Who ate all the pies? ….. I did!

Whilst out in Switzerland, I pined for pies.  I had to make my own pastry most of the time.  I made my own shortcrust, as their rough equivalent; Kuchenteig, was too elastic for my liking.  Puff pastry there, despite even Betti Bossi’s best efforts, (Switzerland’s answer to Delia Smith, all the housewives there have at least one of her books on Swiss cuisine), did not puff very well. The Swiss just weren't pie people, they were too absorbed in their potato roesti and cheese fondue to notice. In England, pies are universally adored, whether at football matches or served up in the pub, everyone loves them.  Pies are the ultimate in comfort food when the weather gets colder too.  As soon as I was back in England, I bought a pie from the supermarket, even though it was an ordinary pie and nothing really special, having gone so long without pies in my life, this was all the more tasty....

When Steve and I first got to know each other, he introduced me to Sweeney & Todds in Reading.  It was an inexpensive night out, and the place had great character, much of it owed to the special waitress Joan.  She would stagger up to the spare chair that she positioned at every table, sit down and tell you in a broad northern accent, what pies were on for that evening.  They do amazing pies.  I have tried to unravel the secret of their pastry, whether its puff or flaky, but they always served it slightly soggy on the underside and crispy and flaky ontop.  You can buy some of their pies from their shop in Castle Street, and we did so on many occasions, freezing them to reheat later on another weekend with a cold pint of beer in hand.  They were always (and still are) wrapped in a paper bag with the name of the pie scrawled on the front, and to enable identification of the pies each has a little shape, heart, triangle, club shape etc., egg washed and stuck to the top. 

Steve and I had (and still have) our favourites.  For Steve, it was always Steak and Oyster Pie, for me always Pork and Apple.  The steak and Oyster pie has a solitary smoked oyster nestling in amongst the steak, and flavours the whole pie, it’s amazing.  I like the roasted pork and apple pie, but always found it had to be served with their cauliflower cheese.  However, the cauliflower cheese from Sweeney and Todds always tasted special, don’t ask me why!  Joan used to rattle off the pies at such a rate that you could make up your mind, then forget what other pie flavours had just gone by.  If you ever asked for a specific pie to be repeated, what was in Five Nations for example, she would sigh, then simply return to the top of the list of over 15 plus pies to start all over again.  I am sure it was a ploy so that any repeat customers would be sure to make up their minds more rapidly and she would then get the orders done more quickly!  So this weekend, we gave the girls Steak and Stilton, Steve the steak and oyster, and myself, yep, Pork and Apple.   I served it all A la Sweeneys with a salad garnish and some cauliflower cheese.  Sweeney and Todds have been going for ages, and so it’s lovely to come back many years later to rediscover them all over again!  I am yet to spot the Hare and Cherry pie on the menu, but the good old favourites remain!  

When I got back in the summer, I just had to eat a Melton Mowbray pok pie, also one of my favourites.  I love the fatty pastry and the jellied pork meat inside.  Some people detest them, but found that the girls also now share my love of pork pies J  These are also something very English, and of course,  you can make them yourself, but they are a ton of work, and so I am pretty happy trotting along to the supermarket to buy one off the shelf now I am back in the UK!