Melton Mowbray Pork Pie
By Master Chef on January 19th, 2019
The magnificence of Melton Mowbray Pork Pie is legendary. Its irregular crust, natural flavors and great convenience make it a wonderful meal for lunch or dinner. Exceptional for entertaining, too.A thin slice of this tasty pie is served, usually with a chutney or fruit relish on the side. The crust is left uneaten. In fact, the pies were usually made rather small to be included in the lunch boxes of workers. The crust works to preserve and protect the inside, keeping it fresh. Pies like these were often taken by workers into mines, or out into the fields for their short meal breaks. Today, theyre considered a delicacy, and shipped all over the world from the rural town for which theyre named. Simply delicious!Despite the crust, the pork pie is a high-protein meal. The removal of the uneaten crust leaves little more than protein-rich meat and aspic to consume. Workers were rarely tired after eating these pies. Normally, the pies were wrapped in brown butchers paper and tied with kitchen string a marvelous way to serve them even today.
- 2 pounds diced pork shoulder meat, cut in 1/4-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sage or 2 to 3 leaves
- 1 pinch each of dry mustard and allspice
- pork and veal bones
- 2 or 3 sprigs of marjoram and thyme
- 8 ounces lard
- 1 pound flour
- 2/3 Cup milk mixed half and half with water
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
Interesting Facts About Melton Mowbray Pie
Hot water pastry is the pastry of choice when it comes to Melton Mowbray pork pies. This choice is necessary to provide the stiffness to support the wet and heavy fillings and to ensure the pies can withstand free-standing baking and jellying.
What is required, though, is that these pork pies are baked free-standing, without any mold to assist and prop up their walls. The free standing baking results in sides bowing outward, giving Melton Mowbray pork pies their signature look.
Online Order Delivery Charges:
Some of our products are at room temperature and can be posted to many countries around the world, keeping the delivery charge to a minimum. Please note that perishable items , need to be kept chilled at all times and delivered in a chilled condition.To ensure this happens:- all items are blast chilled to 0oC- they are then packed into insulated boxes – frozen ice packs are placed into the box to delay the items becoming warm- shredded paper is used to prevent the items moving about inside the box during transit- the package is delivered within 24 hours to UK mainland adresses by a courier . Delivery days are Tuesday – FridayConsequently the cost of delivery is £12.50 per delivery address. Our pork pies and sausages are usually delivered with a life of 6 days.
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Melton Mowbray Pork Pies
Dickinson & Morris has been baking Melton Mowbray Pork Pies since 1851. We are the oldest remaining bakers of the authentic Pork Pie in the town centre today.
In 1992, after fire had devastated the period style building, Samworth Brothers bought the property and carried out extensive refurbishment and renovation in conjunction with English Heritage. Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe reopened in October of that year, and re-established the town’s envied position as the centre of excellence for all pork pies.
In response to the high demand for Dickinson & Morris pork pies nationwide, they were launched nationally through leading high street retailers in 1996. Due to this unprecedented demand, the baking of these pies now also takes place at a bigger bakery located just outside Leicester. Continued demand for such quality products led to the opening of The Sausage Shop next door, offering a wide variety of premium speciality sausages – in October 2019 the Sausage Shop became Mrs Kings bakery . As a means of keeping all their passionate customers happy, Dickinson & Morris have also established a chilled mail order service. Order your Pork Pie hampers and gifts along with our other delicious ranges, all available to buy online now.
What Are Melton Mowbray Pork Pies
Country of origin: England
Melton Mowbray pork pies are, as the name suggests, pork pies made in Melton Mowbray and its surrounding area. These little parcels of goodness are not just any pork pies. They have the distinct honor of receiving Protected Geographical Indication status from the European Union, meaning that producers must be within a specified geographical region and adhere to strict rules on the method of production.
According to UK government website, authentic Melton Mowbray pork pies must have a bow walled pastry case giving them their characteristic bow shape. The pastry is golden brown in colour with a rich texture. The pork filling is uncured and therefore grey in colour.
