Sainsbury's Melton Mowbray Large pork pie

To sample today’s pies, nine pie munchers, including Liz with her new boots, Paul with his newly repaired boots and new muncher Kevin, set off for a very bracing pre pie yomp. We parked at Salhouse church and headed east along a footpath, spotting the first snowdrops of the year. Then heading north, we passed beautiful white cattle before joining Salhouse Road. We then took a footpath to Wroxham and visited St. Mary's church, finding no scratch dials. We could not explore it internally as a service was taking place. Retracing our footsteps we headed for the recreation ground to eat our sandwiches. The seating provided a fantastic view of the River Bure but exposed us to the gale force winds. After lunch we walked along Skinners Lane, following the route of the river, passing Wroxham castle and then Wroxham football club ground. Following tracks south west into the strong wind, we came to Dobb’s Lane that we followed a short distance east. We then took refreshment from the good selection of real ales at the Green Man. While the shelter from the wind and warmth was initially welcomed, we were not disappointed to leave this far too hot pub. We crossed the A1151 Wroxham Road to walk along Stonehouse Road before taking the footpath back to Salhouse church. As the wind was so strong, we had our tea etc. in the porch of All Saints church. To accompany the tea we had canapés from Paul: Duck liver, Sauternes & truffle parfait on oatcakes and French Saucisson sec with herbs! On to Sainsbury’s pies, these were traditional Melton Mowbray pies but when cut were low on aroma and revealed no jelly! The crisp, though lardy, crust pleased but the filling rather bland and need the help of mustard, despite this the pie was judged to have a score of 7.1 with a standard deviation of 0.56765. Josie provided Royal Edinburgh luxury shortbread – this was very good indeed and eagerly consumed.

Pork Farms Vintage Melton Mowbray

A new pie for the pie munchers this week: Pork Farms Vintage Melton Mowbray mini pork pies. After being let down on pork pies in the west of the county, the Pie Master was unable to source quality local pork pies from that part of the county on Friday. Finding these “Vintage” pies in a supermarket, he thought they should be sampled – CAMRA’s “Beer” magazine (Autumn 2009, p42) had rated them above their original pies. The munching was well attended, three cars heading to Wiveton and parked on the green. We didn’t explore the church of St. Mary, as we’d visited it several times in the past. We made our way east over Wiveton Bridge, over the River Glandford, and then north to the church of St. Margaret, Cley. Here we admired the naughty carvings in the roof and porch. Continuing north and using the facilities of the village hall, we passed the “Picnic Fayre” and its wonderful delicacies before heading out onto the marches, with great views of Cley windmill. During this exceedingly bracing portion of the Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast path, we spotted a Kestrel hunting over the marches and a yellow, search and rescue, Sea King helicopter. Lunch was taken in the lee of the bank, by the duck pond at Blakeney. Here a clever Tern managed to stand on the wire fence – not easy for a bird with webbed feet! Next the pie munchers Beer kitty took a serious denting with a visit to the Kings Arms. Horrendously expensive pints of warm, lifeless Wherry and awful Adnams (exchanged for Wherry) were purchased. After our not so refreshing, refreshments, we ascended the B1156 and then a bridle way, to the Wiveton Downs. As we descended from here, a Marsh Harrier was spotted being harassed by a sea gull. Later, we came upon a toad in the road, which we relocated to the safety on the grass bank. Juan Luis, thinking there was a chance that this was a princess, had to be restrained from kissing it. We completed our decent at the cars. Our first course were ricotta-stuffed cherry peppers, quite hot, possibly affecting the pie munchers palates. One pie was sliced open, revealing the grey filling with a soupçon of jelly. The pie had no aroma and a soft crust, the filling was exceptionally bland and desperately in need of mustard. The pie scored an unbelievably high, spot on 6.5 with a high standard deviation of 1.19659.

