The handmade pie itself has an incredibly rich and varied history in Britain and our love for this kind of baked good goes back much further than you’d ever imagine. In fact, to find the earliest instances you’d have to go right back to the invasion of the Romans during the first century AD, when they brought with them the notion of encasing meats, fish or fruit in a kind of case similar to that which we would recognise today. It provided good food on the go and kept the cooked ingredients fresh, meaning that they could also be taken away to eat at any time during the day. By the time the Romans left our shores, we were hooked on this way of cooking and continued it through the centuries.

It was during the mediaeval period that pies really took off, particularly among nobility. More often than not however, they were created as a great show, forming part of rich, lavish banquets, the pastry being shaped into arty creations designed to dazzle everyone there. It’s also through this period that we see the first notion of the word “pie” being used, probably during the late fourteenth century. Cooks at this time needed to make use of what little cooking space they had and this sort of food could be easily cooked over an open fire. However, at first, they would use the pastry primarily as a vessel for holding the meat or fish within and the case would be discarded, or given to poor people who gathered outside fine houses and castles waiting for something to eat. This, in part, gave way to rich people being known as the ‘upper crust’!

The tradition of eating the whole pie, filling, pastry and all only started to become more popular during the nineteenth and twentieth century, when pie and mash shops started to open and become more widely known, particularly in the south of the country. Now, we savour the standard of the casing, just as much as the delicious filling. We experiment much more with the sort of ingredients we put into them too, which is why this food remains as popular as it is, constantly evolving and changing. Traditional pie staples such as beef remain the mainstay, and are the sort of ingredients that people turn back to the most when they want a comforting, satisfying and filling dish that everyone right from Grandma down to the youngest children will love to eat.

Original article: Why Do The British Love Pies?

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Thinking about trying a properly crafted hand made pie made by artisan bakers who are skilled in their trade is well worth it if you’d like something different to eat, rather than the usual run of the mill ready meals that can be very expensive and so often disappointing in quality.

The tradition of beautiful hand made pies in this country is something that goes back many years. Even the humble Cornish pasty itself was adapted from a pie recipe into something with a slightly thicker crust, so that it could be packed into a snap tin, carried underground and eaten hygienically when working down the mines (in those days, the crust was always thrown away). Think about the perfectly formed Pork Pie, a delicacy which is synonymous with the Midlands town of Melton Mowbray. Traditional meat pies are also both staples of Northern and Southern eating traditions, in the North people who come from the Lancashire town of Wigan are known as affectionately as “pie eaters”, because they love their traditional meat and potato pies so much, especially on a cold winter’s day whilst enjoying the rugby. In the South, the traditional dish of Goddard’s pie and mash is something that is still very much loved and is currently experiencing a major resurgence as people try to recreate the tastes of yesterday.

A real, genuinely hand made pie, wherever it comes from, is something that can be full of interesting and exotic ingredients, through to the most simple recipe such as mince and onion or steak. Very often they are crimped and finished by hand to make them authentic and look as though you have done all the hard work yourself, so if you want to fool your friends and family that you’re the one who has been slaving over a hot stove, you can do!

Of course, making the pastry to go into handmade pies is a skill in its own right, something that many people can find difficult to do in their own homes, but when made correctly, it can be fluttery light, melt in the mouth and very decadent, especially if it’s made with the best graded flours and fats. Couple this with the succulent filling and it’s a winning combination that’s sure to please.

Many families do still have their own handmade pie recipes that have been passed down through the generations and are still cooked today. There is something very soothing about creating a wholesome pie with fresh pastry and seeing the hand crimped edges that will bake to a beautiful golden brown colour that makes the mouth water.

Original article: The Beauty Of Real Handmade Pies: A British Tradition

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If you have a pub, club or food outlet that wants to put something special on the menu please get in touch. We can provide our famous pie mash and liquor for a very traditional London meal that we’re sure everyone will enjoy.   We have been making pie and mash since 1890 and we are still a family business that produces food using traditional methods and techniques.

