Pies Hairy Bikers' Best of British

You know, we believe that Britain has the best food in the world.

Not only can we boast fantastic ingredients...

Whoa... There we go, then!

Outstanding food producers...

Oh, look at that!

And innovative chefs...

But we also have an amazing food history.

-Oh, brilliant!

-Oh, wow!

Don't eat them like that. You'll break your teeth.

SHE LAUGHS

Now, during this series, we're going to be taking you on a journey

into our culinary past.

Everything's ready, so let's get cracking.

We'll explore its revealing stories...

BOTH: Wow!

And meet the heroes that keep our food heritage alive.

It's a miracle what comes out of the oven!

'And, of course, be cooking up a load of dishes

'that reveal our foodie evolution.'

Look at that! That's a proper British treat.

We have...a taste...of history.

-Quite simply...

-BOTH: The best of British!

MOTORBIKE ENGINES REVVING

'Today's show is a hearty homage to our nation's palatable pies

'in all their wonderful shapes and sizes.'

'They're part of our incredible history and national heritage.'

# Easy as pie

# Let me tell you something

# It's like rolling off a log #

Oh, look at those beauties!

They're behind a glass cage for their own protection!

-Oh, Russell, two of your finest with some mash and peas.

-Certainly.

One meat and tatie, one chunky steak coming up.

When you're a regular, you just know what the craic is!

-Oh, you certainly do.

-Mash, peas and gravy.

Lovely. Oh, look at them.

The pie! Well, the Greeks, they dabbled a bit with pastry,

but it was the Romans who sowed the seeds of our pie culture.

Yeah. They invented a pudding of either fish or meat,

and that is the origins of the pie as we know it today.

And medieval courts, they made pies with very exotic ingredients

like peacocks and swans!

Ugh! I prefer chicken with mushroom myself.

Aye, from peacock to pork and apple to cherry,

there's something beautifully British about the pie.

'And the first one we want to celebrate with you

'is a traditional belter, a warm hug that's wrapped in pastry

'and a real British favourite.'

Some people...not all, but some people mistakenly think

that the apple pie is American.

Well, it's not!

They even say, "Oh, it's as American as apple pie!"

Well, we were making apple pies in this country

before Christopher Columbus even learned to paddle.

Exactly. So we're here to claim it back from the Americans,

because they don't own it. We do.

And this is our homage to the great British apple pie.

-Now, as two cooks, we've been making apple pies for many years.

-Many.

We've cooked apple pie on telly before.

But we've refined the recipe. There's a few little tricks and cheats in this,

and we call this the perfect apple pie.

We've got lemon zest in the pastry. It just gives it that edge.

We've put cornflour in the apple mix so it doesn't go soggy.

We've balanced the cinnamon and sugar perfectly

so that apple pie will appeal to every single person on the planet.

We know, because we've worked at it.

This still is a homage to the Bramley,

and Bramley is British!

Buh-ruh-i-tuh-i-huh-suh!... Suh-huh.

All good pies start with a brilliant crust.

Look, I'm going to get on with these apples, right?

-All right, matey.

-Give us another one, mate, would you?

The Bramley apple was thought to have been first planted

by a lady called Mary Ann Brailsford,

who planted an obscure pip in her garden in around 1810

in Nottinghamshire, and from that tree,

which still exists today, the Bramley was born.

To start our pie, put 400 grams of plain flour in a bowl

together with the finely grated zest of one lemon.

Meanwhile, mix two tablespoons of cornflour

with one teaspoon of ground cinnamon and 150 grams of caster sugar

in another bowl.

And now I'm going to peel my apples.

Over to Mr Myers at the bakery section.

So, in my bowl now I've got the finely grated zest of one lemon,

and the plain flour.

To this, add two tablespoons of caster sugar,

and a whole - and I mean a whole - pack of cold butter,

which will need to be cut into cubes.

It's lovely. It's a very short pastry, this.

Short means crumbly. Crumbly means buttery.

Buttery means, "Mmm, this is a good apple pie."

SIMON LAUGHS And do you know,

the Bramley apple is thought to be the best culinary apple in the world.

It's cheap, and it's massive, isn't it?

