Traditional British Food - Meat Pies for All

Victorian Street Food or a Queen's Banquet - A Tasty Snack Any Time

May 1, 2007

British meat pies come in all shapes and flavours. Old time favourites can be found on most local high streets- usually in the traditional butcher's shop.

The humble pie was still very much in evidence in Victorian times and meat pies were sold all over England by traveling pie-men who walked the streets with their freshly made pies held high in a basket. They sold their wares in taverns and public houses and were always to be seen at race meetings and fairs. Simple Simon met one in the 18th Century and the nursery rhyme reminds us that in those days a tasty meat pie could be bought for only one penny.

British Food - Meat Pies - You don’t always get what you want.

As is occasionally the case with 'street food' today, there was often a risk in buying from the pie men and the Victorian housewife would be very particular about whom she bought from. Some pie men were less than careful about sealing off their pies properly with aspic or butter to prevent them from spilling, and cases of food poisoning were not uncommon.

It wasn't just the humble pie man who could be negligent. Whoever made Queen Victoria's Jubilee Pie in1887 had something to answer for, too. This enormous pie, claimed to be the largest ever made, was 10 feet long, 6-1/2 feet wide, 1 foot deep and weighed 15 hundredweight - that’s over fifteen hundred pounds. When it was cut into, the smell was appalling!

Meat pies could also be bought at coffee-stalls which were well established by the 1850's and at pie shops where they could be eaten on the premises or taken away. Perhaps this was the beginning of take-away food as we know it today. Certainly the meat pie has retained its popularity as a quick handy snack and looks as though it will be around for a long time to come.

In the UK today there are dozens of varieties of savoury meat pies. Old time favourites like Steak and Kidney Pie, Pork Pies, Lamb Pies and many more can be found on most local high streets but you will not, perhaps thankfully, find many people who would be tempted to eat pies stuffed with swans, rooks, larks, lamb’s tails and sometimes pies stuffed with entrails.

Tastes change, and perhaps future generations will recoil at the thought of eating food that we enjoy today. After all, frozen dinners may not look too appetising to future generations. And what about hot dogs draped in sickly yellow mustard, soggy hamburgers and soft white tasteless bread. A sugar-coated meat pie is beginning to look quite appealing.

The copyright of the article Traditional British Food - Meat Pies for All in Historical Travel is owned by Cathy Smith. Permission to republish Traditional British Food - Meat Pies for All in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.