Meat pie

Meat pie
Homemade meat pie with beef and vegetables.
Chicken and rabbit meat pie.
Cornish pasty.

A meat pie is a savoury pie with a filling of meat and other savoury ingredients. Principally popular in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, meat pies differ from a pasty in the sense that a pasty is typically a more portable, on-the-go item, as opposed to a more conventional pie.

Contents

History

The beginning of the meat pie can be traced back to the Neolithic Period around 9500 BC to the ancient Egyptians where rustic ancient pies were known as galettes. Galettes were oat, wheat, rye, and barley concoctions filled with honey and baked over hot coals.[1]

The galettes were eventually adopted by the Greeks, and it is there that a flour-water paste substance closely resembling pie pastry was created and was first filled with meat.[2] In Greece, these galettes were usually fried or cooked under coals. The Romans, tasting the delicacy from the Greeks, incorporated it into their own diet with little changes. According to the records kept by the wealthy, Romans used a variety of meats, oysters, mussels, lampreys, and fish as filling and a mixture of flour, oil, and water to keep it in. This 'pastry' cover was not meant to be eaten and was thrown away.[3]

In combination with the spread of Roman roads, the invading crusaders encounter the dish and brought the recipes to Medieval Europe. In Northern Europe, cooks created the pastry using fats like lard and butter to make stiff dough to hold an upright pie.[4] These medieval pastry dishes were called "coffins/coffyns", which means a basket or box. According to Janet Clarkson in Pie: A Global History, the "coffins" were:

savory meat pies with the crusts or pastry being tall, straight-sided with sealed-on floors and lids. Open-crust pastry (not tops or lids) were known as "traps." These pies held assorted meats and sauce components and were baked more like a modern casserole with no pan (the crust itself was the pan, its pastry tough and inedible). These crust were often made several inches thick to withstand many hours of baking.

Some historians suggest the tough, almost inedible, crust was given to the servants while the lords and ladies of the house ate the contents.[5]

This pastry became a staple dish in medieval times, and was eventually called "pyes" or "pies". The origin of this name comes from the type of meat commonly used as filling. Beef, lamb, and duck were employed, but a majority of the time it was the magpie pigeon that was the main ingredient.[6] Magpies in medieval England were originally named pie. Some historians think that the popular usage of 'pie' birds led to the pastry dish being named pie as well.[7] While etymologists suggest that pies were named after these birds "from a supposed resemblance between the miscellaneous contents of pies and the assortment of objects collected by thieving magpies."[8] The first use of the word "pie" as food is referenced in 1303 by the Oxford English Dictionary; also stating that the term became popular and widely utilized by 1362.[9]

The French and Italians specialized in redefining the pastry of the pie, making it flakier and tastier by new methods of adding butter, rolling, and folding the dough. In 1440, the Paris pastry guild was recognized and started to expand their product—and so something like the modern day crust began to be used.[10]

Missionaries and explorers spread the meat-based pie dish across the global. The English Pilgrims of the North American colonies brought the recipes across the ocean with them. The crust of the pie was useful to preserve food during the long winter months in America (just as the pies were used in antiquity). But the pie was not considered popularly there until the 1800s, where today meat pies have lost their popularity to be replaced with sweet pies.[11]

Today, there are different types and variations of meat-pies enjoyed all across the world.

Regional variations

Fatayer, a meat pie in Middle Eastern cuisine
A Chicken Pie

The Natchitoches meat pie is one of the official state foods of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Natchitoches is a town in Louisiana, the name is pronounced Nacky-tosh.[12] Meat pies are not common in most US cuisine, in contrast to the popular pot pies, though the distinction isn't very well defined.

Latin American meat empanadas may be pies or more often pasties; different pastry shells and fillings are used, and they may be baked or fried. Empanadas usually contain lots of onion and green or red pepper, in combination with meat or fish. Empanada dough takes many forms, from those made with cornmeal to puff pastry.[13] Ground beef with olives, fried egg, pulled pork, diced steak, even cheese and salami are used in Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Puerto Rico and Peru for example.

Other well known varieties of meat pie include British meat pies, French-Canadian meat pie, and the Australia and NZ meat pie. An Irish meat pie is the Steak and Guinness Pie which consists of Round steak with Guinness Stout Beer, bacon, and onions. It is served with potato chips and vegetables and is very popular in Irish Pubs in Australia. In New Zealand, the meat pie is a common convenience food often found in petrol stations and convenience stores and was once sold in a chain of restaurants.

The Nigerian "meat pie" is similar to the Jamaican beef patty. It can be baked or fried, and the filling can be almost anything from corned beef (the most widely used) to just onions and tomatoes.

