Source
r/australia•
aposter

An Americans questions about pies.

self

I work for an international company that has offices in many countries, including Australia. Over the years I've worked closely with several of my Australian counterparts. From them I've come to the conclusion that the most Australian things there are are Tim Tam Slams, barbecues with lots of friends, sausages, and Vicky Bitter. Oh, and pies.

Not like the pies we have here in the U.S. though. You have savory pies. The only common savory pie here in the U.S. is Chicken Pot Pie, and I would like more options.

So, with all of the staying at home I've been doing recently I've started to branch out my cooking skills. I'd like to try making some of these pies that my coworkers from, and in, Australia go on about.

So, what are some of your favorite fillings? Recipes would be greatly appreciated if possible. I assume that they are mostly shortcrust, and not puff pastry or phyllo dough. Beef and pork are common here. Lamb, much less common, but doable. Mutton is right out. Apparently we Americans don't eat sheep that grow up. As for veg, I can likely get most things, but won't know until you start naming off things and I go, "what's that?"

p.s. Please, don't name your favorite shops. I don't want to start a war. Besides, I'm 9,000+ km away, and I don't want to be teased with all the wonderful things I'll probably never be able to try.

Posted May 29, 2020, 4:02 AM UTC

43114
Bazzabond•

My go to is always a chunky steak pepper pie, gotta be proper beef though not whatever part of roadkill they put in general pies

68
aposterOP•

Chunky steak pepper pie sounds like a good starting point for some recipe searches, and sounds delicious.

Thanks.

20
MissNixit•

For your second go, try a potato pie. It's a pie with no lid and mashed potato on top. In Queensland, they add mushy peas underneath. Some people love the peas, some people hate them.

11
rustyfries•

Do you mean a Shepherd's Pie

6
FistimusPrime•

It would depend on the filling, correct me if am wrong. But a shepherds pie would have lamb as the filling. If it's beef filling then it would be a cottage pie. Pedantic yes, but important nomenclature in terms of pies

6
MissNixit•

Do you mean a Shepherd's Pie

Like that but with pastry

1
Opposite_Bodybuilder•

You can put pretty much any filling you want in a pie as long as it's not too runny. Pastry can be shortcrust, or a shortcrust base with puff pastry top.

For an easy and tasty pastry, I like to use Maggie Beer's sourcream pastry (top and bottom). On that same page I linked you'll find a bunch of recipes to try as well. I haven't tried them personally, but Maggie Beer's cooking is pretty consistently good so they'd be a good place to start.

*Edit - Video of Maggie making the pastry. Super easy!

*Edit#2 - You really can put any fillings in you want, your favourite curry or stew? Stick it in a pie. A tip I picked up years ago for thickening sauce/gravy for a pie is to use agar agar, not cornflour/cornstarch. It is more temperature stable so will stay thick after baking, whereas cornflour can go runny again. Here's an example of agar being used to thicken the sauce for pies. You can pick it up in most supermarkets or Asian grocers nowadays.

30
TheOtherLimpMeat•

Ah good old Maggie 'verjuice' Beer. Cook and Chef was one of my fave cooking shows.

24
Opposite_Bodybuilder•

Haha, she does love her verjuice, but in her defence it is a useful ingredient.

As much as I like Maggie, I could not stand the Cook and the Chef show. The 'chef' was an absolute twerp, and his cooking was consistently terrible. And I really couldn't handle Maggie continually put herself down and minimise her own skills compared to him, calling herself "just a cook". She has way more knowledge and skill than he does so it irritated me endlessly seeing her to that to herself.

I really only hate-watched the show to see what terrible things the guy was making, lol.

1†
theBaron01•

She likes it because it's hers...

2
Opposite_Bodybuilder•

She was one of the first (if not the first) to produce it commercially, but she didn't invent it. It's long been used in France, Spain, Italy, etc. I have a vague recollection of her tasting it in France or reading it in a cook book or something like that, and liked it so much she decided to produce it herself.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with loving a product you make and promoting it's use. It is a good ingredient and has its place in the kitchen. So props to her for taking the initiative to corner the market on it, if it wasn't her someone else would have soon enough.

