What Is British Pie Week
It may have started off life as a marketing gimmick from Jus-Rol, but British Pie Week – now championed by Pierate – has quite taken on a life of its own.
Now in its 14th year, British Pie Week is our excuse – not that we need one – to dine out, or in, on pies aplenty. A week dedicated to celebrating this classic, British traditional dish, savoury pies are essentially Britain on a plate.
But considering we’re a nation of pie lovers, we started wondering… just how many folks out there know where the humble pie originated? Well, if we said there was evidence which dates back to ancient Egyptian times would you believe us? While there have been dishes akin to the pie around since the time of the pyramids, they can actually be traced back to Roman times.
Throughout history the pie pops up in various guises in almost every culture around the globe. The version we know and love however, has its roots firmly in the soils of Northern Europe. Rather than the oils favoured in the south, the fats those living in the harsher north relied on were lard and butter. Fats which leant themselves perfectly to pastry – being rolled, shaped and filled.
Predominantly filled with meat in their original form, today, fillings are vast and varied across the board – from savoury – both meat and vegetarian – to sweet. An awareness week we can really get behind, British Pie Week is the perfect excuse to fill up on hearty pies before we swing into spring and look towards lighter meals and the all-important, seasonal lamb.
To celebrate the week, we are offering 20% off our pie varieties between March 1-7. With six available, which are you going to go for?
Fun Facts
- Eating humble pie – Umble pie, was a pie filled with chopped or minced deer offal. Believed to have been associated with the poorer classes back then, with venison meat itself being for the richer folk, despite their similarities, there is no clear link between umble pie being spun into the phrase we know today.
- Four and twenty blackbirds – Any avid QI fans should know this one…Rather than making a filling out of blackbirds, the phrase refers to the theatrical tendencies of medieval chefs Trying to out -do each other, they would make hard pastry crusts and fill them with all manner of animals and birds, which would surprise and delight when they broke free.
- It wasn’t until the 1500s that fruit would make an appearance as a pie filling. It was cherry pie in fact, that was served to Queen Elizabeth first in the 16th century.
- Pie crust was actually used as a kind of Tupperware. Rather than being eaten, a hard crust was made to transport food and eat it – with the hard crust being broken off to make a rudimental spoon.
