The taste test: pork pies

On a late September Saturday, when Britain was feverishly awaiting the winner of the Labour leadership, the FT tasting panel met with weightier, even lardier, matters on its mind: pork pies. Of the 14 selected from supermarket and delicatessen shelves, which would triumph?

The classic British pork pie is held to come from around Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. This regional delicacy, of which we tried a good number, managed to attain Protected Geographical Indication – an EU mouthful which means it must come from this locality to use the MM name. But we also tried pies from Cornwall, Nottinghamshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire.

The panel had five members. The Epicure Publisher (EP) does, it’s true, knock out a few books but prefers cooking for large numbers (eg, feeding 24 in Italy this summer with only five minutes’ notice). The Gourmet Celeb (GC) was taking time out from digging out a football pitch of a cellar for his wine collection. The Discerning Litigator (DL) is not renowned as a pie scoffer and she later left swiftly for three penitential sets of tennis. The Hungry Banker (HB), a nose-to-tail eater, questioned whether his sobriquet should not be Greedy Banker. He was reminded that this was capable of misinterpretation in these trying times. Finally, the Gluttonous Pig (GP), who had an ethical dilemma: was this cannibalism? We noted that our porker friends are, of course, omnivores and this seemed to satisfy him.

A pork pie should have chopped, seasoned meat from such cuts as the shoulder and the belly. It is encased in a hot water pastry crust, where lard has been dissolved in boiling water before being mixed with flour. And after baking, pork jelly is injected to moisten the pie. The panel was critical of the dryness of several of the pies which contained little or no jelly. The other problem was where the pie makers had slipped with the pepper, producing Melton Mowbray mouth-burners.

Bottom in the tasting was Tesco’s Finest Mini Melton Mowbray Pork Pies: “bland, no jelly to speak of” (GC); “ordinary” (EP); “a bit industrial” (DL); “dull meat, under-spiced” (GP). Next to bottom were Waitrose’s Melton Mowbray Mini Pork Pies: “dry” (EP); “where’s the jelly?” (GP); “this pig must have been exceedingly dull whilst alive” (HB). Many of the supermarket pies are made by the same suppliers, but the specific recipe should vary. These two were pretty similar.

And the winners? In third place was a pie from Melton Mowbray: Dickinson & Morris’s Melton Mowbray Pork Pie (450g, £2.69). This substantial pie, available in supermarkets and delis, went down well: “good, crisp pastry” (GC); “large, well-jellied, good texture – a man’s pie”(HB); “nice pastry but meat should be chunkier” (DL).

The mini pork pies generally suffered by comparison with the bigger ones. All the more credit to Marks and Spencer’s Melton Mowbray Mini Pork Pies (pack of 6, £1.99), which came second: “enjoyably crumby pastry” (EP); “moist, ample soft jelly” (GC); “small and convenient for trekking” (HB).

Now for the pie of pies: Fortnum & Mason’s Mini Pork Pies (170g, from a pack of 4, £14). This was twice the diameter of the other mini versions, with a dark brown egg glaze and a proud “F&M” branded in the pastry: “good jelly at last!” (GP); “deliciously peppery” (GC/DL/EP); “stout, confident-looking with delicious meat” (HB). And our winner comes from Lincolnshire. So do look beyond Melton Mowbray next time you buy.

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The winner

Fortnum & Mason’s Pork Pie

The podium-topping pies are handmade by Geo. Adams, a butcher’s in Spalding, Lincolnshire, using local outdoor-bred pork. 440g pie, £5.95; 910g, £9.95; 1.3kg, £13.50; mini four-pack, 170g each, £14. www.fortnumandmason.com

Next week: Some like it haute