‘Tis a shameful admission but I worked in St Helens for three years and parked up around the back of this place with no knowledge it was actually there. But maybe that’s a deliberate thing, as it is an understated institution where the locals furtively enter with a knowing nod.
Even as you walk past, it can be difficult to ascertain that there are top notch pastry products being served up in here as it is […]
To give you a flavour of what possesses someone to write a book about pies, I’ve reproduced an article below that I scribbled for the brilliant Barnsley based fanzine West Stand Bogs….
PS Sorry I had January off after the gargantuan effort of actually putting the book together and getting it published in 2014 but I’m back now, blogging blogs and flogging books (hopefully). Go on, it’s only £9.99 and it’s […]
As I’m a third of the way through this little appetiser now, I perhaps need to iterate that the pies featured in this blog are not necessarily the best 100 I had, and they are featured in NO PARTICULAR ORDER as they say on those cheap gameshows you people seem to like watching.
They might be, they might not. I just dip into my pie archives and see what comes out…..if you want the full story […]
I recently wrote an article for excellent Barnsley fanzine West Stand Bogs all about pies and my forthcoming book. It was the least I can do after it’s editor tipped me off some time last year about Percy’s Pies.
A small butcher situated in the South Yorkshire town of Jump, Percy’s is a local institution. Enough of the pre-amble though: they sell pork pies for SIXTY FIVE PENCE!!!
Did you know Walkers made pies before they made crisps? If so, you’ve probably also been blagging info off Wikipedia like me.
Originally a butcher in the 19th century famed for pies and sausages they started to use the surplus fat off the meat to make potato crisps during the war. Seventy years later ol’ Jug Ears get paid a small fortune to advertise said crisps on the telly.
I make no apology as to where I come from. The town of Wigan is notable for many things in many spheres, indeed an almost remarkable amount for a town of it’s size. Most recently for a quite stunning portrayal of haute cuisine on Come Dine With Me. In a culinary sense though, it’s always been about the pies.