In Australia and New Zealand, a meat pie is a hand-sized pie containing diced or minced meat and gravy, sometimes with onion, mushrooms, or cheese and is often consumed as a takeaway food snack.
This variant of the standard meat pie is considered iconic.[1] It was described by New South Wales Premier Bob Carr in 2003 as Australia's "national dish".[2][3] New Zealanders regard the meat pie as a part of New Zealand cuisine, and it forms part of the New Zealand national identity.[4]
Commercial production
The filling of an Australian meat pie
According to a 2003 study, the average Australian eats more than 12 meat pies each year.[5] According to a 2004 study, the average New Zealander eats 15 meat pies a year.[6]
Manufacturers of pies in Australia tend to be state-based, reflecting the long distances involved with interstate transport and lack of refrigeration capabilities in the early years of pie production.[citation needed] Many pies are sold ready-to-eat at smaller outlets and are sold unbranded although some may be locally produced by a brand-name vendor, or even imported. Frozen pies are heated prior to serving.[7]
An Australian meat pie, first produced in 1947, by L. T. McClure in a small bakery in Bendigo, became the well-known Four'n Twenty pie. Due to its association with Australian rules football, Four'n Twenty has iconic status in Victoria.[5] Other manufacturers well predate this brand.
Sargents—once the dominant meat pie brand of New South Wales, but not made since 2022—could trace its pie making back to 1891.[8][9][10]
In South Australia, Balfours have been making pies for over a century,[11] but Vili's began in the post-war era. Both of these pie makers supply pies to various venues hosting Australian rules football games.[12]
Produced in Western Australia, Mrs Mac's Pies are sold nationwide, found mostly in service stations and corner stores, competing with other brands in the contested takeaway hotbox market on the basis of quality and fillings other than the normal fare.[13]
In Victoria, some of the well known and famous pie makers include the makers of two of Australia's most famous pies - Four'n Twenty and Patties - both manufactured by Patties Foods in Bairnsdale.[citation needed]
In Tasmania, the main manufacturer of pies is National Pies.[14] National Pies make typical beef mince pies, as well as "Cottage Pies", which are topped with mashed potato. National Pies' mince pies are rectangular in shape, as opposed to most other brands, which are round.
'Railway pies', once served on country trains and at refreshment rooms of the NSWGR, achieved a reputation for their high meat content and flavour.[15] In 1942, it was reported that 2.3 million of these pies were consumed over a 12-month period.[16] All the pies were baked in a facility under Central Station, until around 1980.[15][17] The long trip from Sydney and absence of refrigeration were possibly why there were reports of pies that were past their prime condition, when served to customers in railway refreshment rooms in the regions.[18][19]
Australian meat pies were introduced into the United States in 1994 by Mark Allen, of Boort, Victoria, when he and his wife, Wendy, began operation of Pacific Products, Inc. in Marietta, Georgia.[20][21] Pacific Products was a wholesale only business, selling their pies to chain retailers throughout the United States. Although Pacific Products is no longer in business, Allen and his partner Neville Steele opened the Australian Bakery Cafe in Marietta, a retail bakery which also ships its products throughout the USA.[22]
Big Ben Pies have been making pies since 1969 in Auckland, New Zealand and sells 13 million pies per year.[23]
In 1977, during the time that American fast food restaurants moved into New Zealand, Progressive Enterprises created Georgie Pie, a fast food restaurant with a menu based on meat pies. The pies were batch made and frozen at Progressive's Māngere plant. The first Georgie Pie restaurant opened in Kelston, Auckland, and at its peak in the mid-1990s had become a chain of 32 restaurants across New Zealand. However, after a major expansion, Georgie Pie became uneconomic to run and was eventually sold to McDonald's New Zealand in 1996. The last restaurant at Mission Bay, Auckland, closed in 1998. In June 2013, McDonald's started a trial relaunch of Georgie Pie, selling one flavour of pie (Steak Mince 'n' Cheese) through eleven of its restaurants in Auckland and Hamilton.[24]
Meat pies are made in numerous neighbourhood bakery shops in Australia and New Zealand. In recent decades, Vietnamese immigrants, often arriving as refugees, have come to play a very significant role in the local bakery small business sector, helping to arrest the decline in small-scale local meat pie production.[25][26]
Nutritional value
The meats allowed by FSANZ to make up at least 25% of a meat pie are beef, buffalo, camel, deer, goat, hare, pig, poultry, rabbit and sheep. Kangaroo meat, a leaner alternative, is also sometimes used. However, most pie manufacturers specify 'beef' in their ingredients list; typically, those using other types of meat will simply put 'meat' in the list instead. FSANZ requires that a meat pie must contain a minimum of 25% "meat flesh". Meat flesh includes the skeletal muscle of any slaughtered animal as well as any attached animal rind, fat, connective tissue, nerve, blood and blood vessels.[27]Offal (such as brain, heart, kidney, liver, tongue, tripe) must be specified on the label.[28]
Started in 1990 and held annually since, the Great Aussie Pie Contest was created to find commercially produced meat pie produced in Australia, to promote higher quality pie production, and to attempt to increase media attention upon the foodstuff, with the meat pie often dwarfed by the omnipresent advertising of fast food chains.[29]
The contest attracts various pie-makers from all over Australia;[30] the pies for the contest are judged anonymously to avoid bias towards or against specific bakeries or states. Run in parallel to the main contest is one for gourmet pies, with categories for such fillings as chicken, seafood and even vegetarian pies. As well as the main prize, certificates of excellence are awarded for entries that reach set quality standards. The main award is coveted due to the increased sales it generates, with many people travelling interstate to sample the winning pie.[31]
Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards
In New Zealand an annual pie competition has been held since 1997. The Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards to recognises quality pie manufacturers in New Zealand, assisting them in producing award-winning pies and continuing to help foster and encourage developments within this category of baking.[32]
They were entered in 11 categories– mince and gravy; chicken and vegetables; gourmet meat; bacon and egg; gourmet fruit; steak, vegetable and gravy; steak and cheese; vegetarian; mince and cheese; seafood and commercial wholesale pies. The pies were judged on presentation, the pastry on the top and bottom, the filling and the profile.[33]
Other cultural references
In the 1970s meat pies were mentioned in a jingle[34] for General Motors Holden Australia, adapted from General Motors’ Chevrolet jingles in the United States.
