It has been on my mind to buy this book for some time and while deleting websites from my favourites list I came across the author’s website I had saved. I decided straight away to buy the book before it slipped my mind again.
It could be my kind of heaven writing a book like this travelling around the length and breadth of the country reviewing pies. This book took around two years to compile and the author estimates he ate over 400 pies with 314 making the book. I doubt anyone could find every pie producer in the country or eat one of every pie in the UK. It would be easy with the mass-produced pies from Supermarkets or Chain bakeries but just think of all those independent bakers and butchers who may only produce a small amount of pies daily selling locally these pies are the holy grail of any pie hunter.
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| A Clarks pie on a plate |
The author Martin Tarbuck must the envy of all pie connoisseurs eating so many pies in such a limited time, which got me thinking how many different pies I have eaten? I would say under a 150 and that is over 50 years plus, not two years. Lots of double, triples and in the case of the Clarks Pie hundreds eaten. Some of them would have been consumed while travelling to away games with my team Cardiff City back in my late teens/ early twenties if a pie was on the menu it would be in my stomach.
However, before opening the book I dived straight to the back of the book to check the index to see if he had venture to Cardiff to try the famous Clarks Pie. He had and we are both like-minded agreeing it is a top pie has he rated it highly it made it into the top five of the top 100 in his book.
I then settle down to read the book from cover to cover and it is a chunky book 358 pages, which took me two days on and off. It is not just a list of pies, the author shares his journeys, frustrations in a light hearted way, and it is a witty read. The layout of the book makes an easy read and there is an elaborate rating system. I also liked the fact the book was not full of pictures of each of the pies, which left me drooling over the image in my mind.
His top pie was Greens of Barrow, a Meat and Potato pie. But then again what a pie taste like to someone else can be totally different for another pie lover. To prove a point I checked the online bible of all pie lovers, Pierate but couldn’t see a review of Greens. However, their top pie was a Steak and Guinness from Paul’s of Coleshill but in the book the same pie makes tenth in the top 100.
The author hails from the north of England so there is a bit of a biased to the Meat and Potato pie popular up north however, he does get about other areas. To a pie fan like myself, this is like porn, opening the door on the unattainable. I am unlikely to get my gnashers around these pies any day soon. I would recommend the book to anyone with an interest in pies and eating them.
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