It is. It's brilliant. The only thing to watch out for with Bramleys

is that they hold quite a lot of moisture,

which is why, you see, we've done the cornflour,

so if it does leak a lot of juice,

you've got it, and it just becomes this lovely, appley, sweet gravy.

Moving on with the pastry,

gently rub your butter into the sugar, flour and zest mix

until it resembles breadcrumbs.

The lemon zest is just hitting my nose nicely.

-Ahh!

-Now, what I'm going to do is...

quarter the Bramleys.

Quarter them, slice them thin.

Simple.

Now in here I have got two tablespoons of water

and one egg, and we use this as a liquid,

so I'm just going to put this in, and be careful,

cos I don't want to overdo it. I can always add more.

It won't take much liquid to form this into pastry.

Right. So there's your pastry.

Now, I want to take...

..two thirds for the base

and a third for the top.

There you go. Make a ball. Don't handle it too much.

She's there, but she's very, very delicate.

Wrap this in cling film,

and pop this in the fridge.

It really would be a bit of a devil to roll out now.

Now, there's a couple of top tips for handling apples.

To stop them going brown, put them in some water with some lemon juice,

and that'll stop the discoloration of the apples.

But because we're doing it pretty quick,

and we're going to coat them in that lovely sugary cinnamon coating,

we should be all right. But don't leave them for half an hour

and then expect them to be the same colour, because they won't.

We're slicing these apples, and they're raw,

and they're going to go straight into the pie,

Don't be tempted to stew your fruit first.

Get it into the pie, and get it in raw,

so all of those lovely flavours are concealed

in their beautiful blanket of pastry

that Mr Myers is doing so well.

I'm greasing up my dish.

Next, flour and roll out the chilled pastry

onto a floured surface until it is about the thickness of a £1 coin,

and five to seven centimetres larger than the pie dish.

The world of the pie is fantastic,

and nobody makes a pie like the British.

In fact, our pies are perfect.

Well, I think it's a deep-ingrained tradition of making them

over centuries, and we're good at it.

Yeah. What started out as, like, a coffer to carry the meat -

it just used flour and water as a case...

It was like a ready-made pressure cooker.

For me, the pastry's as important as the pie.

Absolutely. And you'll see, when we cut into this,

it's just so wonderfully crumbly and gorgeous.

Now, to get this onto there,

just dust this with flour so that it doesn't stick to your pin.

Put it like that, roll it up,

put it on there like so...

..and line your tin.

If it's an all-butter pastry like this, a sweet pastry,

do chill it, because it makes handling it so much easier.

-Mr King, over to thee. I'll roll out the lid.

-Lovely.

We're going to look like it's slightly over-filled,

but it's not, because as those apples cook,

they're going to fall away and fall down

and lose some of their volume,

so we need to make sure

that it's as good and as packed as it can be.

Place the 600 grams of beautifully coated sliced apples

into the pie casing.

Brush the rim of the pastry with beaten egg

before putting the neatly rolled pie lid on top

and pressing the edges firmly together to seal.

Look at that, eh?

I remember my mother used to do this, yeah?

-She'd take the pie, and there was this action.

-I love this.

I'm going to make leaves out of these off-cuts

whilst Kingy shows you how to do a crimp.

-Over to you, maestro.

-Right.

What we do... Like that, OK?

Then you go push, push,

push, push...

While Si's crimping, I'm rolling out the rest of the pastry

and cutting out individual leaves.

Stick these onto the pie lid with a beaten egg.

-Egg-wash it...

-That's beautiful.

..nice and gently.

I think this is a prime example of what could be... It's a simple dish,

-it's cheap. This is going to give us ten good portions.

-Yeah!

But a bit a care, a bit of love,

has turned this into something quite special.

You put that in the middle of the table after dinner

-and people are going to go, "Wow!"

-That's the thing.

It's, like, "Oh, it's an apple pie, so don't make the effort." Well, do,

because if you do, it becomes something else then.

Pierce the top to let out the steam, and sprinkle with caster sugar.

Right. That needs to go into a preheated oven,

180 degrees Celsius for a fan oven, for 40 to 45 minutes,

until baked to apple-pie perfection.

Did you know that the Tudors loved their pies?

