Another culinary highlight of Wisbech

[avevale_intelligencer]

In the market place there is a butcher's shop, G W Frank. The Countess tells me that this is a genuine pork butcher of a kind that has all but died out. I can well believe it.

They sell hand-made pork pies.

Now I have eaten pork pies. I've had the supermarket own brand ones, maybe one step up from CMOT Dibbler's wares. I've had "Melton Mowbray" pies of various kinds. I've even had hand-made pies from a chain of butchers in London.

Never, till now, have I had such a perfect pork pie. One where you can actually tell that the meat is pork, where the flavour isn't drowned out with seasoning, where the pastry doesn't exude fat and the jelly is subtly flavoured and not just salty. I don't say I'll never eat a bog standard pork pie again--Wisbech is a long way away--but let's say I've acquired some perspective.

Really nice.

Comments

[murphys-lawyer.livejournal.com]

If you're ever in this part of the world, Wilson's of Crossgates is the place to go for pork pies.

[madamsnape.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm sounds very yummy!

[aunty_marion]

Mmmm. Sounds lovely.

I don't know if that butcher in Westbury (Edward Street?) does their own pork pies, but that was the place that dragged me in by the nose by the smell of them *boiling their own faggots*. *drool*

[keristor.livejournal.com]

For some totally unknown reason I keep trying to fit that first line to "Penny Lane"[1]. It doesn't, but it keeps feeling that it wants to.

I hope the butcher prospers, anyway, there are too few real butchers left.

[1] Which I tend to sing as "Hanger Lane": "At Hanger Lane there is a station on the roundabout..."

[filklore-on-lj.livejournal.com]

It's not that far from here to Melton Mobray itself. However, I have discovered that not all pork pies made in Melton Mobray deserve the name. I have had one or two disgusting ones.

But on the subject of butchers - up to a few of years ago, I seldom used my local town butcher, as I wasn't particularly satisfied with the quality. Instead I used the local COOP, which has good quality meat, albeit prepackaged (our COOP doesn't have an instore butchery).

However, then the local butcher sold up, and was bought by Grasmere Farm (http://www.grasmere-farm.co.uk/), a local farm specialising in pork and bacon. Needless to say, I now use them regularly. They make a superb hand-raised pork pie, but I only allow myself one every three months or so, as they aren't so good for the waistline!