10.9.05

Who Ate All the Pies: Barnsley poet Ian MacMillan travelled the country to sample local varieties of pie. In the final programme, Ian visited Mousehole in Cornwall to find out why, every 23 December, the village celebrates Tom Bawcock's eve at the Ship Inn with starry-gazey pie, so-called because the heads of pilchards poke through the crust. This one is suitable for fish eaters. The fourth episode (missed it!) found him in Forfar where Bill McLaren's family has been baking Bridies since 1893. Ian investigated their origins: were they served at weddings, did someone called Bridie invent them or does Bridie refer to the shape of these broad pies? And the poet W N Herbert from Dundee introduced Ian to the infinite variety of Scottish pies, including such culinary attractions, or abominations, as the Baked Bean Pie and the Macaroni Stovie.

2 comments:

angela dove said...

Hi Fred,
I'm glad you like Ian MacMillan's
prog, must say it has brought back memories of Leeds Market in the 1950's and the wonderous Pie and Peas stall. Leeds market, before it burned down, was a fab glass Victorian structure and the weekly high point for me was a plate of pie and peas. The Pie, was pork, apologies to veggies, and the mushy peas were strangely bluish in colour and doused with pepper and industrial strength malt vinegar, all served up on little cracked mismatched saucers. It was nectar! The guy running the stall was called "The Pie and Peas Man", that's how the day went, followed up by a visit to
"The Crab Man" for a plate of whelks. At this tender age I found the whelks a bit daunting!
Angie

fredblog said...

The peas you refer to could well be black peas (aka pigeon peas, carlins or maple peas) _ I first sampled them at Bury Fair, served with a dash of vinegar in cracked cups and eaten with a dirty spoon. They are sold in Lancs around bonfire night...