They were so delighted by them, they often sent them as gifts,

especially at Christmas time.

In fact, Tudor standing pies were often such extravagant works of art

that they can frequently be found featured in still-life paintings

of the Renaissance period.

Now, back to our own work of art.

Our pie's ready, and it's looking art-rageous.

-What do you reckon?

-Look at that!

-Should I?

Yep.

You don't need a sharp knife with that pastry, do you?

-Straight through, mate.

-Beautiful.

Now, remember, that's the crust that has the hint of lemon zest.

Oh!

-Cream, Kingy?

-Oh, please.

Thank you.

A marriage made in heaven.

Great!

The texture of the pastry is gorgeous,

and pastry is about texture,

but that little hint of lemon zest just gives it a fragrant top note.

I think the balance of acidity and sweetness,

which is what we spent a lot of time working on,

is just superb.

And this, in our opinion, is the perfect apple pie.

Served hot or cold, with cream or ice cream,

this pud truly is the apple of our eye.

A British favourite that hasn't changed over the years,

and is still as popular today as it ever was.

'The next stop on our path to pie heaven takes us to Denby Dale in Yorkshire.'

We want to show you the most eccentric British pie we can find.

CHEERING

Which will take some doing, given our rich history

of slightly bonkers food-related festivals and events.

Here's one pie that no man could eat alone.

This pie is like one that you'd find in Alice In Wonderland.

It's bigger than me and Dave and all our mates put together.

# The recipe's most secret

# So if you want to try

# Then get pen and paper ready #

The last one of these heavyweights to step into the ring

weighed in at a whopping 12 tons. Ooh, for pie-ing out loud!

Usually baked to celebrate national events and special occasions,

the giant Denby Dale pies

are part of a 220-year-old village tradition,

and have earned them quite a reputation.

The first ever giant Denby Dale pie was made in 1788,

to celebrate King George III's return from madness.

Great concept! "You may not be mad any more, George,

but WE are, and we're going to make a truly mad pie to prove it."

The next pie, in 1815,

celebrated the Duke of Wellington's victory over the French

at the Battle of Waterloo.

The third paid tribute to the lifting of the Corn Laws

which marked the end of the Hungry '40s.

Oh, a bit like me, then, but I'm going to have to be well into my 50s

to put an end to my hungry 40s.

The fourth celebrated Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee in 1887.

for this, the original pie was made with game,

and actually went off, sending the stench throughout the village.

I bet she wasn't amused!

Thankfully, the locals did step in fast to make a second one.

The fifth, in 1896, was in honour of the 50th anniversary

of the repeal of the Corn Laws.

The sixth, in 1928, was a cracking World War I victory pie.

The seventh, in 1964, celebrated four royal births.

The eighth, in 1988, was in honour of the bicentenary

of the first ever Denby Dale giant pie.

I've never seen anything so big in my life!

And took over a year and a half to plan.

I'm an idiot, simple as that.

Not enough time, really, to do all the things,

but it's quite enjoyable.

This pie was made in a secret location two miles away,

and was made with three tons of taters, a ton of onions,

several gallons of gravy, and three tons of prime beef.

Ooh, and a lot of sleepless nights.

This particular Denby Dale giant was hailed as the biggest and best ever.

-Very nice. Would you like a sample?

-No. I shall go and queue for myself.

It's a proud moment. It's an honour to do a Denby Dale pie.

There's not many chefs can bake a Denby Dale pie,

and I'm pleased I've done it.

But that was before the ninth and most recent

colossal crusted creation came along to mark the millennium.

Now, this 12-ton monster attracted 30,000 people

and stole the show.

The proof of the pie, as they say, is in the eating.

I have been the first taster today,

and I was in 1964,

and I was in 1988.

And it tasted beautiful.

Now, while we wonder what national event will mark the next whopper,

it's time to leave our Denby Dale wonderland

and come back to the real world.

'From the most eccentric one to one of the most popular -

'our next step will take us to the country's best

'as voted in the last British Pie Awards.'

We're heading northwest to Lancashire, to a football ground -

not the first place you would expect to find gourmet food.

'It's match day in Morecambe, and they're expecting 5,000 hungry fans

'through the turnstiles in just a few hours.'

