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

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

E.E. Pratt and Co.

I had a good feeling about the final pie of the month from E.E. Pratt & Co., Quality Family butchers of 4, High Road Drayton. The pies looked good, the staff enthused over them and they were fresh – still hot out of the oven. To get ourselves chomping at the bit, ten of us plus Giada set off on a walk to Thurton and back taking in four churches, the first two having no dials & the third, two. To get our taste buds limbered up we popped into the beer festival at the George & Dragon (where the previous owners of the Wig & Pen, & Murphy had moved to). Our final church @ Thurton yielded our third scratch dial before the final leg of the walk to the pies. After consuming Charles’ canapés, the pies were carved into 72º portions. The pies were baked in round foil cups and had a dark flat top. Inside a firm bright pink meaty filling with a small amount of jelly hit the spot on the aesthetic front and the aroma sent Giada wild! Tasting proved to be good, coming in with a score of 8.8 and a standard deviation of 0.63246. So, a normalised score of 9 for E.E. Pratt & Co.. After an unexciting start, the month ends on a high.