Meat Pie
Meat pies are a popular fast food dish in Australian and New Zealand cuisine and are offered at snack bars in bus and train stations as well as in bakery shops, but are also prepared (or warmed up) at home. Meat pies are also sold frozen. They have a similar status there to hamburgers or pizza in other European countries. In Australia they are seen as a downright national symbol. In 2003 the Premier of New South Wales called it Australia's "national dish".
The well-known Four'N'Twenty brand produces 50,000 pieces per hour, and every Australian eats an average of 12 meat pies per year. Meat pies are closely related to sports such as rugby , Australian football , cricket and other sports as they are often consumed during a game (or with a can of beer in front of the TV).
recipe
The classic basic recipe consists of a dough shell with a filling of beef and gravy , an English sauce made from gravy as a flavor-determining component. Sometimes the beef is replaced by a meat mass or chicken. According to the regulations of the "Food Standards Australia New Zealand" since March 21, 2007, meat pies must contain at least 25% lean meat. Meatless pies are rarely common in Australia and New Zealand. On the other hand, other ingredients such as cheese or potatoes, and sometimes vegetables, are added.
Trivia
New South Wales Prime Minister Bob Carr hosted an “obese child” summit in 2002 where he said that only meat pies, sausage rolls and chiko rolls would bring child abuse close to child abuse.
In April 2002 the ACA (Australian Consumers Association) carried out a study with 22 frozen pies from supermarkets. Three brands did not have the meat content of at least 25% prescribed by the “Food Standards Australia New Zealand” (FSANZ), the fat content was 15–35 g fat per pie. However, the study referred to standard products from the freezer, not freshly baked meat pies, the nutritional value of which can vary greatly depending on the manufacturer. Another study by the ACA 2006 found that 5 of 23 samples were below the minimum meat content by 25%.
In 2006 the ACA awarded the manufacturer Black and Gold the prize "The CHOICE Shonky Award for UnAustralian Content" for their meat pies with only 17% meat.
FSANZ allows the following types of meat in meat pies: beef, buffalo, camel, deer, goat, hare, pork, poultry, rabbit and sheep. The lean kangaroo meat is also occasionally used. Most manufacturers explicitly list "beef" in the list of ingredients; other types of meat usually only include "meat" in the list of ingredients. The FSANZ definition of "meat" also includes the snout, ears, roots of the tongue, tendons and blood vessels. Only offal such as brain, heart, liver, kidney, tongue and tripe need to be included in the list of ingredients. Wild animals that have been hunted in the wild may not be used.
Industrial manufacture
The manufacturers in Australia are mainly active in the individual states, which results from the long transport distances and the lack of cooling options in the early years of production. Many snack pies are not sold under a brand name and may be locally produced, supplied by a major brand manufacturer, or imported. The frozen, either pre-baked or ready-baked pies are warmed up or ready-baked before consumption.
Australian manufacturer Four'N'Twenty traces its product back to an invention in 1947 by a certain LT McClure in a small bakery in Bendigo. Because of its ties to Australian football, the brand has cult status in Victoria and is well known in other states.
The manufacturer Sargent reduced its production to 1906. Sargent's Meat Pies were served at the opening of the Old Parliament House in Canberra in 1927 ; 10,000 pies that were not consumed had to be disposed of afterwards. In South Australia , Balfours has been making meat pies since the early 1900s and, with Vili's, is one of the state's two major manufacturers. These manufacturers also supply numerous games of the Australian football league. Made in Western Australia , Mrs Mac's pies are now sold nationwide, often at food stalls and corner shops. In the strong competition of the fast food market, they emphasize quality and unusual fillings. In Victoria , well-known manufacturers include Clarke's Pies from Mortlake , Kings Pies from Hamilton , Gillies from Bendigo , Beaumont's Pies from Geelong and Patties Pies from Bairnsdale . In Tasmania , the main manufacturer is National Pies (despite the name, the company only operates in Tasmania). National Pies mainly makes pies with a filling of beef mass and cottage pies with a top of mashed potatoes. Unlike most other pies, this brand's pies are not round, but square.
Well-known brands in New Zealand are Big Ben , Mrs Mac and Ponsonby Pies . The New Zealand and Australian meat pies are now also offered abroad as a culinary specialty from " Down Under ".
"The Great Aussie Meat Pie Contest"
Since 1990, a competition has been held in Australia for the best commercially produced Australian meat pie. The The Great Aussie Meat Pie Contest is to promote product quality and drawing media attention to the Pies. However, competition is dominated by ubiquitous advertising from the major manufacturers.
The competition attracts manufacturers from all over Australia. The pies are tasted blindly in order to avoid reservations of the jurors against certain brands or countries of origin. In addition to the competition for "everyday pies", there is another one for "gourmet" pies with categories for chicken, seafood and even vegetarian pies, for example. In addition to the main prize, which is coveted because of its sales-boosting effect, quality certificates are awarded if certain criteria are met.
Web links
- Meat pie appreciation . Kuro5hin, March 3, 2003, archived from the original on March19, 2016; accessed on September 10, 2019(English, original website no longer available).
Individual evidence
- ^ Sausage roll policy . In: ABC . Media Watch , March 10, 2003, archived from the original on April 27, 2005 ; accessed on May 1, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ Bye-bye American pie - www.theage.com.au
- ↑ The CHOICE 2006 Shonky Awards . CHOICE , October 2006, archived from the original on October 24, 2007 ; accessed on January 11, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).
- ↑ Body parts and gravy?
- ↑ http://www.dubpies.com/
- ^ History . Archived from the original on March 6, 2012 ; accessed on December 31, 2015 (English, original website no longer available).
- ^ The Ararat Advertiser, Oct. 2, 2007
- ↑ The pies have it! - The Sunshine Coast Daily, Sept. 30, 2007