Oh, Saturday afternoon on the terraces!

A pie, a pint, a mug of Bovril...

It's all as British - well, as football itself!

The Bovril was always too hot to drink. It burnt your tongue.

And the pie was always too hot to hold.

I absolutely loved it!

DAVE BEEPS HORN

'But as you know, we're not here for the footie today.'

We're here for the award-winning cuisine.

These pies are apparently some of the best you'll find in the UK.

We're here to meet one of our Best Of British food heroes,

Graham Aimson, the club's head chef and the brains behind their pies.

Let's go! Oops! THEY LAUGH

-That nearly had us, that chair!

-It did!

Graham!

-How are you?

-Good.

-DAVID LAUGHS

-Look at those beauties!

-Look at these!

-Aren't they nice?

-Come round so we can see you.

Now, football and pies are indivisible,

-but your pies are special, aren't they?

-They are.

-How special?

-The best in the country.

The supreme champion of all the pies,

-in bakers' shops, supermarkets...

-That's official?

-It is.

It's Morecambe Football Club, and you just have the best pies.

-The best. The very best.

-And you entered a competition...

We entered it with the ambition of winning the Football League pie,

not even looking at the big supreme championship,

and we took that and the small-producer award,

-so we got three.

-How many pies on match day will you sell?

Last match day we sold 390, and that was with a crowd of 4,000.

Today we expect between 300 and 700. You can never tell.

It depends on the weather, if they're having a family dinner,

so today we'll have a minimum 400 pies go out.

-400 pies today?

-Today, yeah.

-I can't wait any longer. Can I have a taste?

-By all means.

-Do you want a chicken one?

-Can I have a steak one?

We've got a steak one on here somewhere.

'I can't believe Si's got in there first.'

-Are you not having one?

-I haven't been offered!

-Do you want one?

-Of course I want one!

-Do you want a chicken one?

-Thank you.

So, the chicken won what award?

The chicken won the supreme champion and the steak got a silver.

-Look at that.

-The Lancashire hotpots got a gold,

-and the chicken Balti got a bronze.

-Oh, nice pastry.

-Yeah. Pastry makes a pie.

-Oh, aye.

It's not just the means of getting it straight into your gob.

-It's an entity in itself, isn't it?

-Mm-hm.

-Look at that filling!

The cameraman's drooling through the lens now.

These are fantastic pies.

These are comfort food, something everybody relates to.

With some pies, you get your meat and vegetables in there.

It's a substance we all relate to, and it's not hard to make.

Look at that gravy! It's glossy, it's full of meat.

-Man, happy days!

-Graham, will you show us how you make your pies?

I'd love to show you how to make all the pies.

-We'll follow you. Crack on.

-You don't want that bit.

-No!

-Ow!

Now, then, chaps!

The crust. So, Graham, what's your pastry recipe?

-Er, I'm not telling you.

-Ahh!

-No recipes today. No...

-THEY LAUGH

Five-and-half-inch ring, some pre-made pastry here,

which of course we made ourselves. Push into the corners like that.

But you're doing 800 pies.

You've got to have such a system set up.

We take up a full bench when we do a full run.

This is like a manufacturing line, almost.

'Graham here used to work in Michelin-starred restaurants,

'but this is what he loves - upholding great British traditions.

'He's a bit of a hidden jewel in our nation's crown.'

So you really do do this in the proper old-fashioned way,

and it's just brilliant, and that's why you've won the awards.

Exactly. It stands out because it looks rustic and home-made.

It's not a mass-manufactured product like you see in the shops.

With that one, crimp it down like that.

Get the traditional feel of the pie. Oh, yeah!

So, in an hour, how many can you knock out?

If you've got everything prepped, you could probably get 100 out.

That's it. Quick slash in there.

All we have to do is pray the team perform as well as your pies.

Yeah. I hope so.

Outside, the Morecambe FC players are already warming up,

and some of the pie-eating fans are getting stuck in early.

'But this is the calm before the storm.

'Graham's got hundreds more pies to bake,

'so we've arranged to meet writer Tom Dickinson in the stadium.'

He's got a bit of an unusual pie story to tell.

I spent one season going to all 92 of the league football clubs,

and I ate a pie at each one.