We can offer the following savoury pies:

• traditional minced beef
• steak and kidney
• steak and ale
• chicken and mushroom
• chilli minced beef
• cheddar cheese and onion
• veggie soya in onion gravy

All of our pies are handmade by ourselves in our pie factory in Kent.   Celebrate St George’s Day with a pie and mash event.

Please contact us with your requirements as soon as possible. We only have a limited amount of delivery slots available so don’t delay.

Original article: Make St George’s Day a pie and mash day

©2013 Goddard's Pies. All Rights Reserved.

We feel it’s vitally important to promote Great Britain as well and make sure all your customers are aware of any British produce you have on offer. For those outlets in and around the venues there will be huge numbers of tourists and visitors who will be happy to try Britain’s finest foods.

Goddard’s Pies are already seeing an increase in the number of new customer enquiries as food businesses all around the UK start planning their activities and menus. Our quality pies are handmade and generously filled with tender meat and great flavours.

Goddard’s Pies can offer:

• Fourth generation pie makers
• Family business since 1890
• Handmade pies made in Britain
• Quality ingredients sourced in Britain
• British meat
• British flour
• Great range of new and classic pie flavours

If you would like to offer quality, handmade British pies with a heritage that goes back to 1890 then please get in touch.

Goddard’s Pies are proud to be members of Love British Food and Made in Britain.

Original article: Put some British pies on your Jubilee and Olympic menus

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This new pie is perfect for the UK’s growing preference for all things spicy and hot. We’ve taken our award winning minced beef pie and added some freshly chopped chillies and other carefully blended spices to make this new exciting pie. It has a quality meat filling with just the right amount of spice and heat from the extra ingredients.

It’s not a curry or balti pie but does have a wonderful depth of flavour and warmth.

This is proving to be one of our more popular new pie creations during our tasting and promotional sessions. As with all of our pies the new chilli minced beef filling is encased in the famous Goddard’s pastry which is like no other pastry.

It’s available now for all trade and wholesale customers.

Original article: Our new chilli minced beef pie – it’s hot stuff!

©2013 Goddard's Pies. All Rights Reserved.

Happily, this week we received our SALSA food accreditation after passing an audit of our premises and manufacturing processes. We are now full members of SALSA who will audit our membership each year to ensure adherence to their strict SALSA standards.

Sean Horton, Director, comments, “We are very proud to have passed our SALSA audit and to be accepted as a SALSA member. We are a small but growing business and this will give us a definite advantage when presenting our products to larger purchasing groups. We are now establishing ourselves as a quality pie producer to the trade and this accreditation is a reward for everyone’s efforts over the past 2 years.”

SALSA is a nationally recognised food safety certification scheme tailored to small and micro producers. The scheme allows businesses to demonstrate that they operate using a robust and effective food safety standard. The schemes wide acceptance by retailers and food service providers has assisted in SALSA becoming the Food Safety Scheme for producers with big ambitions.

Goddard’s Pies produce savoury pies which are sold to food outlets such as restaurants, hotels and pie and mash shop as well as wholesalers and foodservice companies. All of our pies are handmade using locally sourced ingredients and traditional recipes and techniques.

Sean continues “SALSA has been extremely supportive of our membership and we look forward to working with them for many years to come. We’re an expanding business and this will be a great boost to us during 2012.”

Please call 01732 252525 or email info@pieshop.co.uk if you would like to discuss our pies.

Original article: Goddard’s Pies gains SALSA approval for handmade pies

©2013 Goddard's Pies. All Rights Reserved.

We have now added some of the other pies we make to the online shop.

Here’s what’s available:

• Traditional minced beef pies
  • The ‘pie and mash’ pie. Fantastic pastry with our quality minced beef and gravy filling
• Chilli minced beef pies
  • Made with real chillies and a blend of spices, hot and tasty!
• The Steak Box
  • 4 Steak and kidney pies plus 4 steak and ale pies. Slow cooked for taste and tenderness
• Minced beef with cheese pies
  • An Aussie classic – Our minced beef filling topped with cheddar cheese

These pies are available to buy right now from our online shop. These pies are pre-cooked sent using a overnight delivery service and all have the Goddard’s trademark pastry.

