Steak and Kidney Pie
A classic of English cooking and quite possibly the best thing to do with kidneys. 😋
The Steak and Kidney Pie is not everyone’s favourite pie of, some people are just not an offal fan! Something we’re very aware of here, as our team regularly taste test our pies (tough job!) and the steak and kidney will be declined by several of the team, and devoured by others!
But there's no getting away from the fact that the particular combination of fillings proves popular, kidney adds an earthiness and richness that complements the beef, and creates a deeply savoury gravy.
No wonder it's another winner! (Taste of the West, Food Drink Devon)
What isn’t up for debate, however, is the continued popularity of this old-fashioned, yet still beloved dish. Steak and Kidney Pie may not be the most on-trend of pies, but in tough times, old friends are the best friends and we’ve seen a steady rise in popularity for this pie over the past year.
Originally prepared with a suet pastry, ours is made with a buttery shortcrust pastry (like all our pies) and ox kidneys. The combination of tender beef meat, earthy-flavoured kidneys, and flavourful gravy inside the pastry make this pie one of the favourite traditional British delicacies that is still found in numerous pubs throughout the country.
Steak and Kidney Pie continues to be an unlikely literary icon even now, popping up numerous times in J K Rowling’s Harry Potter series, both at Hogwarts, where it seems to be particularly popular with Ron Weasley, and on the menu at the Leaky Cauldron pub.🧙🏻
How about ...a little Pie History…
It was a few hundred years ago now, but we once prized the offal from an animal stuffed hearts, liver and cracking kidney dishes were considered delicacies.
A lot of this revolved around the fact we didn’t have intensive farming or refrigerated transportation, so when you bumped off your beef you ate it pretty swiftly or, salted down the rump bits and gave it to the navy boys who, it is said, were glad to eat things that had not previously infested the flour supply - basically Offal was top draw.
Oysters on the other hand were so plentiful that they were considered protein for the poor and they were also pretty easy to catch.
Making a steak pie with oysters in it packed it out and made it cheaper and really tasty, for the times.
Move on a few decades - London’s population, like many former small towns exploded, we naturally polluted the rivers and killed off the Oysters or made them tricky to eat without becoming pretty crook, farming practices intensified, beef and most red meats became far more plentiful and cheaper…. Offal had its day and was relegated to protein for the poor.
And thus we ended up with Steak and Kidney pie! A cracking classic and a way of using up some of the lesser cuts of the beasty.
Love a Steak and Kidney pie...? Then you seriously need to try Steak and Oyster … at least once in your life. Not a pie you see everyday in the delis..!
😉 - However, we did make a Chunk Steak and Oyster Pie a few years ago, it went down a storm…..maybe it’s time to bring this fella back..?
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