The pies are the meaty glue that hold the league together.

If you're here at Morecambe they've got pies.

Man United have got pies. It's something that in every club they've got.

What is it about the special relationship

between football and the terraces and pies?

There's something so comforting about a pie,

especially when you're watching low-league football on a cold, wintry night.

I mean, a grey slab of burger isn't going to do it.

You need something with lots of warming meat and mushy peas

and gravy in it. The pie and football just go hand in hand.

Do the posher clubs have better pies than the working-class clubs?

Not at all. Some of the worst ones were the Arsenals, the Chelseas.

More expensive, but not as good as somewhere like here at Morecambe.

Really, the question on our lips -

did you come up with the answer to the eternal question,

"Who ate all the pies?"

I think that originated back in the 19th century

with this fat goalkeeper. Fatty Foulkes, he was called.

It turns out that William "Fatty" Foulkes

was 6'2" and weighed about 20 stone at his heaviest.

He played footie for Sheffield United between 1894 and 1905.

His size meant that lovely fans came up with the chant,

"Who ate all the pies?" while he was on the pitch.

-CROWD:

-# Who ate all the pies? Who ate all the pies? #

But nowadays I guess it's me. I ate all the pies.

I had one at each of the 92 clubs,

so despite not being too chubby, I think I ate all the pies.

'With that question answered, we want to hear what the fans think

'of Morecambe FC's pies before the kick-off.'

It's time to take the pies to the people.

Shall we start with the big hairy fella?

Let's get him. He looks like one of us.

It's official! Morecambe have the best pies in Britain.

-Apparently so.

-Have a sample.

It's definitely a very nice pie. A nice light pastry,

-and lots of moisture inside.

-Go on, have a big 'un. Chicken.

I will. I like a big one. Thank you.

'We've drawn quite a crowd. The pies must be good!'

-What a good bit of steak!

-What makes a good pie?

-Decent pastry.

-Yeah. It's good pastry, isn't it?

-Nice and light.

-Nice, light, crunchy?

-Lovely. Yeah.

Football wouldn't be football without pies, would it?

-Got any more?

-# Bring me sunshine

# In your smile

# Fun and laughter #

It's time for the other reason people have come here.

Well, we need to leave the fans to their match made in heaven,

so we can pay tribute to that other meaty marvel,

a British pie that's renowned the world over.

The Melton Mowbray pork pie began life at the start of the 19th century.

At that time, Melton Mowbray butchers and bakers

were making pastry with flour, water and pig fat,

and the pigs themselves were being fattened with whey

-and the husks from ground wheat.

-All things that led to a tasty pie.

Using a wooden mould, they would make a small pastry case

shaped like a bowl, which the pork was placed inside.

Holes were pierced in the lid, and once the pie was baked,

a gelatine gravy was poured in.

The pie was then allowed to set, and you know what?

This recipe's never changed.

Back then, this hardy, hearty, portable packed lunch

quickly became the pie of choice for the working man.

And its appeal didn't stop there. During the early 1800s,

Melton Mowbray had also become a focal point for serious foxhunters,

and while they were out riding, they needed something that would be easy to eat on horseback.

And the small-parcelled pork pie was ideal.

It is said that, just as a Cornish pasty

should stand up to being dropped down a mine,

equally a Melton Mowbray should be able to survive in a hunter's pocket

and be a delightful snack after over an hour's hard riding.

And it did.

In 1831, Edward Adcock was the first baker

to manufacture the famous Melton Mowbray pork pie

for the wholesale trade.

This led the way for it to become the internationally recognised meat pie it is today.

This isn't a pie in the sky.

This is a pie with its feet well and truly grounded on British soil,

and it is still as popular today as it was in the 1800s.

'But there are some old classics which have fallen out of fashion.

'But if one man has his way, however,

'one pie might be set for a bit of a comeback.'

We're heading north for Yorkshire,

to meet a Best Of British food hero, butcher and farmer Tim Wilson.

He's an award-winning pie maker

who gets very passionate about an old-fashioned pie.

When I was a kid, Tuesday night was pie night,

and my mum used to make chicken-and-mushroom pie.

It was a big thing.

