely friendly and helped me fit in (despite being an English lad).

All shapes & sizes!

The highlight for me was being called 'pie man' by the head judge Robert Ross. Some people did mention to me that it was nice to have a 'pie eater' as a judge because most of the judges were 'pie makers' from the Scottish butchery and baking industries. A fellow judge admitted he wasn't actually much of a pie eater himself. So hopefully our attendance did help the competition reach their target audience who will after all be the 'pie eaters' of this world! With over 250 pie reviews online there is no doubt that The Pierateers are 'pie eaters'. Many thanks to the Scottish Bakers traders association (who run the event) for letting us get involved. See more photos from the event here.

On the Pierate ship we also have our own version of the search to find the best Scotch pie including a review of the 2013 World Scotch Pie Champion. Please send us any recommendations of pies we should try!

SJL

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Pie Review of the Piebury Corner 'Charlie Nicholas' Scotch Pie

Piebury Corner Scotch Pie

I think you can tell a lot about a pie by the amount of distance someone is willing to travel to get their hands on the best! And I can’t think of a much bigger example of that than Paul of Piebury Corner:

On the 1000 miles for a 1000 scotch pies run again. slow on the M6, at least we've got @RealRomfordPele for company on @talkSPORT
— Piebury Cörner (@PieburyCorner) November 6, 2013

Yes, you read that right! Paul travels 1,000 miles from his London shop to Scotland and back in order to pick up Scotch pies from the West side of Scotland. [The reason why it’s the west side of Scotland, in case you were wondering, is because the west coast is more famed for its prime minced beef Scotch pies, compared to the typical minced mutton Scotch pies on the east coast of Scotland.] Paul gets them from a former World Scotch Pie making champion, so you know they’ve got pedigree.




Piebury Corner Scotch Pie

So the 'Charlie Nicholas' then... the 100% minced beef Scotch Pie from Piebury Corner. Of course you already know it is 100% minced beef inside and immediately as you cut through the crisp top layer of pastry you can see the minced beef , spread evenly throughout the pie. There’s no padding it with vegetables or anything unnecessary – it’s just meat, meat and more meat! That’s something we’re quite comfortable with at Pierate HQ!




At £5 it is the cheapest ‘pie and potato’ combo on the menu (or just £3 for the pie alone in restaurant and just £2 to take away), which considering the amount of petrol used to collect these pies is quite a feat! A good size and one that filled the hole well for lunch. I wouldn’t have minded it being a little bigger if I was having it for my dinner though.

On reflection, I think I would generally go for a ‘chunks of meat’ rather than minced meat option given the range of top rated pies at Piebury Corner, but Paul has done us a great favour by bringing a top Scotch pie to the table of London pie fans and  it's top rated. It’s gunner have to be one great pie to travel 1,000 miles for! And I would drive 500 miles and I would drive 500 more...

Piebury Corner Scotch Pie (Minced Beef) ‘Charlie Nicholas’
Score: 5.96/7
[Colour 5.5/7; Consistency 6.5/7; Cheapness 6/7; Chewiness 6.5/7; Condition 5.5/7; Content 5.75/7; Capacity 6/7; Total: 5.96/7]
RAS

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Pie Review website www.pierate.co.uk celebrate their 4th Birthday!

Today is a day to celebrate and a day to just... well... rate! For today www.pierate.co.uk is four years old and what better way to celebrate than to eat a pie and rate it!

But we don’t want you – pie lovers worldwide – to just sit at home and watch as we eat all the pies! Oh no! Pie eating and pie rating is something we can all enjoy. Something that can bring friends, family and communities together. Pies are celebrated and eaten is so many countries worldwide and today – on our fourth birthday – we would love you to join us in eating and rating pies with us! That’s why we’ve designated 12th November as International Pierate Day!

So here’s the deal... in six simple words: Eat a pie and rate it!

It doesn’t matter whether it’s savoury or sweet, or whether you prefer your pies without the wheat or meat! We really do rate anything and everything that is a true pie and sometimes a number of interesting things that try to be pies to! But the important thing is we love to eat pie and rate it – for we are, after all, the Pierateers!


So once you’ve found a pie to eat – whether in the local bakery, supermarket or your favourite pie shop or one you have made in the luxury of your own home – why not rate your pie using our seven Cs (or if you wish, make up your own rating system!)

Our seven Cs (that we sail as Pierateers) are:

1. Colour
2. Consistency
3. Capacity
4. Chewiness
5. Cheapness
6. Content
7. Condition

You can also click here to read more detail about the Seven Cs, for those who want to take their pie rating a bit more seriously! Of course, you may find you rate a pie that needs to walk the plank, but we really hope you’ll find one that makes you squawk like a parrot to tell everyone about the amazing pie you’ve had! Either way, we hope you have fun eating and rating pie, wherever in the world you are!

