Melton PieFest hotting up ahead of the weekend

Dunkleys chefs Ethan Barrett and Chet Willcock serving up hot pies PHOTO: Tim Williams

We Brits eat more than £1 billion worth of pies every year in all shapes and sizes and some of the best of them will be on sale and to sample at the event.

Nice Pie will be bringing their celebrated TV celebrity chicken, champagne and truffle pies along with their ham hock pie, steak and ale pie and some ‘Pie-sties’.

Cossack Pies add a taste of the East with their pies some of which are from recipes their ancestors served to the Tsar of Russia no less.

Local pie maker Brockleby’s have their usual unusual penguin pies and beaver pies plus a few other tongue in cheek recipes such as Ali Ba Ba Pie.

Deakins will showcase their gold award lamb, mush pea and mint pie which featured on the BBC ‘Life of Pies’ programme. And of course, not forgetting Dickinson & Morris’s recently improved recipe classic Melton Mowbray Pork Pie.

For those with a sweet tooth - a number of pie makers will have their dessert range on show. Some piemakers will also be selling their pies hot served with a choice of accompaniments including the mash, gravy and mushy peas. There will be plenty of pies for vegans, vegetarians and those who are looking for dairy and gluten-free alternatives.

Added to that a whole variety of cakes and pastries, cheese and chutney, and it’s the perfect day out for those who love artisan food and drink.

It’s going to be hot so it’s lucky that there’s going to be plenty of cold beer, cider as well as ice cream produced by newly arrived local favourites Ferneley’s Ice Cream.

PieFest will also include talks, tastings, demonstrations and workshops on how to make the perfect pie.

Admission is £3, in advance (£4 on the gate) and children under 16 free.

To book tickets and for more information, visit www.ukpiefest.co.uk

Matthew O’Callaghan from the Melton Mowbray Food Partnership, organiser of PieFest 2019, said: “Pies are a real staple of the British food industry and we have a wide range of tastes and flavours at this year’s PieFest for people to try and buy.

“The highlight of the event is a celebration of UK pie making but we will also have many other stalls with sweet and savoury treats, drinks and other food-related items for people to enjoy on Saturday and Sunday.”