You had a big bowl. The bowls were nice. There was a big cream pot.

If you had a steak-and-kidney pudding,

it was in a cream earthenware pot with muslin over the top,

and then tied with string.

Big chunks of meat, into the pie, and good stock,

with nice herbs. It's a fantastic thing,

and it's what would have been done -

oh, I don't know - a hundred years ago.

You get two pleasures out of it. You get the pleasure of eating it

but a great pleasure in making it, and that's almost as much fun

as the eating part.

Tim Wilson runs a chain of butchers' shops in London

which sell all things meaty, including pies.

The meat for Tim's pies comes from his farm on the Yorkshire moors.

These cows, pigs and sheep are old-fashioned British breeds,

something else he's passionate about.

SHEEP BLEATS

Most of my food, my animals, the way I butcher,

the way I rear the animals, whatever we make,

is a bit old-fashioned.

When I started, I wanted to eat meat with flavour.

I got all the old recipe books from the 17th century,

and the breeds and the cuts were different,

and flavour was important.

It's keeping the flavours and the tastes

that we ate generations, hundreds of years ago.

There's one meat that Tim wants to put back in his pies and his shops.

We're going to make a pie with mutton,

because the mutton's got the flavour.

If it's a lamb pie, it won't have quite as much flavour.

Every recipe you read from pre-1950

right the way back to 17th-century books,

mutton is always mentioned, and there are great recipes for mutton.

You know, Tim's got a point.

Mutton used to be considered the best meat money could buy.

No-one ate lamb because sheep were grown for the lucrative wool trade.

The adult sheep were then sold as mutton.

It was even more expensive than beef.

But in the '50s, the mass production of new artificial fibres

killed off the wool industry.

Farmers found they could get a higher price for lamb,

which became the new fashionable meat.

And mutton, once Britain's favourite meat, got the chop.

Its fantastic flavours were forgotten.

The real flavour is in something that's been running around on those hills for three or four years,

and it's been eating heather and it's been eating grass,

and it's been picking at the wildflowers.

That then gives it flavour. It gives it texture,

it gives it depth of maturity,

all the things that you really, really want.

If mutton is to sell in Tim's shops,

he needs to find a pie that will fly off the shelves.

Tim's baker, Les, gets to work.

He starts by chopping the mutton into large cubes

which will be cooked until brown.

To make a pie well, you've got to cook the meat well.

It's got to be cooked for four hours.

It wants that long, slow cooking to break down all the muscles,

so that the fat runs out of it, the muscle breaks down.

You get that nice, glutinous, sticky sauce together.

-And what about the veg?

-Ooh, fresh from the garden!

You've always got to put carrot with mutton,

because carrot is a sweet vegetable,

and it brings out the flavour of the mutton. And fresh thyme.

After an hour of roasting,

half a bottle of wine and some stock are added to the meat.

-Then the veg goes in...

-And so does the secret ingredient,

black pudding, which will thicken, darken and flavour the pie gravy.

Mmm! Then the whole thing goes into the oven for three hours.

Plenty of time to get cracking with the pastry.

We're going to use suet crust pastry today,

which is my favourite pastry,

because the top is always perfectly brown and crisp.

Underneath, where it touches the meat,

it's still slightly white,

and you get that sort of lovely meaty-but-pastry combination.

Perfect!

Oh, I can almost smell it from here!

-How's it going, Les?

-Yeah, fine.

-It smells good,

and it's looking good. Nice and dark.

It's the black pudding, I think, isn't it?

Gives it a real unusual twist. How much meat do you put in?

Er, there's two full legs and two full shoulders.

-You've basically got a whole ewe in there.

-A full one, yes.

Once the pastry is golden and crispy,

Tim's hungry shepherds and office staff

will be flocking to judge if the mutton pie is a hit.

It's a real effort, it's a real task, to bring mutton back

from where it has been, which is right at the bottom,

to bring it back up so that it goes on the Sunday lunch table

as a roast leg of mutton,

it goes on Tuesday night as big mutton pie.

That's our task now -

to try and get mutton as the "in" meat.

Hands up, all those people who think it's going to be strong-tasting

and tough.

THEY LAUGH

Right. So those are people we've got to convince...