3
TheOtherLimpMeat•

yeah, surprisingly the only commercially available verjuice is her brand.

1
aposterOP•

That looks like an interesting pastry crust. I'll have to find some butter that looks more like what's in the pictures on that recipe page. Most butter here is insipid pale white stuff with no real taste. The crust on that page looks wonderful.

7
Opposite_Bodybuilder•

You can make your own butter if you feel like it, is super easy. Just whip heavy cream/whipping cream/thickened cream/whatever you call it in your country until it goes past the point of whipped cream and turns into butter. Rinse, knead in some salt, and leave it for a few days for the flavour to develop.

You can even do that with the butter you can buy, if it's ingredients are simple and not much more than just cream. If you've got a mixer, you can just have it going slowly while you fold some salt through, or you can do it yourself by hand if you want to, spreading it out, folding it back up, spreading it out again. You work out some of the excess moisture and by adding salt and leaving it for a few days to a week after, you really can improve the flavour.

White butter isn't necessarily a problem, and if it's flavourless it might just be because it is young and doesn't contain salt. But with a tiny bit of effort you can turn basic butter into something much nicer.

6
Cactuar_Zero•

Try and find a European style butter.
They add cultures and have a higher butterfat % which makes them taste richer and better for baking with.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
martoodeetoo•

An easy way to do it : use the leftovers of a roast with thickened gravy for your fillings. Sorry I don’t have any more advice than that.

I’m sure there will be many other opinions here.

Good luck!

23
unfalln•

This is an excellent starter suggestion for filling!

6
thatguymattguy•

Beef cheese and bacon is always a winner

22
FreakySpook•

Yeah that or the Ned Kelly pie, which is steak, cheese, bacon and an egg on top which cooks to become the pie lid.

5
ozbugsy•

When I was at uni - the student cafe did these as a breakfast pie - delish.

2
aposterOP•

Sounds amazing. I'll search for some recipes.

Is the cheese usually in the filling, or on top?

4
thatguymattguy•

Usually beef , gravy and bacon mixed together as the filling then a layer of cheese on top of the filling, just below the pastry lid

5
Dynamite9585•

A gourmet pie place in NZ once tried to put proper grated cheese in the mince/steak and cheese pies, had to switch to the crappy processed stuff after complaints there wasn't the lava hot clump of yellow liquid when you buy into the pie.

5
[deleted]•

The pain is part of the flavour

11
aposterOP•

Sounds amazing. Going to have to try this.

2
ellieboomba•

Little bit of both Gooey cheese just under the crust is the go. Please dont call it Vicky Bitter. It's VB (VIC BITTER, OR VOMIT BOMBS)

Also Scollop pies from Tassie are worth the plane trip

1
Mudcaker•

Cheese and bacon bits on top to get all crispy in the oven, and a little mixed inside to be gooey. It's my personal favourite.

1
Jexp_t•

"Americans don't eat sheep that grow up."

Mutton stew with frybread is a classic- and favorite of the Diné (Navajo) people in the four corners region.

Wouldn't be a terrible pie filling.

One thing to avoid though are 'pork pies." These abominations are of British origin -not Australian, although you can get them here.

If I were back in the states, I'd take advantage of the excellent, wide range of vegetarian options and artisan cheeses.

17
nosha3000•

The Brits can barely cook full stop

4
Sgt_Colon•

Blame the post war rationing. Some of the old stuff wasn't too bad and had these now alien things know as "herbs" and "spices" and with dishes imported from "'em foreign 'eathen places" like Mulligatawny soup (that somehow gets a walk whilst lasagne is 'foreign'). However now you're left with a generation that thinks cracked pepper is too 'spicy'.

4
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
aposterOP•

I'm much closer to Four Corners than Australia, but they still don't really have mutton here where I am. There are a couple of places I can go that I can get mutton, or even goat, if I really need to, but it is expensive and the selection is slim.

2
gixer24•

But pork belly pie though 🤤

1
gbom•

Thanks to Terry Pratchett I like to try and have a pork pie at Christmas (despite the constantly increasing weather temp). The Hogfather is probably one of my top 5 books I've ever read.