The gray color in the pork filling is one distinguishing feature that sets Melton Mowbray pork pies apart. Most commercial pork pies use cured pork so the meat appears pink. Using uncured, fresh pork, ground or chopped, the inside of the Melton Mowbray pork pie is pink to start, but turns gray-ish once baked.
Although strict in locality and allowable ingredients, bakers have a lot of leeway to season their fillings. Apparently, anchovy essence, is one of those not-so-secret ingredients, to make these pies pop. Melton Mowbray pork pies come in various sizes and weights. From mini bites to family size ones for cutting and sharing.
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Let The Pork Meet The Pie
If you really dont know what a pork pie is then I will assume that youve not been to any buffet gathering anywhere in the UK within the last century.
According to wikipediaa pork pie is a traditional British meat pie, usually served cold. It consists of a filling of roughly chopped pork and pork fat, surrounded by a layer of jellied pork stock in a hot water crust pastry.
That actually sounds a bit rank, when you put it like that. But rest assured, its a proper delicacy in the midlands. Admittedly, so is peas pudding, bread and dripping and something worryingly called groaty dick . But a pork pie is a different class.
The Best Pork Pie In Melton Mowbray
May 22, 2019 By Chris
When in Rome, do as the Romans goes the saying. Apparently it then goes on to say but when youre in Melton Mowbray its sacrilege not to eat a pork pie.
And that is what the three of us found ourselves doing when we passed through the town of Melton Mowbray on a spot of business just the other day. Although we were only in the town for about 20 minutes, we were there on one mission only: to sample the finest damn pork pie that the town had to offer.
Spoiler: we were not disappointed.
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What Sets A Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Apart
Until we had proper Melton Mowbray pork pies, it felt like wed never lived.
Ok, that is an exaggeration. But there is definitely a difference in these pies theyre a cut above the usual.
Firstly, youll notice that when you bite into the pork filling you dont just find yourself eating a finely minced pink substance. No, no, you get real chunks of pork and you know youre sampling something a little bit special.
Second, the pastry. Its thick and crusty like no pastry youll sample in a supermarket pork pie. It makes the pie into a complete unit and we spent some time of our car journey back agreeing that the whole pie is so solid that you could quite easily use it as a weapon. It makes the pie a huge, dense meal.
My Own Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Experience
Dickinson & Morris Melton Mowbray Pork Pie
Looking to score big with my first Melton Mowbray pork pie, I looked up the winners of the British Pie Awards 2019. Dickinson & Morris Melton Mowbray Pork Pie 454g took home Gold in the Metlon Mowbray pork pie class. The same pie got a silver in class 2, the general pork pie category.
Of course, its no wonder. The company Dickinson & Morris has a long history of making these delicious pies. Mary Dickinsons grandson, John opened his pork pie bakery shop in 1851. Three and a half decades later, aging John took on a young apprentice, Joseph Morris, who became a partner in the business in 1901. Thus, the brand Dickinson & Morris came to be.
I was very happy to find out that Sainsbury carries this brands range. The 1 lb pie was on sale for £3 at Sainsburys during the time I went to do my eating research. However, the shelf was empty! ALL GONE! I took that as an auspicious sign.
Fret not! Dickinson & Morris also has an individual size version that took home a highly commanded silver in class 2 as well. So I looked around for that.
Well, THAT WAS ALL GONE TOO! By this time, I was thinking, this either is a really good pie or this Sainsburys needs to do better inventory control.
The only thing left were three little boxes of their snack size 2-pack for £1.20. So I bought one, settling for what I could get.
Cold meat pie?