..that it's going to be a winner.

Is mutton more gamey than lamb, then?

No, it's not gamey. It's a totally different flavour to lamb.

Mutton is more like eating beef.

You'll be the judge.

-Well, it smells...

-It looks lovely, doesn't it?

It smells pretty good.

The consistency is what I think of as a pie.

That is really thick gravy,

and big, big chunks of meat.

Perfect.

Cor, that looks great! But will this pie be good enough

to make it onto Tim's shop shelves?

Come on, then, David. What do you think?

Mmm! Nice!

Not chewy.

-Not chewy at all.

-It seems a lot leaner than I expected.

-Yeah. Absolutely, yeah.

-It's very nice.

-But it's not a lamby flavour, is it?

-No.

It's a different flavour. It's soft.

It's unctuous.

I genuinely...

Is it not as bad as you expected? THEY LAUGH

I genuinely think this is grand.

So Tim has found a pie to put in his shops.

I don't think mutton needs to be dressed up as lamb.

It looks pretty good in that pie.

Oh, we do love a good meat pie!

'And we've saved our best for last, as we're hoping to reach pie Nirvana

'in our Best Of British kitchen.'

We're going to do for you today one of our favourite all-time pies -

chicken, ham and leek.

It's just one of the best pies ever,

hot, cold... It's what you call a cut-and-come-again pie, isn't it?

-Yes.

-You think, "I'll just have a slither."

You have a little bit like that.

-And you think, as you pass again...

-"I'll just have a bit more."

"I wonder if I should have a little piccalilli with that."

Anyway, we should show you how to cook it, really,

instead of thinking about pies.

We want you to own this, take it, possess it,

-make it your own. It's brilliant!

-Pies are close to our hearts.

We want to share that pie love with you.

To kick off our chicken, leek and ham pie,

place 450 millilitres of just-boiled water into a pan,

and crumble in one chicken stock cube, and stir.

Then take three chicken breasts and put them into the pan

for ten minutes, just to poach.

A pie, it's an egalitarian thing, isn't it?

Pie is something for the masses.

With pies... There's no pies and prejudice, is there?

HE LAUGHS

-Eeh!

-Oh, I suppose I'd better make some crust, hadn't I?

Well, yeah.

To make your pastry, put 350 grams of plain flour

and a pinch of sea salt into your processor.

Mate, can you pass us two leeks?

HE IMITATES GUNFIRE

Give us the leeks, will you?

Cut 350 grams of butter into chunks,

and pulse together with the flour and salt

until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Then mix in one tablespoon of cold water

with one large beaten egg, and add to your pastry mix,

and blitz till it forms a ball.

Pies!

There comes a point where it just starts to go together.

Don't overdo it. Once the ball's there... Oh! That's it.

Oh, look at that, man! See? Look!

Now, we need two thirds for the base,

and a third for the lid.

So you're just going to put this in the fridge for half an hour,

-and, yes, you've guessed it. I do have some that I prepared earlier.

-You're good like that.

Meanwhile, for your pie filling, finely chop two leeks

and gently saute them in a pan.

But you know, chicken's got an interesting history in this country.

In 1815, there were records of having 12 different kinds

of domesticated fowl in the country.

But the royals, they've been mega chicken-fanciers for ages.

Queen Victoria, she put her cochin fowl on exhibition.

And the Prince of Wales is president of the British Poultry Club.

And the Queen Mother bred chicken.

-She was very proud of her Buff Orpingtons.

-Was she?

She was! I'll just pop this in the fridge. I'm boring myself now.

HE WHISTLES

Moving on, chop two cloves of garlic, and add to the leeks.

Saute that garlic off with the leeks for a couple of minutes.

Then take your poached chicken out of the pan,

reserving the stock for later.

I'm just going to take 250 mill of this.

And butter your pie dish.

Now put your leek and garlic mix into a bowl ready for the filling.

OK. Now we're going to get on and make a roux.

Start off with 75 grams of butter and place in a pan to melt.

Roll out your pastry until around four millimetres thick,

and four centimetres larger than your pie dish.

So, now we go on to make the sauce for our pie.

About 25 Gs of flour.

And then you just cook that out a little bit.