All pies are hand made by ourselves at the Goddard’s Pies factory in Kent.

Original article: New pies available to buy online

©2013 Goddard's Pies. All Rights Reserved.

The British Pie Awards is an annual competition, organised and hosted by the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, they received 619 pies produced by bakers and butchers from across the country. Pies were judged by celebrity chefs, pie experts and top food writers including Rachel Green, Tamasin Day Lewis and Charles Campion.

Our mince beef pie, which is our best seller, gained a Bronze Award in the busiest category of Hot Savoury Pies. This pie has a heritage of more than 120 years of family tradition so we are extra proud of its winning status amongst so many big name competitors.

In an official press release Kane Goddard, who received his award in the Hot Savoury Pie category, commented: “We know these Awards are the crème de la crème of British Pies and we are very pleased to get this recognition from the best food experts of the country and amongst the best pie makers. Our family business started in 1890 and this is a great achievement for our first year of entering the competition. We will continue to produce quality, hand made pies and we will be back in the competition next year”.

Chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, Matthew O’Callaghan, commented: “We are thrilled with the standard of pies that we have tasted. The Association organises these Awards to celebrate the heritage of the British Pie and it makes us very proud seeing the variety and quality of the pies presented. We hope this helps to encourage consumers to continue enjoying authentic regional produce.”

For more information about the competition, judges and winners please visit www.britishpieawards.co.uk.

Please contact us for further information regarding our range of hand made savoury pies.

Original article: Pie and mash pie wins Bronze Award at British Pie Awards

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Although we are famous for the pie mash and liquor sold in our Greenwich pieshop for over 50 years, we are a family of pie makers at heart. For the last two decades our pieshop sold a small variety of different savoury pies, all hand made on the premises. We had minced beef pie (the pie & mash pie), soya mince pie, cheese & onion pie and sometimes a steak & kidney pie or pudding.

It was quite unusual for a pieshop to make so many different types on the premises for sale in the shop. But our customers loved them and kept coming back for more.

Since 2010 we now have a dedicated factory where we make our range of pies everyday. All hand made, from raw ingredients to the Goddard’s family recipe.

We are now continuing to grow our wholesale business where we can supply:

• Cafes
• Pubs
• Fish and chip shops
• Canteens
• Caterers
• Restaurants
• Mobile food units
• Bakers
• Wholesalers
• Food Service Companies
• Hotels
• Pie shops

This all started with us supplying the traditional minced beef pie which is accompanied with mash and liquor. Catering outlets then had a simple way of providing their customers with this very famous London dish.

We now have a wide range of savoury pies available to the trade which are suitable to a much wider audience:

• traditional minced beef
• steak and kidney
• steak and ale
• chicken and mushroom
• cheddar cheese and onion
• veggie soya in onion gravy
• chilli minced beef (coming soon)

These are all hand made in our factory and are available frozen unbaked. Our pies are different from many others as they are not machined in any way. They are hand made, hand assembled, hand trimmed and hand packed.

Please call us on 0800 862 0400 if you would like to sell our pies.

Original article: So much more than pie and mash

©2013 Goddard's Pies. All Rights Reserved.

We have been making pie and mash since 1890 and we are still a family business that produces food using traditional methods and techniques.

We can offer the following savoury pies:

• traditional mince beef
• steak and kidney
• steak and ale
• chicken and mushroom
• cheddar cheese and onion
• veggie soya in onion gravy

All of our pies are handmade by ourselves in our purpose built commercial kitchen in Kent.

Celebrate St George’s Day with a pie and mash event

Please contact us with your requirements as soon as possible. We only have a limited amount of delivery slots available so don’t delay.

Original article: Make St George’s Day a pie and mash day

©2013 Goddard's Pies. All Rights Reserved.