A pork pie is a traditional English meat pie, usually served at room temperature, although occasionally served hot. It consists of a filling of roughly chopped pork and pork fat, surrounded by a layer of jellied pork stock in a hot water crust pastry. They are often produced in moulds or forms, giving the outside of the pie a very regular shape. This method is simpler and cheaper for volume production, and hence the more common choice for commercial manufacturers.

As the meat shrinks when the pie is cooked, traditional recipes specified that clarified butter or a hot pork stock was poured into the pie after baking. This would set when cool, filling the gap between meat and pastry and preventing air from reaching the filling and causing it to spoil. Commercial makers use a 6% solution of gelatin at between , added into the pie immediately after baking.

Melton Mowbray pork pie

thumb|left|A Melton Mowbray pork pie

thumb|left|Large pork pie cut in half

The Melton Mowbray pork pie is named after Melton Mowbray, a town in Leicestershire.

In the light of the premium price of the Melton Mowbray pie, the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association applied for protection under European protected designation of origin laws as a result of the increasing production of Melton Mowbray-style pies by large commercial companies in factories far from Melton Mowbray, and recipes that deviated from the original uncured pork form. Protection was granted on 4 April 2008, with the result that only pies made within within a zone around the town, and using the traditional recipe including uncured pork, are allowed to carry the Melton Mowbray name on their packaging. It is also a common combination served at Bonfire Night celebrations.

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Sources

  • The Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, an association of pie makers
  • The Pork Pie Appreciation Society
  • Photos showing the steps in constructing a rather large pork pie
  • Pork pie in What Am I Eating? A Food Dictionary