Waitrose Large Melton Mowbray pie

Eight pie munchers, plus Bert and Harris, headed for Aldborough to sample a large Melton Mowbray pie from Waitrose, last sampled on the 3^rd February 2008. From the green, we headed off westwards and then through a rapeseed field. The pre pie walk then headed south after about a mile and a half, mostly following footpaths along field boundaries. A stretch of quiet road walking followed by a short footpath brought us to St. Andrew’s church, Wickmere for lunch in the porch, at 3.75 miles. The single, upside down scratch dial on a buttress had been previously photographed an added to the collection last month. Leaving this church we headed eastwards back to Aldborough, stopping at its parish church of St. Mary the Virgin. Here we found one scratch dial on the west of the porch, but failed to find the second, to the east of the chancel door, we subsequently gleaned from the church guide. Leaving the church, and having a good look in the window of an antique shop, we returned to the green and decided to sample beer at the Black Boys, where we consumed pints of Adnams. Returning to the cars we sampled Spicy red lentil dip and Jalapeño Houmous with Celery Oval Alberts! The “comfortably reposed pie” was sliced releasing a pleasant aroma. The interior revealed a chunky pink filling and a little jelly. Portions of pie were then consumed after a slug of tea to restore the palate. This was an excellent pie finding favour with all munchers, coming in with a high average score of 8.5625 and a low standard deviation of 0.41726. Scottish Shortbreads completed today’s grazing. So Waitrose improved upon their previous score of 7.5 with a normalised score of 8.5.

Roll mouse over picture to see uncut pie

Sainsbury’s mini Melton Mowbray pies

Inclement weather prompted the Pie Master to take the easy option and purchase Sainsbury's mini Melton Mowbray pork pies - we hadn't tried them before & they were on offer! Seven pie munchers set off the following day, in even worse weather, from the fisherman's car park at Blickling Hall. Heading east, we made our way slowly along white fields towards Ingworth, befriending a horse in field on route. We continued east before approaching Aylsham from the north, passing Dunkirk and the old water mill. We eventually reached the shelter afforded by the large church of St. Michael & All Saints. Here we consumed our sandwiches and learnt who we could not marry. Taking note of this, we headed for the warmth of the Black Boys Inn. This establishment was packed with diners, but we managed to squeeze in and enjoy pints of Wherry or hot cups of drink. Thankfully the sleet had abated for our journey back to Blickling, passing the church we then headed west down Peterson’s Lane. We then followed a pleasant footpath that followed the B1354, Blickling Road, emerging opposite St. Andrew’s church, Blickling. We had previously examined this church and found it to be dial-less. Passing in front of the hall, we then headed north to walk around the west side of the frozen lake and back to the cars, spotting a barn owl on our way. Artichoke hearts were canapés this week, that preceded the pies. After providing rather too much in the way of porkie delights last week, I had rather under catered with only 6 mini Melton Mowbray pies to go round. The pies were not bad, but that is about as much that could be said for them. A crisp but lardy case enclosed a bland filling with no aroma. Mustard helped this pie out a little and it managed to score 6.28571 with a high standard deviation of 1.21988. Shortcake completed the grazing experience. So a normalized score of 6.5 for J Sainsbury’s mini Melton Mowbray pork pies.

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.

Sainsbury's Melton Mowbray Large Pork Pie

A lack of pie munchers this week, to sample Sainsbury's Melton Mowbray Large Pork Pie – a pie we haven’t previously had. In the absence of the Walk Master & the Führer, King Canape led us on a pre-pie walk around Botesdale in Suffolk. Parking in The Street we started by having a look round St. Botolph’s chapel of ease – after which the village was named “St. Botolph’s Dale”. We could not access the south side of the chapel, so no scratch dials were found. We headed south along footpaths passing "Bunny Hollow". The footpath crossed a ploughed field and it was decided to follow the perimeter rather than battle across the furrows. We reached the southern most point of our walk to see leverets dashing about madly. Taking a short footpath eastwards, we then made our way in a north easterly direction along Nan Hazel’s Lane for about a mile. Our route then took us along a byway near Stubbing’s Green, spotting the signpost had been knocked down, despite being on a 4” x 4” post, we propped up the sign and headed down the track only to find our way deliberately blocked by farm equipment. Some of the party clambered over the obstacle, while half of the party managed to squeeze past, after we had trimmed the sloe bushes with secateurs. Don, the last to squeeze past, managed to slip into the adjacent ditch. After wringing the water from his socks and emptying his shoes, we continued a short distance before pausing for lunch in the shade of a tree. We now followed footpaths west, spotting painted lady butterflies before heading north and passing under the A143. Coming to a Y-junction, a majority decision kept us on track back to Botesdale by footpath. Shortly before reaching road, two deer crossed our path. We journeyed up Bridewell Lane to The Street and into The Greyhound public house. We were in ‘silly Suffolk’ – the pub sign had a picture of a Springer Spaniel! However, the pub was good selling Norfolk beers - Wherry and what we all enjoyed: 3.7%, Lavender Honey from Wolf. Rejuvenated, we wandered back to the car for graze & tea: Josie was tea lady producing a brew to accompany this week’s feast: olive and anchovy Tapenade on bruschette followed by Sainsbury's Melton Mowbray Large Pork Pie. A rather uninspiring pie with a “minimalist” appearance having a dull pastry crust. Slicing revealed a pale pink filling with the merest soupçon of jelly and a faint pleasant aroma. Munching: the pastry let this pie down, but the filling tasted of roast pork with a peppery after taste. Mustard did nothing to enhance this pie – distracting from the flavour of the filling. The pie was judged to score a spot on 8 out of 10 with a standard deviation of 0.5. Cadbury’s chocolate chunk cookies completed the feast. On the return journey, we stopped by Botesdale’s water tower – a 4 x 5 x 2 panel Braithwaite tank on a brick tower that served the WWII Prisoner of War camp 56, so that the Pie Master could photograph it.

