Dickinson & Morris

Pies return this week: the tried and tested Dickinson & Morris, Melton Mowbray pies last tasted on the 6^th April, last year. Reedham was to be the location to verify the pies past credentials. We parked in the car park of the recreation ground. From here, fourteen of us set off west and slightly northwards to Limpenhoe Common, along very minor roads. From here we headed south west along a track, squeezing past a farmer’s truck and trailer being used to unload livestock, to cross the railway line. Shortly after this, Josie spotted a small Grass Snake wriggling off ahead of her. On reaching the river we followed it’s northern bank on its meandering path east, pausing for lunch by Limpenhoe Drainage Mill at about 3½ miles. Sandwiches consumed, Elena distributed plums for dessert, then the mill was inspected internally, by those interested. Continuing along the river bank to the ferry, we found that our way was blocked, so a short diversion along Ferry Road to the Railway Station, and back to the Lord Nelson and the excellent first Reedham Riverside Beer Festival. Various beers provided liquid refreshment, before we made our way north and back to the cars. Smoked Salmon Crescents provided the first course before the pies were cut. Slicing the dull pie crust revealed a pinker than expected, coarse meat filling encased in a small amount of jelly. The filling, well peppered was pleasant, especially with the addition of mustard made up for the rather lardy crust. The munchers agreed giving the pies a spot on 7.5 with a standard deviation of 0.60302. Don then provided us with a portion of Bleu de Gex cheese to be sampled on Oatcakes. This was a powerful portion of cheese! Finally there was Shortbread for those that had room. Now it was time to have a go on the play equipment.

Pork Pie Year 2008 Review

What a cracking pie year 2008 turned out to be – sampling 49 different pork pies (counting the two cheese topped “novelty” pies)! Now we have all the scores in, I can announce our top 5 pies of 2008:

1. Gloucester Old Spot from Picnic Fayre Deli sampled on 11th May
2. Graves of Briston, sampled on 9th March
3. E.E. Pratt & Co., Drayton, sampled on 27th April
4. Hewitt's, Mattishall, small pies, sampled on 8th June
5. Dickinson & Morris of Melton Mowbray, sampled on 6th April

Our all time top 5 pies are:

1. Mrs. King’s Melton Mowbray pie sampled on 26th November 2006
2. M & M Rutland sampled on 29th April 2007
3. Gloucester Old Spot from Picnic Fare Deli sampled on 11th May
4. Graves of Briston, sampled on 9th March
5. Tavern Tasty Meats from the Sausage Shop, sampled on 18th November 2007

That’s it for 2008, an excellent pie year, with two of the tastings making it to the All Time Greats. All it leaves me to do is wish you a good pie munching New Year.

Pie Master

Independent “Ten Best Pork Pies”

The Independent published their “Ten Best Pork Pies” today, you can view it online by clicking here. They review Dickinson and Morris, Marks & Spencer - who we do not rate, but they put them above Bray's, who we do rate. Also further down the table are Mrs. King's who we rate as number 1 and Walkers fluted pie also makes it onto the list. Their number one pie was from Walter Smith's, this was reported to be one of the world's leading delicacies on the 4th September, last year.

Dickinson & Morris Melton Mowbray Pie

The first Sunday of April threatened snow again, so unsure of how many would turn out for pie tasting, I stuck with a known decent pie – a Dickinson & Morris Melton Mowbray Pie. Ricky kept us near to home for our pre pie walk, starting at Dunston. It then became apparent why he wasn’t wearing his bright yellow AA man’s overalls – as the walk began with a trespass across the grounds of Dunston Hall! We made our way to Swainsthorpe, passing close to the old workhouse at Henstead and affording a good view of the former water tower, now converted to a dwelling. Returning to Dunston we sampled the Dickinson & Morris offering, scoring a very respectable 8.64286 with standard deviation of 0.47559, so Dickinson & Morris scores a normalised 8.5. Previously it had scored a normalised 7.5 at Swanton Abbott on the 29th July last year and 9 at Wood Norton near Guist on 9th March 2006.

Converted water tower at Henstead workhouse

Dickinson & Morris of Melton Mowbray

The last walk for July, where we collected chanterelles and wild plums concluded at the site of the former Swanton Abbott Railway Station, where we sampled a previous pie - a Dickenson & Morris of Melton Mowbray (I thought it was Morris & Dickinson) due to me not going to a new supplier soon enough - something for August. Dickinson & Morris produced a pie with a good aroma, tasted very porky, leaving a peppery after taste. This pork pie scored a very respectable 7.642857143 with a standard deviation of 0.55634864 - so that's a normalised 7.5 for Dickenson & Morris. We consumed a Dickinson & Morris pork pie at Wood Norton, near Guist on the 3rd September last year where it scored a normalised 9!

Dickenson and Morris mini pies

Following the bracing air of Sea Palling and a pint in the Old Hall Inn to celebrate Spencer's birthday, we sampled another Dickinson and Morris pie - this time mini Melton Mowbray pork pies. The pork pie munchers rated these at 7.5.

Pork Pie Year 2006 Review

Now we have all the scores in, I can announce our top 5 pies of 2006:

1. Mrs. King’s Melton Mowbray pie sampled on 26th November
2. Dickinson & Morris Melton Mowbray pie sampled on 3rd September
3. Hempnall Butchers sampled on 27th August
4. Cley Deli pork pie sampled on 26th November
5. Jarrold’s Deli pie sampled on 29th October

A great pie munching year!

Pie Master

Dickinson & Morris Melton Mowbray Pie

Wood Norton near Guist was the venue to sample a Dickinson & Morris Melton Mowbray Pie purchased from Sainsbury's. This pie with its coarse textured filling had bags of flavour with lots of pepper, propelling it to the top of the league table with a normalised score of 9 - displacing the pie from Hempnall Butchers sampled just two weeks ago.