2
TheOtherLimpMeat•

Tasmanian Scallop pies are the best variation IMO

11
aposterOP•

Tasmanian Scallop pie

I'm sorry, but my head just exploded. Did you say scallop pie?

Off to search recipes.

6
TheOtherLimpMeat•

Yep Scallops in a white mornay type source in a pie. Amazing!

6
SingleMalted•

I’ve been living a life half lived.

1
theBaron01•

To add to this, make a nice thick seafood chowder. The leftovers then make an amazing pie filling, especially with leek.

1
danielslounge•

My aunt has a secret recipe for scallop pies which is delicious. I know the secret ingredient is homemade rhubarb relish, not sure what else goes in. A good scallop pie is one of the most delicious things you can eat.

1
mahootenanny•

This is the best answer.

2
mahootenanny•

Beef and Guinness is always a favourite. I like a tandoori chicken or a chicken and leek as well.

11
J954•

Steak and Mushroom is simple but great, the Mushrooms add texture to the otherwise plain filling. If you try any pie filling with "Bacon" in it try and get a Back Bacon cut instead, the Pork-Belly Bacon that is usually just called "Bacon" in the US is typically much fattier and streakier than Australian Bacon rashers, my family would always discard the fat and rind when using Bacon in pies so you'd end up wasting a large part of your bacon if you got a typical American cut.

Lamb, much less common, but doable.

Even if you can find meat labelled "Lamb" in the US it's usually over 12 months old because of laxer standards, hence it would be called Hogget by Australasian standards, not that it'd be used in a Pie anyway. Actually Lamb-"anything" is pretty much an Australian staple, Australians are the 3rd highest per capita consumers of Lamb in the world. So if you want to try something else Australian a barbecued Lamb Chop with Salad is another option for a light Summer dish, or a slow cooked Lamb Shank in a red wine sauce for a hearty winter dish.

8
MaevaM•

lentils and onions and whatnot are good. Top with mashed potato for vegetarian shepherds pie. Shepherds pie needs rosella tomato sauce, or something like, which you may be able to import.

We have small appliance pie maker.

The recipes of this magazine generally have a good reputation https://www.womensweeklyfood.com.au/search/pie

7
aposterOP•

Vegetarian is perfectly fine with me. Didn't think of Shepard's pie as Australian.

I have an international grocer I use that has foods from over 50 countries. They have been my hook up for Tim Tams for years. I'm hoping they have the Rosella Tomato Sauce. First guess is it will be a lot less sweet than the sugar laden ketchup/catsup here in the States.

3
karma3000•

Sheppard's pie and its cousin, cottage pie are British, not Australian.

3
MaevaM•

The ketchup I have had is more peppery. ketchup is what I would use if no tomato sauce is available:)

1
a_cold_human•

Not exclusively Australian, but a shepherd's pie. A lamb pie (with a bit of onion, some red wine and rosemary) with mashed potato spiraled on top with a piping bag. It's hard to beat.

7
baconsplash•

Going to add cottage (beef) pie here as well, as they can be quite similar.

5
Jexp_t•

Pie floaters with mushy peas might give 'em a run for the money.

Not sure how easy it is to source marrowfat (mushy) peas in the states. Tinned ones are probably available at larger grocers.

3
aposterOP•

marrowfat

Did a quick search. Marrowfat peas seem to be the whole version of the split peas we have in the States. And I love me some split pea soup.

So, when I get myself some pie recipes I enjoy, I'll have to try a small pie in a bowl of pea soup. My pea soup is very thick and hearty and looks sort of like the mushy peas pictures I just looked up.

2
Jexp_t•

They're a little bit bigger on the plate than the usual split peas, and often go with some mint- but split peas would do fine in a pinch. In fact, a thick second day split pea soup -or one as you've described, would do very well.

Getting hungry just thinking about it. Getting close to dinnertime around here.

1
Wibbles20•

It goes pretty good if you put a bit of cream of mushroom soup between the meat and potato

2
TheBananaKing•

Yeah, I haven't seen mutton in decades. They just don't sell it here either.

Your classic meat pie is just straight up beef, or steak and kidney - basically a super white-people low-veggie casserole, in a pastry shell.

