It's British Pie Week (7 - 13 March 2016) and here at Local Food Britain HQ we're taking our jobs very seriously and indulging in some REAL(ly) good pies courtesy of our member The Real Pie Company.
The Real Pie Company is an artisan pie bakery based in Crawley, West Sussex and over the last 16 years their passion and dedication for making quality, traditional pies has gone from strength to strength, earning them a huge customer following as well as many awards.
It's not hard to understand why they are enjoying such a success; their pies are uncompromisingly wholesome and “crammed to the crust” with the highest quality British ingredients, many of which are sourced locally. Pie is a great British tradition and the increased demand for premium pies has certainly been met by our friends at The Real Pie Company.
We caught up with managing director Christine Cossins to find out the secret behind their success.
"The fresh shortcrust pastry is hand-made and rolled especially thin to ensure a crispy bake," says Christine. "We also use two cuts of British Red Tractor meat in our pies - brisket, which gives the pies a unique flavour and consistent melt in the mouth texture, and chicken which comes from the very best breast meat."
Using secret recipes handed down by the family, all pies are hand-crafted and baked in small batches under the watchful eye of their head chef, then delivered freshly-baked to retailers.
We have been tucking into favourites such as the Great Taste award-winning Steak and Mushroom Pie, Steak and Stout Pie and Chicken and Ham Pie, but we haven't finished yet - dessert is all sorted too with an Apple and Cinnamon Crumble and Apple and Cherry Crumble ... mmm did anyone bring custard?
In fact fruit pies are something of a new layer to The Real Company's recipe for success. They were launched in November last year and in keeping with the traditional true meaning of pie, they are fully encased albeit with a pastry base and a crumble topping. Christine isn't giving anyway any chef secrets here except to reveal, "We use a special ingredient to ensure the crumble topping is crunchy every time."
Real Pies are currently stocked at over 300 retailers across the South East and home counties and the list continues to grow every week. You can also order online for home delivery or even collect direct from the bakery.
British Pie Week special offer
To celebrate British Pie Week The Real Pie Company has introduced a special 10 pie variety pack with many favourites at a reduced price. See website for details and order online by 13 March.
Read more about The Real Pie Company.
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