Entertainment For Lively Minds
Upper Crust
Posted by Chris G on 4 March 2010 - 11:49am.
So it being British Pie week and these things being important apart from a mouth scalding late night Fray Bentos eaten in your pants while watching your "world at war" boxset dripping gravy on your laptop while you type a furious post about why "china Girl is so vastly underrated" what are the best pies and where can we buy them?
My nomination would go to Birkinshaws pork pies on Barnsley market: Had one yesterday wonderful mix of juicy pork flavoursome jelly and crisp tasty pastry and ridiculously good value at 80p.
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Barnsley market
The old one, I mean. That pie & pea stall. The finest pork pies, the best mushy peas you've ever tasted and huge jars of vinegar on the counter (the ONLY condiment to accompany this fine dish). Happy days.
Oldfield's
Vinegar in pop bottles with a hole stabbed in the top, pie & peas served in chipped bowls and a mug of milky tea then up and over the hill to watch Ronnie Glavin & co.
Nostalgia ain't what it used to be you know.
nostalgia you say
I once helped clean up Ronnie Glavin's gym/garage for bob a job week!
Did you find
any of the other players' wives in there? Made John Terry look lightweight, allegedly.
I always leave it till the last minute
and was up all night getting my Happy British Pie Week cards done and in the post this morning.
thanks postie has just
been it made me very hap-pie!
Glad you liked it
baked the cards meself.
I've heard
it's American Pie Week every week in Don McLean's house.
A few years ago
I used to frequent Brown's Pie Shop and Restaurant in Lincoln whenever I was in the area.
Back in the day when I was a nipper in Wood Green my nan used to make a London Pie which if I recall was a minced beef pie with apples in. My local deli does a rather nice pork and apple pie that reminds me of it.
Eee. Pies.
Birtwhistles
in Northwich do really good Meat and Potato, and Fruit pies. FPO's family live that way, so it's always nice to get one in when we go up there.
Also a big fan of Pie and Mash - ok the pies are fairly plain (just meat and gravy) but combined with mash, liquor and chilli vinegar, you're laughing. The Manzes in Tower Bridge road or Chapel Market are both good - never been brave enough to try the eels though...
Edit - wish I'd not given up pastry for Lent now...
Plested's Pies, East Street, Southampton
A proper pie shop. They make pies, they sell pies. Always a long queue outside at lunchtime. No such thing as a website. Just nice pies.
Brassington's
in Macclesfield used (and I suspect still do) a pie known only as "meat pie", served hot - with a lake of juice held in by the crust which runs down the chin of the careless. Utterly delicious despite their doubtful provenance. My mate's Dad called them "growlers" for some reason.
Tha' cannot beat...
... a butter pie from Blackburn Market.
I feel it should
be pointed out that the "pie" in the picture at the top fo the thread looks anything like a pie and resembles something far less appetising. It's that straggly 'cling-on' bit in the middle of the gravy that's creating the disturbing associations.
You're right Bisto!!!
and it also looks like a turd.
thanks for the photocritique
always try to use my own pics where possible and yes it's collapse pudding but a very tasty one from Newman's arms in London's fashionable London.
Bird's Eye Chicken Pies. Could Make A Dishonest Woman Of You
I'll never forget a pie I had in a pub in Lancaster. Hot gravy and mushy peas...mmmm. I'm dreaming of it right now.
Sadly, being a southerner pies aren't in my blood. The best ones definitely come from up north. I had a lovely meat and potato pie from a chip shop in Chesterfield once.
That said, my grandmother was from Wigan and made great pies. Her steak and kidney pudding was legendary.
Coward's Pies - Frodsham
Oh yes.
Clockwise from left:
Steak, Steak & Ale, Pork.
Other varieties are available.
Put them on a stick...
...and you have a Wigan Kebab.
EDIT: I had a pork pie from Yorkshire once which was peppered with chunks of black pudding. I dream about it sometimes. Made by Voakes.
Here's a good place
http://www.humblepienmash.com/home.html
Family run and small, and they do great pies of all sorts. Had a top notch steak pie last night with lovely big melting chuks of steak and nice gravy.
Had a haggis pie from there once too and it was absolutely delicious.
And up in parts of North Yorkshire, Petch's pies from Great Ayton aren't bad either; they do great chicken ones.