Lynton Manor, Melton Mowbray pies

The Führer provided new pies for us to sample this week: Lynton Manor’s individual Melton Mowbray pies from Lidl. Unsure of the number of munchers, Margaret brought two 6 packs and just as well she did – the Walk Master had forgotten his sandwiches, so had two pies for lunch! A windy 5.6 miles of very picturesque walking preceded the pie munching for most of us. Parking on some hard-standing in a field near Shelton, we left the cars, heading west along Blacksmith’s Lane and then making use of footpaths, we circled around Shelton arriving at St. Margaret’s church, Hardwick, after about three and a quarter miles. This provided a good lunch stop where the Walk Master tucked into his first two pies. The church had no dials and on completion of lunch, we continued west, passing Shetland ponies and horses that would have delighted the girls, had they been with us. Turning north past chicken sheds, we then headed northwest into Shelton itself and the large church of St. Mary. There were no scratch dials, but Ricky made use of the rood loft stairs to address us. A half-mile brisk walk north, back to the cars ensured we didn’t get caught in the forecast rain – the Weather Wizard had pulled it off again! However the rain had just started and it looked like getting worse, so Ricky offered his abode for the pie munching. Back at chez Ricky, we sampled king prawns with Bay Tree Seafood sauce or green Tabasco sauce. Then the pies, just like the last ‘Melton Mowbray’ pies, these too had been baked in moulds rather than free standing. Slicing revealed a pale filling with no jelly nor aroma. Tasting the pie was disappointing as the expected texture was not present and the flavour seemed to come solely from the seasoning. The saving feature of this pie was its crust – tasty and non lardy. Mustard did not enhance this pie, though the Walk Master munched another pie and a half. Despite this, the pies scored 5.83333 a standard deviation of 0.68313. Shortcake completed the munching. So a normalized score of 6 for Lynton Manor Melton Mowbray pies.

Wm. Morrison Large Melton Mowbray pork pies

The delicatessen at Wm. Morrison provided the last pie of the month – large Melton Mowbray pies. We hadn’t tried these before – Melton Mowbray, hmmm... they didn’t look like Melton Mowbray’s, appearing to have been baked in fluted moulds, rather than free standing as tradition dictates. But before we could sample these, we had one of the Walk Master's interesting walks – you cant say he doesn’t have stile – this walk had at least ten! (A rupture of stiles?) Setting off from the car park at New Buckenham Common, we headed for St. Martin's church to look for scratch dials, of which we found none. We then headed east to Old Buckenham, skirting round the rampart and moat of the New Buckenham castle. Heading north as we walked around Warren Plantation, we eventually came to the 1818 Old Buckenham mill – the widest tower mill in the country. Onwards to sandwiches in the porch of All Saints, Old Buckenham. This church had been extensively rendered so no scratch dials were visible. We then visited the “ Ox and Plough” for a pint of their very acceptable “Ox Ale” at £2.20 a pint, brewed by Worthington’s. We also enjoyed the company of Barkley, a playful 5-month old Labrador puppy. Picking up footpaths on the Tas Valley Way, we headed back to New Buckenham and a return visit to St. Martin’s, then on to the cars and the pies. The two dubious looking Melton Mowbray pies were cut, revealing a pale coarse filling, with a bit of jelly. A pleasant meaty aroma was present though not abundant. The pies tasted good too, “porky and peppery” and were good both with and without mustard, this was reflected in the score with a 8.25 and a standard deviation of 0.75593. Don’s pâté was again passed over, Ricky’s Shortcake offering made a welcome return, followed by a “Quality Street” finale. So Wm. Morrison scored a normalised 8.5 for its large Melton Mowbray pies.

