Last week, 3rd to 9th March, was the British National Pie week. Not wanting to flake out, Chantelle’s Tasty Titbits was on the prowl for our very own pie in the Blue Patch sky. To our surprise we did not have to travel far and stumbled upon Sarah from Netta’s Pies*, whom Jane originally met in Bacchus Wine shop, just a short walk from the Blue Patch HQ.
Sample Pie
We all know the expression ‘bun in the oven’ but for Sarah it’s most definitely a pie in the oven. Sarah developed a love of all things pie while growing up surrounded by a great family network. Her Aunt and Grandmother fed Sarah and her sister with stories, food and love. Later when her aunt Netta decide to settle permanently nearby, (giving up her dream of emigrating to New Zealand) Sarah joined her in the kitchen and the seed of her love of pies was planted.
Last year whilst visiting her best friend’s farm in Devon, Sarah stumbled across a local country pub and ate a delicious pie which brought back rich memories of her childhood in the kitchen with her aunt Netta. From here she investigated pie making, taking knowledge from old and new and in 2013 she decided to start her own pie company. Sarah’s process of pie making is exceptional, the pastry, a unique ‘puff meets short crust’ affair, is made over two days and follows a traditional French-English method. The meat (prime cuts of outdoor reared lamb and beef) is organic and simmered in a mouth-watering secret marinade. She’s currently working on some vegetarian recipes. All ingredients are biodynamic or organic where biodynamic cannot be sourced. Her wine is from one of Blue Patch’s favourite wine merchants Bacchus Wine Shop on Half Moon Lane in SE24.
Pies in progress
The Blue Patch team were lucky enough to be invited along to a pie and wine tasting event at Bacchus and were given free sample pies to try at home. We found Sarah’s pies utterly delicious, packed with flavour and succulent meat cooked to perfection; my favourite being the lamb pie. The combination of the very best of ingredients along with the attentive method used to make the pastry really does make Netta’s Pies (*working title) outstanding and delightfully moreish.
Pie you like
As always, Blue Patch aims to ‘support local’ and in keeping with this, we are supporting Sarah to get her business up and baking.
*Sarah is looking for a new name for her pie company. So far, apart from Netta’s Pies, the names Greavesie’s Pies, EmPIEre, Pi, π, Pietradition and PieOrganic have been suggested. If you can cook up a great name for Sarah’s pies, please send your suggestions to sariegreaves@btinternet.com and keep your eyes peeled for the winning name to be announced on our blog – the winner will receive a pie of their choice for two.
