Wm. Morrison “New” Melton Mowbray pork pies

The Pie Master had spotted “New” Melton Mowbray pork pies in the deli in Wm. Morrison - their fluted Melton Mowbray pies were surprisingly good when sampled on the 22^nd February, last year. So these were this week’s delicacy - they certainly looked the part. Eight pie munchers set out on an undulating walk near to Edgefield, from where we headed north west along tracks and bridleways. Many horses & riders passed us on a 10-mile sponsored ride. Wildlife spotted on the first half of the walk included a hare and a pair of Brimstone butterflies. On our journey north west, we passed a field of happy looking pielets before crossing a former M&GN railway line, then we then headed south west for just under a mile. We crossed the railway again, following a track that took us past a delightful garden as we crossed a beck. A short walk along road took us by a field with lambs and the church of St. Lawrence, Hunworth. The walk master was unable to provide his usual informative update regarding the church, as he had brought the wrong Pevsner volume! Finding no scratch dial, we headed for the “Hunny Bell”, passing the rear of Hunworth hall with its fine topiaries. The pub was serving pints of Wolf's "Hero" - a tasty pint coming in at 4%. A final mile and a half, in which we spotted a buzzard and another hare completed this very enjoyable, picturesque walk - Don awarding the Walk Master eleven out of ten! The appearance of the pies got the munchers excited, King Canape declaring them to be a fine pair of erect pies! But first, we had his peppers stuffed with goats cheese that were eagerly consumed. The pies were sliced, their contents looked good despite no jelly. The lack of aroma was the first sign that these pies were not up to the mark. Munching the pies, with their crisp but lardy crust, revealed that flavour was sadly lacking. Mustard did help this pie out a little and the texture was O.K., but it only scored 5.8125 with a very high standard deviation of 1.62431. Organic Scottish Shortbreads completed an excellent outing. A normalised score of 6, then for Wm. Morrison’s new Melton Mowbray pies, their “old” fluted ones had scored 8.5!

E.E. Pratt & Co.

This week we were sampling a large pie from E.E. Pratt & Co. of Drayton, last sampled on the 27^th April, 2008. Eight pie munchers set off for Wickhampton to sample the pie, seeing new lambs by the Acle straight on our journey. Starting at church of St. Andrew's with its three scratch dials. We then headed east out across the marshes with Raveningham water tower in the distance, to our right, and the large Caister water tower ahead and to our left. We then came to a section of Weavers’ Way and followed it north west. A stiff breeze coming from the east was whipping across the marshes was making it rather chilly, though it did enable a pair of swans to quickly take to the air in a very short distance, as we were passing by Mutton's drainage mill. We then headed towards Halvergate by road and on to the locked church of St. Peter & St. Paul for sandwiches. Finding no dials, we headed back to the Red Lion for very nice pints of Redhead from Tipples brewery. Walking south, back to Wickhampton church, we passed Halvergate Hall, then a cricket match in progress. Our elevated path provided panoramic views of where we had walked and also increased our exposure to the wind, to such an extent that the Pie Master put on a sweatshirt! Following a very relaxed and very enjoyable walk, Tomato & Basil King Prawns started our post walk fayre. Then the flat-topped pie, baked in a round foil cup was cut, releasing a wonderful aroma that filled the air. Inside was a firm bright pink meaty filling with a small amount of jelly. The texture of the meat filling was spot on and very tasty, if a little salt. It was surprisingly further enhanced with the application of a little English mustard. The pie came in with a score of 7.875 – the score reflecting a couple of 6’s due to the saltiness resulting in a high standard deviation of 1.32961. So E.E. Pratt & Co. gets a normalised score of 8, down from their previous 9.

Roll mouse over picture to see uncut pie

No Pies or Canapés this week...

The Pie Master had intended to step into King Canape’s shoes this week - while he was down The Smoke. However, on the day, Josie was knackered, and decided to rest rather than walk, so the Pie Master, having tired of the attention seeking shinanigins of a recent recruit, elected to go for a bike ride instead... Meanwhile the munchers went for a six-mile walk around the Lophams, visiting the churches of St. Andrew, South Lopham, St. Nicholas, North Lopham and St. Andrew, Fersfield – finding no scratch dials at all. Beer was taken at the King’s Head in North Lopham. Toedore was named “Man of the Walk” doing an estimated eight miles to everyone else’s six miles. At the end of the walk he then ensured that the graze was fairly distributed.