Midwestern cuisine is a regional cuisine of the American Midwest. It draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
A hamburger or simply burger is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or chilis; condiments such as ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, or a "special sauce", often a variation of Thousand Island dressing; and are frequently placed on sesame seed buns. A hamburger patty topped with cheese is called a cheeseburger.
Australian cuisine is the food and cooking practices of Australia and its inhabitants. Australia has absorbed culinary contributions and adaptations from various cultures around the world, including British, European, Asian and Middle Eastern.
A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit, nuts, fruit preserves, brown sugar, sweetened vegetables, or with thicker fillings based on eggs and dairy. Savoury pies may be filled with meat, eggs and cheese or a mixture of meat and vegetables.
A Scotch pie is a small, double-crust meat pie, traditionally filled with minced mutton but now generally beef, sometimes lamb. It may also be known as a shell pie to differentiate it from other varieties of savoury pie, such as the steak pie, steak and kidney pie, steak-and-tattie (potato) pie, and so forth.
The cuisine of New Zealand is largely driven by local ingredients and seasonal variations. As an island nation with a primarily agricultural economy, New Zealand yields produce from land and sea. Similar to the cuisine of Australia, the cuisine of New Zealand is a diverse British-based cuisine, with Mediterranean and Pacific Rim influences as the country has become more cosmopolitan.
Four'n Twenty is an Australian pastry brand, now distributed internationally, with products including meat pies and sausage rolls. It is owned by parent company Patties Foods.
Georgie Pie was a fast food chain owned by retailer Progressive Enterprises specialising in meat pies that hoped to be "New Zealand’s own homegrown alternative to the global fast-food industry giants such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Burger King". The first Georgie Pie restaurant opened in 1977, and at its peak there were 32 restaurants across New Zealand. After running into financial difficulties, it was bought out by McDonald's in 1996, mainly for its restaurant locations. The last Georgie Pie store was closed in 1998.
Patties Foods, is an Australian food manufacturing company that produces meat pies, baked goods, frozen fruits, and pre-made desserts. Patties Foods is represented in the Australian market by the Four'n Twenty, Patties, Herbert Adams, Nanna's, Chefs Pride, Boscastle and Snowy River brands. Patties is the largest Meat pie producing company in Australia, and the world. They are the producers of several well-known Meat pies, including the Patties, Snowy River pie, Herbert Adams pie, and as of 2003, Four'n Twenty pies. Patties Foods is headquartered in Bairnsdale, Victoria.
The bacon and egg pie is a savoury pie consisting of a crust containing bacon, egg and sometimes onion, mushrooms, bell peppers, peas, tomato, fresh herbs and cheese. It is popular in New Zealand. However, bacon and egg pie originated during the Middle Ages in Cornwall and is still a popular pie cooked in Cornish homes today. Bacon and egg pie may be served with ketchup, which can be combined with Worcestershire sauce and drizzled over the filling before the pie is baked and some versions have a rising agent such as baking powder mixed into the egg to make a fluffier filling.
Bluebird Foods Ltd is a New Zealand division of the U.S.-based PepsiCo corporation, that manufactures snack foods, cereals and muesli bars. All snacks are manufactured at the Bluebird Foods factory in Wiri, Auckland.
A meat pie is a pie with a filling of meat and often with other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide.
Holland's Pies is a manufacturer of pies and puddings based in Baxenden, near Accrington in Lancashire, England. Owned by 2 Sisters Food Group, the company also produces pasties and sausage rolls.
A steak sandwich is a sandwich prepared with steak that has been broiled, fried, grilled, barbecued or seared using steel grates or gridirons, then served on bread or a roll. Steak sandwiches are sometimes served with toppings of cheese, onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, and in some instances fried eggs, coleslaw, and french fries.
McDonald's Restaurants Limited is the New Zealand subsidiary of the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. Its first location opened in 1976. In 2017 McDonald's New Zealand had 167 restaurants operating nationwide, serving an estimated one million people each week. The company earned revenues of over $250 million in the 2018 financial year.
Indo cuisine is a fusion cooking and cuisine tradition, mainly existing in Indonesia and the Netherlands, as well as Belgium, South Africa and Suriname. This cuisine characterized of fusion cuisine that consists of original Indonesian cuisine with Eurasian-influences—mainly Dutch, also Portuguese, Spanish, French and British—and vice versa. Nowaday, not only Indo people consume Indo cuisine, but also Indonesians and Dutch people.
Thomas Henry Ah Chee was a New Zealand businessman, who established the Foodtown supermarket chain and the Georgie Pie fast-food restaurant franchise.
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↑ Andre Taber states that in 2004, business transactions for meat pies in New Zealand were worth NZ$120 million. The average cost of a meat pie was about NZ$2 this puts the sale of meat pies in New Zealand to be 60 million. As New Zealand has a population of 4 million this puts the average consumption per head to 15 per year. Andre Taber, The Great New Zealand Pie Guide: A Tasting Guide To Some of the Best Kiwi Pies Up and Down the Country, Renaissance Publishing, 2006, pg 7–8
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