Tuesday 17 April 2012

The Amazing Pie Man

This Easter Sunday I paid a visit to Thame Country Show. I have attended this regularly for a number of years and have watched with interest as the number of pie sellers continues to increase.  It is great to see that pies have really become a gourmet food. No longer just a cheap pub dinner, posh pies seem to be here to stay. It is interesting that a number of the pie sellers here I have also seen in other places. The Lime Tree Pantry I saw at the Great Missenden Food Show and gave them a glowing review. Raven's Den I saw far away at Walthamstow Farmer's Market. While this might make it seem that the pies aren't very local it is still a world away from the crazy food miles traveled by some of the products we get used to buying in our local supermarkets.

The pie was so good the traditional photograph was almost forgotten

One pie seller caught my eye with a good 2 for £5 deal and some unusual flavours. The Cheese and Pie Man apparently gets his pies from Pyes Farm who also supply such places as Fortnum and Mason in Piccadilly. I had my eye on a Venison, Tomato and Chili Jam Pie. This pie looked just like a traditional pork pie because it seemed to use 'hot water crust' type pastry. This kind of pastry is sturdy and has a great golden colour. He kindly warmed the pie up in a microwave (how will the pasty tax affect his trade?) which made the pastry nice and moist. The filling did not have any gravy which is expected from this kind of pie. This made it ideal as a snack on the go. The meat was flavoursome and not at all fatty. What disappointed me however was that there seemed to be a lack of chili kick. I could only see a small amount of jam and I could barely taste any chili. However this didn't detract too much from a product that I would certainly buy again.

So, looking at their website, it seems like Pyes Farm supply a great range of mouth watering pies and I will be on the look out for more. The Cheese and Pie Man provides them at a farmers market near you at a great price, keep an eye out for him and say hello from us.

Venison, Tomato and Chili Jam Pie (Pyes Farm)
5.25/7

SJL

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