Photographs courtesy of José Luis Lopez Almarza

J. & D. Papworth Farms

This week, the clocks went forward, but it didn’t deter the pie munchers from jumping out of their beds an hour early to munch pies. Walsingham was the chosen location to sample pies from J. & D. Papworth Farms, last sampled on the 16^th November, 2008. We parked in the large car park of the Chapel of Reconciliation, next to Slipper chapel at Walsingham, where mass was being celebrated outside – it being Palm Sunday. As we walked along the road, we spotted a drove of hares; about a dozen in number, not boxing but leaping about full of March madness. We then headed east, passing the enlarged water treatment works. Lunch was taken at the church of St. Mary the virgin, Great Snoring. No scratch dials were found, so we set off on the two-mile hike to the pub, mostly by road, the grass banks being adorned with white violets. At the end of Water Lane, the stream under the bridge provided the facilities for a game of Pooh sticks. The Pie Master won the challenge by a large margin - as Josie's stick had sunk! A short walk past East Barsham Hall brought us to the White Horse for pints of Adnams in good condition. Passing “Toad Hall”, we made our way up the hill to the parish church of East Barsham of All Saints, a much-mutilated church with a north entrance and no scratch dial. It’s font however reminded the Pie Master of a traditional water tower, with service shaft and supporting legs. On to the church of North Barsham, All Saints with black chickens in the grounds. Returning to the cars for Tortillas with sour cream and chive dip and Moroccan style houmous. A selection of small and large pies from J. & D. Papworth Farms’ North Walsham shop, were supplied by Josie – Josie hadn’t realised it was early closing on Wednesday, when she was working there and these were all that were left. The good looking pies released a little “roast pork” aroma and revealed a nicely textured dark pink filling, with no jelly. These pies were very tasty, the pastry too. However, many thought the crust was too thick. The pies scored a 7.68182 with a standard deviation of 0.56003. Ricky’s Shortbread was then consumed. So a normalised score of 7.5 for J. & D. Papworth Farms.

Carvery

On the third Sunday of March, Josie having been poorly, decided a 6-mile walk would not contribute to her convalescence, so elected to stay close to home. Josie and the Pie Master undertook a short walk to the Cottage to sample their carvery & a couple of pints. Meanwhile the remaining Pie Munchers hossed off to Bungay for a walk without scratch dials, Canapés or Pork Pies!

R. J. Bray

Mothering Sunday brought further new pies for the munchers: from R. J. Bray, Earlham, after being brought to the Pie Master’s attention by the Walk Master. We headed into deepest Norfolk to sample these pies, out along the Fakenham road to the church of St. Mary, East Bilney. Finding no scratch dial, we headed off on our figure of eight, pre-pie yomp. Our destination was the church of St. Mary Magdalene, Beetly. Our route took us on some picturesque paths and over fields with masses of flint on the surface. With Stanfield water tower as our reference, north east of us, and the new East Dereham water tower in the distance, south east. Loads of snowdrops were in bloom as we walked the 3¾ miles to the lunch stop, seeing rabbits, a skylark and two deer on our way. Arriving at the church, whose porch boasted a scratch dial either side, we stopped for lunch. The church was locked but the porch was open, though without seats, for some of us to shelter from the shower that had just started. It was a short walk back to the cars, spotting a barn owl on route and finding a footbridge by the ford, over Black Water, as we followed Folly Lane back to the church. King Prawns with a Marie Rose sauce preceded the pies. These good looking, hand-raised pies revealed a dark pink filling with a little jelly and little in the way of aroma when sliced. The pies had a good crisp crust and the filling was pleasantly seasoned, resulting in an average score of 7.57143 with a high standard deviation of 1.39728 (one of the munchers only gave it a 5). Following the pies we were joined by Ben - an elderly Red Setter who had no problem in detecting the pie aroma! Shortbreads were consumed with the last of the tea, before we headed to the Brisley Bell for pints of Flanker's Tackle from Green King. So a normalised score of 7.5 for R. J. Bray’s pies.

J. S. Coxford

The Walk master led this weeks 6 miler, in glorious sunshine, before we tucked into pies from J. S. Coxford, of Aylsham - a first tasting for the munchers. Starting at Brooke village hall, we headed north, past Laurel Farm, with its thatched garage, and pony. After walking along the footpaths and across a muddy field, we came to Alpington Hall, with its noisy guard-dog. Into another muddy field, we passed a “mawkin”. Paul and José retrieved some of its reflective adornments, which had obviously blown off in the wind. Lunch-stop was at St. Mary's church in Yelverton. Inside the porch were two lovely stained glass windows - one representing water, the other one, fire. The church had no scratch dial. On leaving the church, we bumped into the son of an old Bystander, with his dog Ruby. She was very friendly and playful, and seemed to enjoy being photographed! At the 4 mile point, we reached “The Dove” public house. Adnams, Broadside and Woodfordes Wherry were all found to be in good condition - and the roast lunches being served looked very good too! Along the next footpath across to the next field, we passed a fish farm and a set of pig shelters. Not the normal corrugated iron huts you normally see - these were much larger and had fabric sides. We then came to the second church of the day - St. Mary the virgin, Howe - a lovely round-tower church with Saxon windows. Don procured a log of laurel wood, from a gentleman cutting the trees back in the churchyard. Back at the village hall in Brooke, tea was served by Josie: stand-in tea lady and pie mistress! Feta-stuffed peppers to start, supplied by King Canape, followed by the pies. These pies had a very crisp, crunchy pastry and a well-seasoned, very flavoursome filling. Top marks to J.S. Coxford butchers, scoring 8.2777, with a standard deviation of only 0.44096. We then had shortcake to finish. . So a normalised score of 8.5. (filed by Josie)