And just to ins-pie-re you a little more, here are the places in the world where we’ve eaten pies, which make rating pies a truly international o-pie-tunity:



Top score per country of the pies we've rated from around the World!

Rank	Pie Producer	Pie Flavour	Score	By
1	UK	Steak and Guinness	6.73	TJP
2	New Zealand	Chicken and Vegetable	6.41	TJP
3	Hong Kong	Ostrich	6.26	SJL
4	France	Duck and Fig	6.00	ARL
5	Australia	Spicy Tuna	5.80	TJP
6	Germany	Apple	5.70	RAS
7	Belgium	Apple	4.30	RAS
8	Netherlands	Apple	4.00	RAS
9	Vietnam	Coconut	3.46	SJL

Note: This table simply shows the highest rated pie we have eaten and reviewed in each country, therefore countries we have not yet visited cannot be listed yet! It does not provide a representative sample of the full range and quality of pies in each country but we hope one day to add to this list!

And there’s another reason why we’ve designated today International Pierate Day: It’s because pies are loved all over the world, as our readership map below shows, with the top 10 countries so far by pageviews being the UK, United States, China, Germany, France, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Canada and Netherlands. Thanks to every single one of our pie fans out there and we hope you enjoy our many future adventures, as we set sail on the Pierate Ship to discover more exciting pies and to rate them according to the seven Cs!



Top 10 Counties per pageviews on www.pierate.co.uk by 12.11.13

And if you’re excited about pie rating, some things we have lined up for the next few months include Pierateer SJL judging at the Scotch Pie Club Awards, trying out pie flavoured dog treats from @TopCollar, possibly being referenced in a local community pantomime production of Captain Hook’s Revenge via @Woodies12 (oh yes we are!) and the release of our Christmas Pies video in mid-December entitled “12 Pies of Christmas”. Of course, you’ll find all the latest pie news on twitter @pierateers and on our blog at www.pierate.co.uk!

Whatever you do, we hope you have a great day eating and rating pies!

Yours in pie,

The Pierateers

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DS Gluten Free Chicken and Mushroom Pie Review

On my hunt for gluten free pies to try, I came across the chicken and mushroom gluten free pie from DS. This company produced their first gluten free line in 1981 and they now have a variety of gluten free products like bread, biscuits, and pastry. Before trying this pie I must admit I was a little unsure about how it would turn out as gluten free pastry is particularly crumbly!

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Beef with Pancetta and West Coast Single Malt Whisky Pie Review for Simple Simon’s Perfect Pies

Simple Simon's Beef Pie

Having been sent a treasure chest of pies from Simple Simon’s Perfect Pies Company, the Pierateers continued to make their way through the mountain of goodies. Having already eaten the Breakfast pie earlier in the morning, Pierateer RAS needed something to keep him going in the evening. Fortunately there was a Beef with Pancetta and West Coast Single Malt Whisky Pie just waiting for him to review, so having eaten it for tea this is what he thought:

The pie was absolutely packed to capacity and we aren’t talking padded out with lots of non-meat filling, although I was surprised to read that there was actually only 54% beef in the pie (plus 20% pancetta). It sure didn’t taste like that, as every mouthful had plenty of beef in it, with one piece of meat about the size of a golf ball! Sure, the meat could have been a bit better spread and the one major downside was a bit of gristle on one of the pieces of meat, which I wouldn’t expect in a “perfect” pie. For when you set your bar at pie-fection and ask the Pierateers to review, you live by the sword and die by the sword, so even these small pieces of gristle count against you when being graded on the Seven Cs! But the filling was very nice. The Pancetta was noticeable but not overpowering. The same can be said of the potato. The Single Malt Whisky did give the pie an interesting different flavour to the more traditional steak and ale pies we more normally see on pub menus, giving the pie a bit more of a lighter flavour and altering the flavour of the meat a bit more, which was a welcome change too. The content was split as follows: 54% Beef (felt like more though!), 20% Pancetta, Potato 24% and Single Malt Whisky 7%. I think they got it pretty much spot on.

Simple Simon's Beef Pie

The pastry was crisp and not too thick, but held the pie together well. The colour was spot on too and while at £4.05 this pie is on the higher end of the individual pie pricing scale, I’d say that was pretty accurate and worth it for the quantity and general quality of meat being provided. Let’s face it – I don’t normally liken my pieces of pie steak to golf balls every day!!!

Simon, to put it simply, you’ve made another top pie. Not quite pie-fection but a very high scoring pie! And I certainly can’t say I’ve got any beef with it... (if you see what I mean...)

