It’s British Pie
Week 2020! An awareness week we can really get behind (Who doesn’t love a pie?
Definitely better than National Awkward Moments Day. Yes really. March 18th
if you were wondering…)
If you’ve been
into our Helmsley deli of late you’ll have seen our wide selection of delicious
pies. They’re made for us by the wonderful The Original Baker based in nearby
Malton. Steak and ale, slow cooked minced beef and onion, slow roast pork in a
cream and cider sauce, in an all butter shortcrust pastry case and a puff
pastry lid (best of both worlds)… a mere mention of them makes the mouth water!
We even have The Original Baker’s range of delicious gluten free pies for those who are unable, or prefer not to eat gluten. How about a gluten-free slow-cooked beef and vegetable pie or a thai vegetable pie with a creamy coconut sauce?
Britain’s history
with pies dates back as far as Roman times. Did you know the pastry on a pie
was originally just a cooking and serving dish, with the rich just eating the
fillings? (Although it’s thought the servants may have been given the tough and
slightly inedible pastry to eat). Of course it wasn’t quite the crumbly,
buttery pastry we see on our pies today!
Pies have always
been part of our popular culture – from nursery rhymes (Sing a Song of
Sixpence, Jack Horner and Simple Simon) to slightly more disturbing accounts of
people being baked into pies by Shakespeare and in Sweeney Todd. In the 16th
century, cooks used to bake live animals into ‘Surprise Pies’ so they could
jump or fly off once it was served. Think we might give that tradition a miss.
For 16 years in the 1600s, mince pies were banned for being a ‘pagan form of
pleasure’ by Oliver Cromwell! Well, they are good…
In a truly British
tradition dating back to the middle ages, every time there is a jubilee or
coronation, the people of Gloucester send lamprey pie to the Royal household.
Lamprey is an eel-like fish – we’re not convinced we can see the Royal family
tucking into that as part of the celebrations but we love a quirky tradition!
Research this year
by BBC
Good Food revealed that cottage pie was the nation’s favourite pie – a
controversy indeed given it contains no pastry so technically isn’t even a pie
– sharing the top spot with chicken pie. However, another poll by Uber
Eats revealed that chicken and mushroom topped the list for the savoury
pies and apple for the sweet. Although, as you’d perhaps expect, apparently
there’s quite a lot of variation across the regions, with the North rating
steak, cheese and onion and meat and potato high on their lists.
Whatever your
favourite we’re sure we’ve something to tickle your tastebuds this British Pie
Week! (except if it’s a ‘Surprise Pie’ – then you’re on your own)
