One of my favourite things about London is its fantastic markets. I don’t live far from the Camden Lock Market and I work quite close to Borough Market. Both occupy special stalls in my heart, but when it comes to gastrointestinal real estate, there is one booth that rules over all and it requires a trip out of my way to E1.
I should clarify here that Borough Market’s endless variety of exotic culinary delights is truly a thing of beauty. From the wild board sausage to the turkey, stuffing and cranberry sandwich, I could live for decades eating only there and never get bored. When I need comfort food, however, Spitalfields‘ Square Pie Company provides the most Itis-inducing treats in the whole of London.
Initially indulging my love of Guinness by going for their steak and Guinness pie, my wife eventually convinced me of the superiority of the Lamb and Rosemary option. If you try to be frugal by only getting the pie, you’re missing out. The only way to experience your Square Pie is to drop £6.50 and get the pie plus two sides, which for me are always mushy peas and mash, with gravy poured over the entire feast.
On a recent Sunday outing to Spitalfields, I captured these unboxing photos. Who cares about opening your new MacBook Pro? This is stomach technology!
Here we see the closed Square Pie box, coyly pretending it doesn’t hold ample treasure inside its plain cardboard walls:
A-HA! We enter the hall of pie!
After a brief moment spent appreciating it’s loveliness, it’s time to move in with only two plastic utensils and a solitary serviette by my side:
Photographing whilst eating may result in gravy on the lens, and the next ten minutes went by in a blur anyway. Suddenly, there was no more pie! I felt not sad, but victorious:
Time to head home and resist the urge to fall asleep on the Tube. That would only result in me ending up in High Barnet, and since there’s no Square Pie in High Barnet, I have no use for it.
I hope this unboxing has convinced you that your life is incomplete without pie and mash (and mushy peas). Charter a plane if you must, but get to Spitalfields as soon as you can and join me for a pie! JOIN ME!!!
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UPDATE (19 April 2007): According to this article, as of yesterday Sainsbury’s has started selling Square Pies, including my beloved Lamb and Rosemary! You just don’t know how many times I’ve looked at the pie section in Sainsie’s and taken a few moments out of my day to simply stare at it, sadly thinking “if only they had Square Pies”. Now they’ve read my thoughts and turned wishes into horses (but thankfully not horses into pies, that would be terrible). I knew they were my favourite supermarket for a reason. Tesco be damned, I’m going shopping for pie!
Dude, I’ve eaten my fair share of shit in my day (and food), but didn’t we used to call that stuff “Bactine”???? I swear I saw something move.
I will admit that if you weren’t raised on pie, mash, mushy peas and gravy, then there’s an initial leap of faith that you have to take when trying it for the first time. Once taken, however, you’ll be addicted.
I swear I can put this in American terms. Think of it as the best pot pie you could imagine with the yummiest mashed potatoes in the world along for the ride. Now pour gravy over the entire dish…. aaaahhhh! My mouth is watering just describing it, but I digress.
As far as the mushy peas are concerned, I don’t think I can put those in American terms. They do indeed seem wrong the first time you hear about them, but soon you come to appreciate that all that chewing nonsense was thoughtfully subtracted from your meal by someone with a giant pea mushing machine. It’s like baby food for adults, enabling a magical return to childhood, just without all the crapping yourself.
I’m sure it’s delicious. Now excuse me while I toast myself some Aunt Jemima waffles. Yummmm…
lovely piece on the pies Dave, glad to see you’re a fan, would be good to hear what you think of the pies from sainsburys if you ever get the chance (they’re exactly the same of course)
cheers Martin Pie martind@squarepie.com