Tesco Melton Mowbray medium pork pie

The last pie of the month was a Tesco Melton Mowbray medium pork pie - another new pie, as we've only had their Finest* Melton Mowbray pies before. But first we had to survive another of the Walk Master's "Extreme Walks": Setting off from a lay-by on the A1075, Dereham Road, just north of Shipdham, we headed north then eastwards, to face into the strong winds and rain that made feel even colder than it already was. To add a little spice to the walk we had to climb over a barbed wire fence then cross an active runway. We were fortunate that on this instance, we didn't have to dodge any aircraft - probably due to the weather conditions. Passing the museum of the USAAF 44th Bombardment Group, we came to other obstacles to test us, including a cow poo "lake" to cross and slippery bank & fence to climb. Making it back to civilisation, we took refuge in the church porch of All Saints, Shipdham. The church has a wonderful cupola on its square tower and inside has two fonts and a very old lectern amongst other items to note. The rain that had abated prior to reaching the church, once again started as we finished our sandwiches, we headed off to find solace in the Kings's Head. Here we had good pints of Black Sheep & Wherry by an open fire and an interesting mardle with the locals. Onward, to the cars, a non-challenging mile-long hike along footpaths at the edge of fields. Pâté on oatcakes was passed over due to worsening weather and we went straight into pie tasting. The pies, with rather straight sides, revealed a well filled pie with little jelly, when cut. A slight aroma was present, a "fresh" smell, rather than appetising. "A confident little pie, almost cheeky, if somewhat minimalist" a pleasant pie with not much flavour, helped by the application of mustard. Despite having "Authentic Melton Mowbray Pie" on the wrapper, the pie was lacking in pepper and could not easily be identified as such. The blind tasting resulted in a respectable score of 6.64286 with a rather high standard deviation of 0.98802. A wee dram of 46% Islay Malt, to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, washed down the pie. Shortcake appeared to accompany any remaining tea. So Tesco scored a normalised 6.5 for its standard Melton Mowbray pies.

Mini Melton Mowbray pies

Another new pie to taste this week: Mini Melton Mowbray Pork Pies from Tesco’s Finest range. But first we headed south from Lingwood across fields to St. Mary's Church Hassingham, this was closed and had no scratch dial. Aluminium cans in the hedgerow were abundant so we started collecting these as Charles filled his bags with various mushrooms. Heading west to Buckenham passing the magnificent 1827 old rectory, we came to St. Nicholas church. This church had two scratch dials by the main entrance and judging by their location this had been rebuilt – one dial facing east!

The two scratch dials at St. Nicholas church - the one on the right faces east!

The church was open and this provided a convenient location for lunch. The church boasted some great tombs on the floor, an ornate piscina and wonderfully piscina and wonderfully decorated ceiling. On the octagonal font, I spotted a carving of a former Pie Master with his chopping board and knife. After lunch, we ventured north over Strumpshaw Hill and to St. Peter’s church (closed and no scratch dials) so we made a beeline to the Shoulder of Mutton where we sampled a selection of their beers. Finally, back to Lingwood passing Uncle Stuart's microbrewery on the way, we returned to the playing field car park with a collection of 32 Aluminium cans for Don. Tesco’s Finest Mini Melton Mowbray pork pies did not find favour with the munchers; a dry pastry with a filling of little flavour other than pepper scored 5.57143, with a standard deviation of 0.60749. So a normalised sore of 5.5 for the Mini Melton Mowbray pies.

Marks & Spencer Melton Mowbray pies

The month started with us tasting, for the first time, Marks & Spencer Melton Mowbray medium pork pies. This is thanks to Jorge; who wrote to me asking why our score for M&S pies were so low, when the Independent's review had scored them so highly? I investigated, and found that we were not comparing like with like – the Independent were reviewing Melton Mowbray pies and we had been munching on cured pork pies. This was rectified this week after walking up an appetite following the Boldero’s walk, recently published in the EDP. From Gunthorpe Green, we headed east to Briningham passing Bellevue tower, a former mill that was once used as a water tower. As we approached this, Don spotted Baconsthorpe water tower in the distance. The church of St. Maurice was our lunch stop, we had previously photographed it’s scratch dial with a porch door hinge attached! We headed back in a westerly direction, the pace quickening when a group of walkers with two dogs got in Josie’s sights! We visited St. Mary’s church at Gunthorpe, prior to returning to the Green. The nairn’s mini oatcakes with Waitrose supreme houmous and their supreme red pepper & feta dip made a return appearance. To appreciate the pies fully, the tea service was restored, the award winning pies were then sampled: An OK appearance with a reasonable amount of jelly failed to set the taste buds alight. Peppery seasoning helped, the texture nothing special, the pastry leaving a lardy after taste did not impress. These pies were judged to have a score of 6.4375, with a rather high standard deviation of 0.9797. So a normalised sore of 6.5 for Marks & Spencer Melton Mowbray medium pork pies. The walk, without a pub, was completed in good time enabling all the munchers to get home for the delayed start of the Grand Prix and see Lewis Hamilton snatch the World championship in the last few seconds. I bet he had a celebratory pork pie!