Hang on - I'm having an idea: if I get chance I might just be tempted to use this stuff on Google maps to create a pie atlas - unless someone beats me to it...
There's a Pie and Mash shop in Greenwich
Only place in London you can still eat for 3 quid (ish). Mmmm, my mouth is watering ...
[Edit] It's closed.
walk 10 minutes up the road
to deptford high st (or get a 188 bus) and you have pie and mash at either Manzes or goddards (goddards was an offshoot of the greenwich shop they fell out emotional things pies)
Ye Olde Pastie Shoppe in Bolton
Even has it's own appreciation society on Facebook with 875 members
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=5328234187
The owners are big Man City fans and it is not unusual to find the likes of Mike Summerbee in the back room having pie & peas. They once refused to hand over an order to Gary Neville until he promised to get a signed United football for a charity do.
J Lord, Pie Shed, Huddersfield Market
Not the Deep Purple keyboardist (can I have a baroque 10-minute organ solo with that steak and ale pie?), Lord's pies have tasty, lean meat, no gristle or jelly, and crisp and crumbly pastry made with lard.
'Concerto for Pie and Orchestra'...
I'd buy that.
Urban Pie
Can anyone beat their Chicken Balti Pie?
The one in Brum has a great deal - all pies half price after 5pm!!
I've answered my own question
The Pie Minister is even better, actually, but I've not been down to Bristol for a while. Fantastically rich pies, steak and kidney with olives!! Mmmmmm.
Damn I miss that shop...
...No pies in Portland, as far as I can tell. There's this frozen chicken and veg thing in the shops, but that's about it. All the fruit pies are far too sweet for my palette, or cursed by industrial quantities of cinnamon.
I'm trying to master the shortcrust pastry recipe, but for something with only three ingredients, she's a cruel mistress, best when frigid.
Still, kneads must.
trick with pastry is
cold hands!
Flour, half the weight in whatever fat, pinch of salt, water.
Pulse the first three in a food processor. Cut in just enough water to bring it together and knead very lightly. The water will allow gluten in the flour to develop; handle the dough minimally after water has been added. Rest the dough in the fridge for at least an hour prior to rolling out. This allows the developed gluten to unclench a bit and minimises shrinkage. Rest the pastry again post-roll for the same reasons.
Yes,I'm thinking I need to let it rest more...
..impatience is a virus or something..
So, the fat. Just butter. half butter/lard, all marge? Inquiring minds need to know...
Depends..
I use all butter for sweet things, half butter/half lard for savoury.
If you're ever unfortunate enough...
to find yourself in Arbroath the one thing that will make it bearable is Fleming the butchers individual steak & gravy pies.Dee-licious!
The Press Bar
My favourite Glasgow pub tends not to attract tourists. The core clientele for many years were journalists and related drouthy types from The Hersld next door. However, one Friday lunchtime a tourist wandered in, ordered a pint of lager, and tried to draw the taciturn barman into conversation. Without much success.
"your menu, it says you have pies and peas?"
*nod*
"what kind of pies are they?"
'roon wans'
Pie.
One of my very favourite words. Veggie or not, I don't think you can go far wrong with a product that has the word "PIE" emblazoned across its front in large friendly letters.
Mmmmm, pie.
Hmm.
"I don't think you can go far wrong with a product that has the word "PIE" emblazoned across its front in large friendly letters."
Neither do I. Apart from when the label also contains small, sly letters spelling words like "organic", "vegetable" and "gluten-free".
Not a pie. It's probably low in fat as well.
Oh why can't we delete posts that end up making no sense?
...
Pasties
The best "pies" are pasties.
Pies are sweet things, containing apples and blackberries.
Dragging in the general ignorance thread... I only recently found out Fray Bentos was a place, always having believed he was a pie-maker.
The best "pies" are pasties.
I'd agree with Borsuk's comment. I'm not normally a great fan of pies and have to find just the right one to appeal but something about pasties has always floated my boat. Beef, onion, potato, swede, salt and some shortcrust. A huge weakness of mine. Especially at train stations whilst a bit hungover. With too much tommie sauce. And a big cup of tea.
All this pie talkin' reminds ome..
of this, amongst other things
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/get+well/
or
http://www.weebls-stuff.com/wab/pikea/
probably not NSFW, incidentally.
Ridiculous! Snort!
not even Sheev could argue that China Girl is vastly under-rated
More pie fun
from John Cooper Clarke