Comments on: Of pies and pasties

By: copyu

copyu — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 14:29:28 +0000

Nice to see such passion about a great food item.

I moved to Adelaide as a kid in 1960 (from the USA) and the pasties and meat pies were absolutely amazing!

Badenoch’s and Balfour’s were the main ‘rivals’ in the commercial pies’n'pasties world. They were both really good. (These days, I’d go for ‘Vili’s” when I go to SA…)

More recently, (in the mid-90’s) I went to “Pryce’s” bakery in Murray Bridge and the pies and pasties were as good as the usual Adelaide fare of half a century ago. Bloody brooyunt, mate! Just like the good old days…Highly recommended.

PS: My Oz and Kiwi mates all reckon my home-made pies and pasties are the best they’ve ever had…I appreciate their praise, but they’re all MUCH TOO YOUNG to remember what the ‘real deal’ was like in Adelaide…

Best,
copyu

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 08:49:08 +0000

I sometimes make smallish versions although they are still a few mouthfuls - not quite an amuse bouche (though I have made tiny pork pies 1″ tall for an amuse bouche party).
I sacrilegiously pre-cook my filling anyway as I think the best pastry does cook too fast to fully cook the filling. My recipe above will work with small pasties and I think commercial puff is fine if you want a shortcut. Best of luck.

By: Sarah Day

Sarah Day — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 08:06:56 +0000

Wow, what pasty passion, I too think Villis is too peppery. What I would really like to ask is about party sized pasties, im not sure if the veggies will cook sufficiently in the time it will take the pastry to cook, (I will be using ready made puff, probably a swear word to seasoned pasty makers, but I just like to quickly whip up some finger food for Dad when he visits) Can anyone help me out please, should I part cook the veggies or do you think they will be okay to put in raw. Thanks.

By: Robyn L

Robyn L — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 04:50:56 +0000

Ouyen = “Ohh” (in a surprised sounding way) + “Yen”

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:32:40 +0000

Vanilla slice - now that’s another whole post!

So you’ll be able to tell me the local pronunciation of Ouyen. There’s been some controversy in my circles.

By: Robyn L

Robyn L — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:01:08 +0000

BTW: My mother comes from Ouyen. All I recall from the Ouyen bakery is Vanilla Slices, not pasties.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:44:46 +0000

Thanks Robyn - and welcome to the blogosphere pasty community! I will make a batch of pasties for our project meeting some day - as soon as we get that public release out! (Or failing that I’ll just bring you one in next time I make some.)

By: Robyn L

Robyn L — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:31:17 +0000

I agree with your about pasties as well having lived 11 years in SA. Have not read the other comments, only your writing. Since moving to NSW (Queanbeyan) we have given up eating pasties. We persevered for the first year or two, hoping we could find pasties as nice as those at the Gawler Bakery, and those that you get at Moonta (that traditional cornish style bakery). But alas, no. It is the greasy meat in local (NSW) pasties that kills it for us. No veggies, or bugger all.

If your pasties are anything like your samosa’s, I imagine they would be great.

Robyn

By: John

John — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 11:04:37 +0000

Mark, that’s OK. Thanks for the reply. I last had a pastie from a bakery in Ouyen with a German sounding surname 10 years ago. Not that pasties have a link to the fatherland. None better. Belsham’s bakery in Red Cliffs(16 km out of Mildura) also know what they’re doing. I suppose when you look at it, both these places are on the SA side of Victoria, so there may be an influence. Generally, the best pasties seem to come from small, family owned bakeries. As I said earlier, pasties are woefully absent in Hunter Valley area. They seem to prefer “rat coffins” ie. sausage rolls. Its really quite tragic. By the way, i presume we are referring to ‘fold over’ pasties with puff pastry and no peas.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:32:44 +0000

John - sorry I missed your post. It got stuck awaiting approval and I must have missed the email. You bring good news. I’ve been through Ouyen several times on Canberra-Adelaide trips but don’t recall trying a pasty.

Don’t do that trip anymore but will definitely look out when next in country Vic. Thanks.