OK? So you're left with a nice smooth paste. Look.

See? Nice and smooth.

Pastry goes up.

As you can see, it's really decent to handle.

Pop it on your dish. Press that down.

And that's just what we need.

Right. Now, to this I'm just going to drizzle in some milk.

OK?

And then we add that cooking liquor.

While Si does that, I'm going to chop the three chicken breasts

and a 150-gram piece of thickly carved ham

into two-centimetre chunks.

Then I'm going to add two tablespoons of white wine to the roux.

Keep that moving. Just want to cook a little bit

of that white wine off.

Now, it's not finished yet, though,

because we want to make it even more unctuous,

and the way that we do that is, we take it off the heat...

Cream?

Should I?

I think so.

We're adding 150 millilitres of delicious double cream.

See the face you love light up with a pie.

-THEY LAUGH

-That's brilliant!

It makes you very happy. Put it back on the heat.

Right. Er, Mr Myers, with your fine palate, sir,

would you mind just tasting that and seasoning it?

Ooh, how bland! Really good flavour from the chicken, though.

-Nice, eh?

-I'll use black pepper. Could use white.

It's a pie filling. We add lots of pepper.

And now we pour that into our bowl to cool.

Now, to avoid a skin forming on the top,

cover your sauce with cling film and leave to cool.

-Now, look. See this here? Look.

-Oh...

No skin on it. Top tip, that.

So, what we do, into that lovely sauce...

Add your leeks, garlic, chicken and ham to the sauce,

and give it a good stir. Now you're ready to fill the pie.

-Look at this.

-Slap it in!

-More the merrier. Bigger the better.

-There's pleasure in a pie.

There's passion in a pie.

Oodles of eggy wash, the pastry glue.

And...

-Oh, man!

-See? Even though it's a butter shortcrust,

you chill it, you can handle it.

Look at that! Amazing! Hold on, mate. I'll get you a knife.

Use a knife to tidy the rim, and then crimp the pie edges

-with your fingers.

-It gives it that kind of Mrs Lovett look to it.

-It does.

-It's like a pie you get in a comic.

-Desperate Dan, Sweeney Todd, all them.

-Yeah.

-Look at that.

-So perfect!

-Could have come out the packet.

-It could.

-I love you.

-Thank you.

-Not you. The pie.

Brush your pie lid with egg wash, and pierce two holes in the top

-to let out the steam.

-It's "piefect".

THEY LAUGH

Look at that!

Now simply pop that into a preheated oven,

about 180 degrees Celsius if it's a fan oven,

for about 30 to 40 minutes, until the pastry's golden.

While that bakes, we've got time for a startling chicken fact.

Did you know that 20 percent of all the animal protein

consumed in the world is chicken?

Aye! That means that the chuck certainly is a popular bird.

I wonder if our chicken pie is ready yet!

HE LAUGHS Yes! Oh, it's like Christmas!

Every day can be Christmas when you've got a pie.

Look at that beauty! Look!

Now, this really is the best of British.

We've had them with our grannies. We've had them with our children.

Pies! It's the future!

-It seems such a shame to cut it, doesn't it?

-Cut it!

-Are you sure?

-Yes. Please.

-Look at that.

-A nice-sized wedge, Kingy?

Yeah, please.

Ahhhh!

Oh! Ready? One, two, three...

Now, this is my sort of pie. Look at the colour of it, with the leeks!

That's beautiful.

Oh!

It makes you giggle, though, cos it's so lovely!

The leeks are quite powerful, going through it.

The crust... Well, look at that. Mmm!

Now, this is a classic British pie. It's ours. We're proud of it.

We've made pies since the Middle Ages,

and we're very good at it. And do you know what?

-I think we've just got better.

-Mm-hm!

And you can always add mushrooms to this pie

and make it even more sumptuous.

Us Brits have really pulled out the stops

when it comes to the humble pie.

We've got a pie that may live to see another day.

A pie that continues to grow come what may...

A supreme award-winner bringing sunshine to our skies,

and one with international status that no-one can deny.

Us Brits really know how to make these treats easy as pie.

If you want to know more, visit...

..to discover some amazing facts about the history of food,

and to find out how to cook up the recipes in today's show.

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