Dice up some good tough chuck (or better, shin/shank/osso bucco) beef fairly small, and some kidney if you swing that way, throw it in a dutch oven or casserole dish with onions, salt, pepper, chilli flakes, a few herbs - bayleaf, oregano, etc. Maybe some mushrooms too. Honestly I'd avoid garlic, it's the wrong direction for this. Maybe a dash of soy, a beef stock cube or other good source of umami.

Lid on, into a medium oven for a couple of hours, check it occasionally and add a splash of water if it needs it.

When it's properly tender, you'll need some gravy mix - 'gravox' is the brand here. It's brown powder you mix with water that makes a thick brown beefy gravy when you cook it - flour, vegetable gum, caramel and MSG for the most part I think. You could probably make a proper roux, but frankly it wouldn't taste like a meat pie.

Mix some up with cold water, stir it through the beef, back in the oven to cook in for another 15 minutes.

Leave it to cool and make into 2" or 4" pies - shortcrust on the base, and if you want to get really fancy, puff / flaky pastry on top.

Cheaper commercial meat pies are often made with ground rather than diced beef, but this is definitely an inferior option.

4" pies are the standard fast food option, but 2" pies are amazing for a party spread. And you need ketchup with them.

6
makemydaym8•

I've seen mutton being sold past in the past couple of months in a very popular butcher close to Adelaide cbd.

2
aposterOP•

Chuck is common here, but it comes in a couple of different cuts. Tough with some fat, but not really fatty would be a 7 bone roast here. That is easy enough. Shank isn't as common, but enough people use it as a base for soup that I can get it. I have no issue with organ meats, but they are not terribly common. Might try just the beef part to start with.

Would the chili flakes be a prominent flavor? Are we talking a good generous burn, or a mild tingle on the tongue?

Also, ours isn't called Gravox, but salty/umami brown gravy mix is pretty common here. I can always fake it close enough with some salt, MSG, and corn starch/flour if I need to.

1
TheBananaKing•

Any stewing beef will do - the more gelatinous, connective-tissuey cuts will give you a better texture, is all.

And yeah, you're not going for a burn, this basically beef bourgignon as adapted by the culinary desolation that was early-20th english cooking, further bastardised by the fast food industry. You're just basically propping up the... inoffensively brown.

Which isn't to say you can't take it much more interesting places, but it's good to start with the core concept and branch out from there.

4
itsjustsausagenow•

Does anyone in Australia actually do the Tim Tam slam thing?

5
beejay_86•

I have never seen one, at home or in the wild, in all of my 33 years.

7
INFIDWL_Reaper•

Never seen it done and never known anyone who does it. Choc teddy bear biscuits on the other hand damn that shit is awesome. Make tea, hot choc, milo or even coffee grab a few choc teddy’s, bite off a little bit of the ear then a little of the opposite sides foot, suck through hot drink.

2
ozbugsy•

I will fess up and say yes - Tim tams with a cup of hot chocolate, one of my go to comfort foods when I'm having a hard time.

4
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
carrie_cody•

I don’t know anyone who has done this.

3
jhabels•

I do it with cocoa, not tea.

3
aposterOP•

Not sure about in Australia, but two Australian expats that moved here to the states that I worked with both mentioned it.

For Alisia, it was almost a ritual. Nice hot tea. Much stronger than most Americans usually make it. Bite off the corners. Slurp tea through Tim Tam. Eat Tim Tam while making ecstatic sounds.

2
itsjustsausagenow•

She sounds like a weirdo. Maybe just doing it in a "look at me, I'm Aussie! " way?

Except for maybe a one off time when they tried to push it on morning tv and ads, no one I know has ever done it.

1
aposterOP•

She sounds like a weirdo.

She was, but in a good way. She moved here around 20 years ago. Worked with her for several years, but we both moved on to other roles in the company and I haven't seen her for years.

1
itsjustsausagenow•

Apologies for being a dick. There are some great filling ideas in here. Please post some of your creations back here :)

1
Sgt_Colon•

Only with montes when I was young; tim tams weren't porous enough.

1
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
LisaWilkinsonFakeTan•

I have never seen a Tim Tam slam in real life. It seems unnecessarily complicated and messy. Most Australians probably just, you know, each the biscuit.