Melton Mowbray Pork Pies

Today, the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association has won their campagin to gain "Protected Geographical Indication" (PGI) status within the EU for thier Melton Mowbray pork pies. Now, only pork pies made in specific areas of the East Midlands can use the term Melton Mowbray in their branding. You can read the BBC report on this historic day and links to stories leading up to it by clicking here. The Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association was formed in 1998, to gain PGI for their pies.

Picnic Melton Mowbray Lattice Pork Pies

A risky strategy was employed for the second Sunday of July: I left getting pies until Saturday afternoon - hoping to pick up something interesting at either St. Faith's Fair or the fair at Thorpe St. Andrew. There were no pies and a last minute dash to Wm Morrison had to be made to ensure we were not left pieless for the second week in a row. To make matters worse, our pie appetite was probably not as keen as usual, having an earlier than usual walk around Hevingham, passing Clarkes Quality Meats who's small pies we sampled on 4th May this year. After only five and a half miles and no pre-pie pint, we sampled a mushroom Risotto cake, prior to sampling the Picnic Melton Mowbray Lattice Pork Pies. The piecrust was very lardy especially the base and the pinky meat filling salt and uninspiring. He low score of spot on 6 was definitely due to a poor pie rather than from lack of pre pie warm-up. The standard deviation was a surprisingly high 0.84984, so thatís a 6 for Wm Morris Picnic Melton Mowbray Lattice Pork Pies.

Waitrose Melton Mowbray Pork Pie

After awful weather on Friday evening, with loads of snow, Saturday wasn’t as bad as forecast and Sunday yielded a bright but cold day, initially with a biting wind. A very pleasurable walk around Blickling meeting many lovely dogs soon got us warm. The walk took in distant views of the 1920’s St. Michael’s Hospital water tower, observed last month and the 1884 Blickling Hall water tower, on the mound. Returning to the car for Canapés, Tea and a Waitrose Melton Mowbray Pork Pie – a new pie to us. The pie had good appearance and was surprisingly a little pink, for uncured meat. A pleasant aroma was not followed by a taste explosion, rather bland, perhaps subtle as Charles got hints of Butternut Squash! A pleasant pie with quite acceptable pastry scoring 7.64286 with a standard deviation of 0.44759, so a normalised 7.5 for Waitrose.

1884 Blickling Hall water tower

Sainsbury’s Melton Mowbray Lattice pork pie

We started September as we ended August, with an offering from Sainsbury’s: A Melton Mowbray Lattice pork pie. This was consumed in Harleston (Norfolk) library car park, after an anti-clockwise walk around Harleston - it’s 1939, 200,000-gallon water tower acting as a central reference point. Following the “music” accompanied walk (a rave was going on near by) and an indifferent pint at a very welcoming pub with two dogs, we got down to the serious business of judging the pie! Not a bad appearance with a pinkey grey filling, the flavour was nothing inspiring and a little salt, reflected in it’s very average score of 6.9 or 7 after “normalisation” with a standard deviation of 0.547722558.

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.

Mrs. King's (since 1853) and Cley Deli

Hardingham was the location of Sunday's pie festival: Charles, the former Pie Master, had sourced a huge Melton Mowbray pork pie from the Borough Market, London made by Mrs Elizabeth King Ltd, a member of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association. This fantastic pie scored a whopping 9.5, with a low standard deviation of 0.31623, propelling it straight to the top of the league table. A hard act to follow, but Manola did us proud with a pork pie from the Picnic Fayre Deli at Cley next the Sea. The pie filling was almost Paté like and very tasty. This pie scored highly with a score of 8.5 also with a low standard deviation of 0.31623, quite an achievement, following on from Mrs. King's.

Marks and Spencer Hand Finished Melton Mowbray

Bungay was the venue to sample Marks & Spencer's Large (440g) Hand Finished Melton Mowbray pie. Despite it having a lardy pastry it was judged to be a good pie with a peppery meat filling, giving it a normalised score of 7.5. Once the pie was judged, Don Warman, produced sparklers so that we could celebrate the failure of Gunpowder Plot:

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.