| The meat pie (or beefy bake as some call it) is a pie with a chunky filling of meat and other savory ingredients.
Meat pies are popular around the world especially in Australia where they are widely considered the national food. As with most pies, the meat pie is often served hot usually by baking, frying, or deep frying at a high enough temperature giving the pastry a golden-brown colour, and greatly increasing the pastry’s richness and flavour. Depending on how the pastry is prepared, some meat pies when cooked might also have a tender and flaky structure. Historically, the meat pie is found in the Neolithic Period (around 9500 BC).
The Greeks then used a flour-water paste resembling pie pastry and filled it with meat. These pies were usually fried or cooked under coals.
After the Greeks, the Romans of course adopted them using a variety of meats, oysters, mussels, and fish as filling and a mixture of flour, oil, and water for the crust. This ‘pastry’ cover was not meant to be eaten and was thrown away.
Once the meat pie arrived in Northern Europe, cooks created the pastry using fats like lard and butter to make stiff dough to hold an upright pie. These medieval pastry dishes were called “coffins / coffyns” which means a basket or box. The “coffins” were savory meat pies with the crusts of pastry being tall, straight-sided with sealed-on floors and lids. Open-crust pastry (no tops or lids) were known as “traps.” These pies held assorted meats and sauce components and were baked more like a modern casserole with no pan. Some historians suggest that the almost inedible crust was given to the servants while the lords and ladies of the house ate the contents. As the meat pie became a common dish in medieval times, by the 14th century it became to be known as a “pye” or “pie”. People aren’t sure why it was called a “pie” but it may be related to the magpie (also called “pie”) because both were spotted or because the bird collects miscellaneous articles.
Refining the meat pie further the French and Italians made the pastry flakier and tastier through new methods of adding butter, rolling, and folding the dough. In 1440 something resembling the modern-day crust began to be used.
Missionaries and explorers then spread the meat-based pie dish across the globe. The English Pilgrims of the North American colonies brought the recipes across the ocean with them. The crust of the pie was great in preserving food during the long winter months. Although the meat time was not popular modern-day in North America until the 1800s it is now considered a hearty, comfort food full of rich savoury flavour.
The meat pie continues its evolution today in Australia where many feel it has been perfected.
Now that we know everything we didn’t know about meat pies, it’s time to try our hand at making our own rich and savoury meat pies! Here is a great recipe to get you started: ZEG’s Steak and Sausage Beefy Bake. Lococo’s has Boneless Beef Blade Roasts for $5.99/lb. (remember you don’t need expensive steak for meat pies). Lococo’s also has a great variety of quality store made sausages you can choose from for your meat pie. These meat pies when made with ZEG Sauces have so much flavour they will give Australians a run for their money! Enjoy! 🌎 ZEG sauces are a multiple use condiment sauce that can be used on any food around the world. 🌎 You can use ZEG sauces for basting, marinating, spreading, as a side dipping sauce, or dressing) the options are unlimited. 🌎 Use ZEG sauces on everything from chicken, pork, and beef to vegetables, rice, and tofu. |
The ancient Egyptians made basic pies made from oat, wheat, rye, and barley, and filled with honey and baked them over hot coals.
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