Everyone loves a pie. From pork to steak and ale and from chicken and mushroom to Cornish pasties, we Brits love filling a pastry with meat (or sweet delights). In fact, this culinary delicacy is our great contribution to international cuisine and we’re truly proud of it. And this week, from 4 – 10 March, we’re coming together as a food loving nation to celebrate our iconic cultural culinary staple – the great British pie.
British Pie Week? Tell us more!
It’s an annual celebration of that delectable dish which takes place in the first week of March. The highlight is the British Pie Awards, which sees thousands of pies judged by expert tasters in the magnificent St Mary’s Church (the ‘Cathedral of Pies’) in Britain’s Pie Capital Melton Mowbray, where the Supreme Champion or ‘Pie of Pies’ is crowned.
How can you celebrate British Pie Week?
Pop down to your local pie maker, pub, bakery or restaurant to find out what they’re doing to mark British Pie Week, and volunteer to join the fun (making or eating – the pick of the pie tasks is yours).
What’s in a pie?
It’s more than just flaky pastry filled with juicy meat and gravy or sweet fruit. The definition of a pie is ‘a filling totally encased in pastry and baked’. Encase your filling in a single sheet of pastry, fold it over and crimp it around the edges before baking in the oven till it’s crispy and brown – and there you have it – the pie of all pies.
The British love a pie
It’s British, it’s tasty and it’s unique and Brits eat £1billion worth of pies every year – and that’s just counting those sold commercially, never mind the hundreds of thousands baked around the country in home kitchens.
The range and styles of pies on offer around the country is mind-blowing and the status of this iconic food around the world is legendary. I bet you didn’t know that the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie has gained official PGI protected status in the European Union along with its cousins the Cornish Pastie and the Forfar Bridie?
The Pie Renaissance
Although traditional pies continue to be a staple of the British diet, modern times call for flexibility. Nowadays there’s a pie for everyone. Sweet tooth? Go for apple. Savoury lovers pick classic meat pies and vegetarians love a cheese and onion pastie. Palio, keto, vegan, gluten free? We’ve got you covered. Fusion pies are the latest trend and include chicken tikka, balti, vindaloo and even lasagne pies. Vegetarian pies have been around for a while and have now evolved into vegan offerings for those who only eat plant-based foods, and a vegan pie even became Supreme Champion or ‘Pie of Pies’ in the 2019 British Pie Awards. A gluten-free vegan pie won the same accolade in 2022.
A short history of pies
They’ve been around for centuries – possibly even since Egyptian and Roman times – although these claims are unverified. We do know that our Middle Ages ancestors enjoyed the delights of a pie. Chaucer tells us so – he wrote a recipe for an apple pie in 1381 in Olde English.
We hope you have a pie-tastic week and let us know if you come across any exciting new pies for us to have a go at in the Quattro kitchen.