The Fat Dad’s Football Camp Holiday Gift Exchange Club

Let me set the scene here. I’ve no idea how it started but a bunch of us play football on a Thursday night. Somebody, somewhere at one point decided to bring home something for a few of the lads from their holiday. I can’t remember whether it was a stick of salami, a strong beer or a bottle of olive oil, but I think it’s fair to say, things have escalated somewhat ever since.

Reindeer meat, absinthe, napalm like chilli sauces, double digit beers and imperial stouts. Fine wines and spirits, tequila with worms in them, souvlaki and bruschetta mix, the list goes on in the ultimate game of oneupmanshhip. A quest to find the best holiday gift to bring back for our fellow fat dads.

Anyway, you’re here for the pies, so I am undebted for this instalment to Paul aka @NorthernCasual, who brought back a selection of pies from his recent trip to the Lake District.

So the place is Huddleston Butchers in Windermere, I believe this particular pie cost £2.70, bit pricey but it is a handsome shape, size and weight. Apparently, the gentleman serving got a bit flustered, in a happy kind of way, when Paul went in and went through the pie selection, ordering twenty of them. “We’re going to need a bigger box” were the words I think.

I dive in for this first instalment on the meat and potato pie, and it has a lovely, raised crust and is perfectly baked underneath after twenty minutes in the oven. The pastry is a splendid mid to dark brown, even all the way through, with a slightly thicker, crunchy top crust and upon opening up, I am pleasantly surprised to see that it has been filled nearly all the way to the roof.

There is a slight meaty aroma coming off but nothing too overpowering and the filling consists of cubed chunks of potato merged with some meaty mince chunks, there also seems to be some onion in there too. There’s no gravy but nor is there any need as the content is a moist, slightly sweet and fruity affair.

The pie holds together very well, enough so that I manage to consume the whole thing without use of cutlery, the filling is bursting at the seams without ever escaping on to the floor (OK then plate)
Dinner aka “Lunch” is usually a two pie affair for me but I find myself having to pause half way through eating this one, such is the scope of it.

As I haven’t had the pleasure of visiting this emporium of fine meats, I can’t comment on the establishment but if this first pie is anything to go by, Huddleston’s know what they are doing, with a superb offering. The Fat’s Dad’s are in for a treat, with four more left to go. Steak and Stilton next for me I reckon…..

Huddleston’s Butchers, 16a Crescent Rd, Windermere LA23 1DT
Meat and Potato Pie, £2.70
Presentation 8, Place 8, Pastry 8.5, Package 9, Taste 8, Value for Money 7, Portion Size 9
Total score 57.5/70 If I check back through Life of Pies, this is clearly a top 50 pie, maybe even a top 20 pie, which will seriously take some beating.