Simple Simon’s Beef with Pancetta and West Coast Single Malt Whisky Pie
Score: 5.93/7
Colour 6/7; Consistency 5.75/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 6/7; Condition 6/7; Content 5.75/7; Capacity 6.5/7; Total: 5.93/7]
RAS

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Breakfast Pie Review for Simple Simon’s Perfect Pies

You know what it's like - we've all been there! You cook a nice, greasy fry up for your lazy breakfast morning when, just as you are about to tuck in, you realise you should have been somewhere else 5 minutes ago! Do you rush down your fry up and make yourself feel ill? Or is there a realistic way to eat your hearty cooked breakfast on the go?

In other words... if only you could get a full breakfast pie!!!



Simple Simon's Breakfast Pie

Now we Pierateers have been searching for some proper full breakfast pies for a while now, so you can imagine our delight as we pulled a breakfast pie out of the treasure chest of free pies posted to us by Simple Simon's Perfect Pies to review! At £4.05, you probably wouldn’t be able to afford to eat this pie for breakfast every day (as tempted as I may be to try this!) but this pie compares with the price you’d pay for a cooked breakfast at a local diner or pub, which we think is pretty good considering the quality you’re getting.

But enough of whetting our appetite! Sure, it's a brilliant idea, but what did it actually taste like?!

Well I hope you can see from the photo cross-section that there are significant chunks of meat bursting out of this pie. You've got pieces of bacon, sausage, egg, potato, cheese, tomato and baked beans. Yes, Simon has simply put a full English breakfast into pastry and made a pie! It really is that simple!



Simple Simon's Breakfast Pie

And let's face it - it's not rocket science! The pastry was firm enough to hold the packed content in (ensuring they have maximised capacity) but still crumbled nicely under the weight of knife and fork. There was a slight leakage of fluid out of the bottom of the pie which meant the base was a bit soggy. However the sides and lids were spot on - crisp and a beautiful golden colour. The content was quite heavily tinged with the tomato and baked bean flavouring (something I personally would rather was omitted, as I'm not a baked bean fan!), however it certainly contained all the ideal parts of a great full breakfast, but one you could eat on the go if required! An interesting mix of flavours with every mouthful – which may not be everyone’s cup of tea – but one I certainly would eat with pleasure again! Thanks Simon!

If you want to read about some other breakfast pies, have a look at this delight from Morrison's or this item from Jumbucks.

Simple Simon’s Breakfast Pie [Bacon, sausage, egg, potato, cheese, tomato and baked beans]
Score: 6.07/7
[Colour 6.5/7; Consistency 5.5/7; Cheapness 5.5/7; Chewiness 6.5/7; Condition 5.5/7; Content 6.25/7; Capacity 6.75/7; Total: 6.07/7]
RAS and TJP

p.s. You've got to love the Simple Simon's Nursery Rhymes section on their website!

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Pie lovers, cover your eyes! I'm about to show you a picture which I think is so shocking it will give you nightmares for weeks. Remember, what is seen cannot be unseen. I'll put it as small thumbnail to give you a taste of the horror - click for the bigger picture if you dare.

Click for full trauma

What you witness above (GRAPHIC CONTENT) is what I call "over-gravy". The lack of solid content (you know, meat) in this pie is, in my opinion, quite overwhelming to the senses. Oh boy...is someone chopping onions?...I...I need a minute...

Good colour

As you can see from the photo above, the pie had taken on a lovely pie colour after cooking. The puff pastry had puffed nicely, although this still has the appearance of a standard mass-produced supermarket pie. It doesn't look very exciting. Upon cracking open the pie, the contents are even more underwhelming. A tidal wave of gravy splurged out of the pie and formed a gravy pool on the plate. To me it seemed the pie was essentially a balloon of gravy which I had just burst.

Pool of gravy - where's the steak?

I actually had to check the packaging again just to ensure this really was meant to be a steak pie, because at the moment this was just a sauce pie. Sure enough, the packet did promise tender chunks of British beef - so where were they? I went steak-fishing in the ocean of sauce, and this is what I found:


Yes, that's it. And bearing in mind that this pie was quite small, I don't think this picture actually quite does justice to how small those small bits of steak are. I'd count only two actual 'chunks' of steak - the remaining three morsels of beef were, in my view, pretty much just a few strands of beef lumped together. To me, this lack of steak and overly-liquid content of the pie was highly underwhelming. The content and capacity of this pie was therefore significantly lacking. The two bits of steak weren't too chewy, although not of great quality, I felt.

The sauce did taste nice - as I've mentioned before in my review of the Higgidy Steak and Stilton pie, I am a fan of stilton.

Overall, I think this is a bit of a shocker here from ASDA. I suppose I should have suspected that much for £1, though.

ASDA Steak and Stilton pie
Score: 2.51/7
TJP

See where this pie ended up in the Pierate Pie Rankings or find other pies of a similar flavour. Make sure you Follow @pierateers and let us know your thoughts!

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