I used to dunk chocolate chip biscuits in milk as a teen. That was really good. But no sucking through a biscuit.

Tim Tam Slam used to be an article on wikipedia many years ago. That might have been the first time I heard about it. That article had a reference to this article: https://web.archive.org/web/20150905073503/http://www.croydonguardian.co.uk/news/454762.print/ which is a January 2004 UK article, about a UK event, in an UK-based Aussie-themed pub.

It was almost like someone online invented this cool funny aren't Australians crazy story, it took off, then Australians started agreeing it was a thing despite having never seen it in real life.

Tim Tams first went on to the market in 1964. If Australians really did do this before the internet references to it, you'd expect there'd be old newspaper and magazine references to it, or Australian ads referencing it. But I've never seen an authentic Australian reference to it predating international internet references to it. It seems to always be an American or UK based source telling us Australians it is something we do.

1
beejay_86•

Veggies and tofu in a gado gado (peanut curry) sauce makes for an amazing pie filling. Actually, any curry cooked down thick enough is a winner in anpie crust.

Cauliflower and corn in cheese sauce (you can add bacon or chicken if you want). Make sure you season (salt and pepper) well.

Mushroom and lentil pot pie filling is awesome.

Also - put smashed peas and gravy on top of your cooked beef pies.

5
LongJohn1992•

Say no more. Check this recipe out.

5
karma3000•

Looks amazing!

1
LongJohn1992•

Here's the thread for it.

1
TamTF•

Chicken and mushroom pies, steak and onion pies, and sausage rolls are my household’s favourites.

4
karl_w_w•

Big support for chicken and mushroom

1
GloriousGlory•

Guy Fieri found a place in Kansas City that serves what looks to be perfect Aussie beef and potatoe pies.

https://youtu.be/qzXv1piIYQM

4
Crazy_John•

I do a Beef Bourguignon or sometimes a Beef and Stout (Coopers, not Guinness) pie. I've done a works pie (Beef, Bacon, Cheese, Onion, Mushroom, and Tomato) before as well. I'm going to try a kangaroo one next.

4
MrMcHaggi5•

We do a few 'leftover' pies at home. Cube/mince your leftover roasted meat, add some of the leftover veggies (especially peas and carrots) and lube it with gravy (preferably pan gravy but even fake gravy makes ok pies).

You can put almost anything in a pie once you get the hang of how runny/dry to make the filling.

4
thesillyoldgoat•

Dice some beef up into 10mm cubes, finely chop an onion then fry the beef and onion on a low heat until they're partly cooked. Peel and grate one large potato then wring out the grated potato and add it to the beef and onion, add some garlic and herbs, stir it all together, add a cup of water then cover it and simmer it for 20 minutes or so. Take the cover off, turn up the heat a bit then gradually add instant gravy and stir it in until the mixture has thickened up. Put the mixture into an air tight container and refrigerate it for at least 24 hours, then make your pies. I use pastry sheets from the supermarket and I bought some metal pie trays from a bakery supply, just rub some butter on them before you put the pastry in, add the mixture then put the lid on and brush some butter on the lid. Bake for about 50 minutes to an hour at 180c, bloody beautiful. A kilo of beef, just over two pounds, makes about 6 or 7 Four'n'twenty size pies.

4
budweiser7•

Had chicken Parma pie when I was going to Wilson prom... I was in heaven I tell you..

3
aposterOP•

chicken Parma pie

Would not have been my first thought for a pie, but now that you mention it it sounds good.

Also, I looked up Wilson prom... That is almost as bad as telling me your favorite pie shop. Wilsons Promontory National Park looks gorgeous.

4
danwincen•

What is this devilry you speak off? Sounds delicious....

3
budweiser7•

oh it was... got plans on going back once this lockdown is over..

2
Raynman5•

I think I saw the bakery you were talking about yesterday (it's about an hour and a half or so from Melbourne), sadly they were sold out and had to go with pulled pork pie instead.

Still good, but it's no parma pie.

1
budweiser7•

yup.. about an hour's drive from my place. i think they won the best pie award or something close..

1