My very first bite
Mrs. Kings Melton Mowbray pork pie
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These Miniature Melton Mowbray Pork Pies Are So Delightfully Tasty That You Simply Won’t Be Able To Resist Once They Come Out Of The Oven
With over 160 years of experience, Dickinson & Morris is the oldest pork pie bakery in the Leicestershire town of Melton Mowbray. Having been baking their famous pies at Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe since 1851, the bakery is one of the few to produce the world-famous Melton Mowbray pork pie, granted Protected Geographical Indication status in 2009, using a classic hot water crust pastry and 100 per cent British pork.
Now, the bakers have shared the recipe for their Melton Mowbray pork pie to make at home, with the help of a handy 12-step guide.
What Else Is There To Do In Melton Mowbray
Admittedly, we only really saw the high street and it doesnt look like its brimming with places that you might want to stay and soak up.
Leisureland amusements a fun day out in Melton Mowbray? You decide.
But the town does seem to be in quite a pleasant area and theres a vistor website for Leicestershire pointing out a few things you might want to look into whilst youre in town.
For us though, our visit was confined to just a 20 minute pork-pie stop. Although we hadnt got to sample any of the sights and the sounds, wed ticked off one of lifes great bucket list items: a proper pork pie in Melton Mowbray.
Life will never be the same again. We will endlessly look at supermarket-bought pork pies with a haughty disdain. For we have sampled the king of all pork pies in Melton Mowbray. Home of it all.
So, until we can work our way up to Pie Fest, which no lie is an actual thing held in Melton Mowbray on an annual basis, well have to live content in our memories of Ye Old Pork Pie Shoppe.
Melton Mowbray, thank you for the Melton times we had.
If youre still reading then sorry to disappoint this website isnt one aimed at pork delicacies. Though rest assured, if our travels take us near any more, well get stuck in. Actually, were running a little project to try and make money read more about it here.
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Each Pie Uses Fresh Pork And Rich Jelly Cooked Inside Golden Brown Pastry
When Elizabeth King started making pork pies back in 1853, little did she realise what she was setting in motion. She would probably have been shocked and more than a little proud if she knew that her name would be immortalised at one of the worlds most famous markets more than a century and half later. Her Melton Mowbray pies now have dedicated PGI status, meaning they can only be made in a particular way in a specific area of Nottinghamshire. Each pie uses fresh pork and rich jelly, cooked inside golden brown pastry.
Fresh Fully Cooked Steamed Suet Meat Puddings 420g
As far as we know nobody else offers TRADITIONAL STEAMED MEAT PUDDINGS that are fresh and fully cooked with a choice of 6 scrumptious different fillings.
These are so simple to reheat taking around 5 mins in your microwave or 40 minutes in the oven, just follow the instructions that come with the Puds.
These all weigh in at around 420g and are not for the faint hearted, some of our customers share one of these between the two of them but we say these are too good to share.
As with all our hot eating pies we recommend that you make and serve a small jug of gravy if you are a gravy person as we tend to fill the puddings with meat rather than pad them out with gravy.
We offer 6 different fillings and you can order any combination of 4 per box alternatively there are a couple of these Puddings available in the PICK & MIX section of our Complete Range.
All puddings freeze perfectly, defrost overnight prior to reheating.
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Where Can I Get The Best Pork Pie In Melton Mowbray
Ok, lets cut to the chase.
The oldest and best place to get a pork pie in Melton Mowbray is Dickinson & Morris:Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, at 10 Nottingham St, Melton Mowbray LE13 1NW.
Here she is in all her glory:
When youre there, youll be greeted with an array of pork pies. Its worth asking the shop assistant to talk you thorough it all as its a bit overwhelming. There are big pies, little pies, pies with toppings, pies with eggs in the middle, and much more! You may feel overcome with the sheer madness of it all.
When we went, the girl working there was only too happy to talk us through an enormous array of pork pies and point us towards with ones we might like to purchase.
Above is just a small sample of the pork pies available.
We ended up getting a classic large pork pie as well as a couple of the specialty pies. Theyre basically your classic pork pie with a topping.
Theres Stilton , apple and spicy gooseberry relish . All three were decent, and ridiculously filling.