One hundred days of pie No.45 A New Zealand Gourmet steak and cheese

I imagine taking pies to Newcastle is a bit like taking coals to Newcastle but for one bunch of foolhardy Southerners, and I mean REAL Southerners, well they seem to be excelling at it.

I ordered a box full of NZ Gourmet pies (yes that’s the NZ which is a long way down south) towards the end of last year and shared them out with my mates. The Thai green curry pie was excellent and Mike’s Chilli Beef pie was a real delight, hotter than the sun and with a lovely shape and texture to it. The missus had a Spinach & Goat’s Cheese Pie and was most impressed by it.

Their innovative flavours really do mark them out as a gourmet pie producers of the highest order, although by way of contrast, the shape and sturdiness of the pie leans it heavily towards eating with the hands in a most ungourmetlike manner.

Of the pies I personally consumed, I manage to indulge in the antipodean signature pastry product, the steak and cheese. I’ve had a few of these in the past and they can often come with a luminous yellowy-orange slither of gooey cheese wedged in between the top crust and the meat.

Curiously this isn’t the way that NZ Gourmet like to do it. There’s a dollop on top to let you know what’s coming but inside, the cheese has been heavily marinated into the steak chunks. You can’t actually see it, but you can taste it in every mouthful and I like that. It shows that considerable effort has been put into cooking it and produces a more rounded, consistent flavour.

At a standard price of £3.25 each, they aren’t cheap – maybe for a gourmet pie – but the range of flavours and quality of the content more than makes up for it and safe in the knowledge that you can get a box of six delivered to your door for £20 means that they’re never far from my thoughts whenever a pie party is in the offing.

There’s another 313 pies like the above featured in Life of Pies. If you want to order a copy of the book for just £9.99 plus postage please click this link to order www.lifeofpies.co.uk/buy

You’ll receive it as soon as I’ve finished my pie!