Steak and Ale Pie: A Football-infused History
This post is part of the History of Food series, a revived project from 2021 that explores the origin stories of traditional dishes, the lessons they can teach us, and the people who keep the food alive. In each post, we visit a restaurant that puts their spin on a classic dish.
In 1894 the aptly-named William “Fatty” Foulke stepped onto the football pitch brandishing the red-and-white stripes of Sheffield United.
Though Foulke weighed over 300lbs, we know little about his diet.
It seemed the fans had an inkling, though, as they barraged the goalkeeper with a chant that would later become infamous: “who ate all the pies?”
It seems ironic for thousands of fans to berate their fellow countryman for eating pie in a nation where 75% of us supposedly indulge in some form of pie at least once a month. Gary Rhodes may have been correct when describing the pie as “the most classical of British dishes.”
Unsurprisingly, even Winston Churchill, the physical embodiment of Britain, loved pie. One journalist reported that the former Prime Minister “shovelled the pies in.”
Can you imagine anything more British than Churchill wolfing down a pie in between puffs on his cigar and mouthfuls of brandy? All that’s missing is the British bulldog panting at his side.
But Britain, the nation who Pete Brown claims it in Pie Fidelity “do pies better than anyone else in the world,” didn’t invent the dish.
Far from it.
Two millennium before fans abused Foulke at Bramall Lane, Roman soldiers were marching onto the British Isles as part of Julius Caesar’s invasion during the Gallic Wars.
The incoming troops stored meat in their leather satchels, which had been preserved with a layer of an oil and flour mixture: an ancient pastry.
But without butter, this pastry shell didn’t lend itself to flavour and come mealtime, they simply discarded it. The shell was little more than “ancient Tupperware”; a means to transport messy food and keep it fresh. The Romans had in turn stole the idea from the ancient Egyptians and Greeks.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it wasn’t until the mid 14th century that pies and pastries became part of British life. Pies were the “fast-food” of the day, and “piemen” sold them en masse on the streets of London and other major cities.
The variety of stuffings available at the time is staggering: beef, mutton, oysters, eel, and even fruit. (Oysters in those days hadn’t yet been overfished, and were thus a food of the common worker).
The pie proved particularly useful in the proceeding centuries, as Britain expanded its maritime operations. Ships perused every corner of the globe to found colonies, trade spices and (unfortunately) slaves, and raid other European vessels for riches from the New World.
In those days, before the invention of the steam engine, voyages could last months, even years. Thus, an ample food supply needed to be stocked. Ships would be loaded with livestock that were slaughtered as needed. Naturally, this required a lot of space and resources.
Then came the pie. Instead of loading a dozen cows on board, the animals were slaughtered in advance, and their meat cooked and preserved inside pies, which were then loaded onto the ships for the long voyage.
These days we have refrigeration, and so as a means of preservation, the pie is redundant. Yet, interestingly, the pie not only survives, but is thriving, generating an industry worth £1.2bn annually.
While many similar dishes, such as meat puddings, have fallen out of favour, I can’t help but wonder why the world still loves pies.
Perhaps we love them for their versatility; you can fill a pie with anything.
Growing up, I never knew what to expect. My mam would serve up pie stuffed with baked beans and egg one day, and the next, she’d open to crust to reveal a chicken curry or bolognese filling. Oddly, they all seemed to work.
But of course, the pie isn’t limited to savoury fillings, and also thrives with sweet fillings, such as the ubiquitous apple or cherry variants.
Maybe the choice of crust is why the dish remains popular. A pie is a pie regardless of whether it has crust on the top, bottom, both, or none at all. A tart, without a crust on top, is still a pie, and how many shepard’s pies have you ate with a crust?
Steak and Ale Pie at Magype, Newcastle upon Tyne
In fact, the pie is so versatile that a few clever and conscious bakers have managed to create meat-free versions.
Fray Bentos launched their meat-free pie last year, and outlets like Magpye, a bakery in Newcastle’s Grainger Market specialising in hand-crafted pies, have even managed to create vegan variants — no meat, no butter; completely plant-based.
They’ve proved to the Romans that you don’t need butter to make a pastry that is far more than a glorified tupperware.
Magpye bake their steak and ale pie (pictured) with their own vegan-butter, and fill it with a meat-substitute made from wheat and soy, alongside Tyne Bank Brewery’s Northern Porter ale and finely chopped shallots, caramelised for a rich flavour.
At this rate, it’ll be me who ate all the pies.