Middle Eastern meat pies are called Sfeeha and contain ground beef, olive oil, plain yogurt, tahini, allspice, onion, tomatoes and pine nuts. Greek meat pies are called kreatopita and contain ground beef, onions and feta cheese. The filling for kreatopita is wrapped in phyllo dough. Indian meat pies are called samosa and usually contain peas, spiced potatoes, coriander, lentils, or ground beef or chicken and are often served with chutney.

Commercial products

Meat pies are generally sold at select retailers and online as bulk orders.[14][15] Prepackaged as frozen foods, serving sizes are available in 4.5, 9, or 28 oz. as entrees and appetizers.[16] Specialty shops like Down Under Bakery, in New York City, and Lasyone's Meat Pie Restaurant in Natchitoches, Louisiana serve meat pies as an eat in restaurant, delivery and catering service.[17][18]

In popular culture

Theatre and film

In various stage and film adaptations of the tale of Sweeney Todd, Todd's clients are killed, and later baked into meat pies by Todd's accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, as seen especially in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

See also

Foods.jpg Food portal

References

  1. ^ "Pies, History of Pies." What's Cooking America. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.
  2. ^ "Food Timeline: history notes-pie & pastry." Food Timeline: food history & vintage recipes . N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
  3. ^ "Food Timeline: history notes-pie & pastry." Food Timeline: food history & vintage recipes . N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
  4. ^ "A Brief History of Pie - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.
  5. ^ "Food Timeline: history notes-pie & pastry." Food Timeline: food history & vintage recipes . N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
  6. ^ "A Brief History of Pie - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.
  7. ^ "pie - word origin, history, and etymology." Word-Origins.com a History and Etymology of Words. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.
  8. ^ "magpie - word origin, history, and etymology." Word-Origins.com a History and Etymology of Words. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.
  9. ^ "Food Timeline: history notes-pie & pastry." Food Timeline: food history & vintage recipes . N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
  10. ^ "Food Timeline: history notes-pie & pastry." Food Timeline: food history & vintage recipes . N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2011.
  11. ^ "A Brief History of Pie - TIME." Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2011.
  12. ^ Clairborne, Craig (May 5, 1982). "Turnovers: A Dish With an International Heritage". New York Times. 
  13. ^ Casas, Penelope (1982). The Foods and Wines of Spain. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 52. ISBN 9780394513485. 
  14. ^ Morrison Meat Pies http://www.morrisonmeatpies.com/buy.html
  15. ^ Natchitoches Meat Pies http://www.natchitochesmeatpies.com/shipping.htm
  16. ^ Landry's Meat Pies http://www.landrysmeatpies.com/fs-french-brand-pie
  17. ^ Down Under Bakery http://www.dubpies.com/
  18. ^ Lasyone's Meat Pie Restaurant http://www.lasyones.com/

Further reading

  • Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street edited by Robert Mack (2007). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199229333

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Meat Pie — Ein typisch australischer Meat Pie mit Ketchup Ein fleischloser Pie, hergestellt …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • meat pie — noun pie made with meat or fowl enclosed in pastry or covered with pastry or biscuit dough • Hypernyms: ↑pie • Hyponyms: ↑pasty, ↑tourtiere, ↑shepherd s pie, ↑steak and kidney pie, ↑kidney pie * * * meat pie …   Useful english dictionary

  • meat pie — noun a) A pie containing meat. My sister in law from Corsica makes the best quiche and the best meat pie in the world. b) A hand sized pot pie containing largely minced meat and gravy and typically consumed as a takeaway food snack. 2006: If you… …   Wiktionary

  • Meat pie — 1. rhyming slang for a try in rugby; 2. (racing) small time: meat pie bookie …   Dictionary of Australian slang

  • meat pie — Australian Slang 1. rhyming slang for a try in rugby; 2. (racing) small time: meat pie bookie …   English dialects glossary

  • meat pie — пирог с мясом frozen fruit pie замороженный пирог с фруктовой начинкой to have a finger in every pie во всё вмешиваться the pie is all весь пирог съеден; пирог кончился pie filler dispenser дозатор начинки для пирогов pie crimper машина для… …   English-Russian travelling dictionary

  • meat-pie — n. 1. Mince pie. 2. Pasty, meat pudding …   New dictionary of synonyms

  • meat pie — /mit ˈpaɪ/ (say meet puy) noun a pie made from stewed meat enclosed in a square or round pastry case …  

  • Australian meat pie — An Australian meat pie is a hand sized meat pie containing largely minced meat and gravy sometimes with onion and often consumed as a takeaway food snack.It is considered iconic in both Australia and the neighbouring New Zealand. It was described …   Wikipedia

  • Natchitoches meat pie — with beans and rice. The Natchitoches meat pie is a regional dish from northern Louisiana, United States. It is one of the official state foods of Louisiana.[1] Ingredients include ground beef …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”