On the last of my vegetarian taste tests Tasker in Yorkshire mentioned buying vegetarian pasties from a farm shop - "now that's an idea" I thought and as I was near an 'award winning' farm shop when taking the Mustard Pot photo I popped in to see what they had.
This is what I found and really explains why farm shops in Suffolk are for people who don't need to look at the price! and why I won't be buying another from there.
Small Sweet Potato, Spinach and Feta pie. This was £3.65. - that seemed a lot for one small pie.
Made by a company called Country Pies from near Ipswich. Unfortunately their ingredient list is as long as a pie made in a big factory anywhere.
Here you go.........................Homemade pastry(fortified flour(wheat flour, maize flour, calcium, iron, vitamin b1,vitamin b3) margarine (palm and rapeseed oil, water, salt, natural flavourings) water), puff pastry (wheat flour (calcium, iron , niacin, thiamine) margarine (palm and rapeseed oil, water, salt) water, salt, preservative e202, sweet potato 25%, vegetable stock (salt, modified maize starch, hydrolysed vegetable protein (soya colour e150), flavour enhancer e621, non hydrogenated rapeseed oil, sugar dried tomato, flavouring (contains wheat, barley) yeast extract, dried onion, dried spinach, colour e150c, pepper extract (salt, spice extract, herb extract) ground nutmeg, acidity regulator citric acid) béchamel sauce (modified maize starch, wheat flour, palm fat, maltodextrin, skimmed milk powder, sugar, salt lactose (milk), milk protein, yeast extract, sunflower oil, flavourings (milk) citric acid, onion) feta cheese (milk), spinach, pepper, salt, egg.
I nearly lost the will to live typing that!! so many parenthesis or are they brackets?
Do not confuse brackets [ ] with parentheses ( ). Parentheses are used to enclose additional information in your own writing; brackets are editorial marks used to insert comments into someone else's words that you are quoting, or to insert material into a passage already in parentheses.
It had more filling than the Lidl pies I tried but the overall taste was just pepper. I know many of the ingredients used are necessary for safety, but it still seemed rather a long list.
I've still got 3 home made vegetable bakes , that were made in January, in the freezer so I need to eat those rather than trying anything else from supermarket or farm shop! Then I'll be making more of my own.
(Note to self - don't get side-tracked into things by comments on the blog!)
Apologies for not replying to all comments. I'm not opening the laptop in the evenings as I've got such a huge heap of library books!
You can probably put a pastry lid on a veggie bake and have a much better pie. No additives nor preservatives.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking of trying the main ingredients of this pie in some home made
DeleteHaving a big pile of books to dip into is much more fun than answering comments. Enjoy your reading and don't apologise.
ReplyDeleteSo many books - so little time !
DeleteThank you for trying that so that we don't have to.
ReplyDeleteShould have saved my money - but it sounded good
DeleteThey're not so difficult to make oneself, are they - that list is pretty horrific.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy the books! xx
I'll be making my own most of the time now
DeleteHow much would you charge for one of your homemade pies do you think...?
ReplyDeleteNo idea! When pricing for WI market it was always 3 times ingredient cost
DeleteWe have tried vegan items, which had mixed results, we now eat meat free twice a week, going for simple things like mushroom risotto, we eat fish twice a week as well, so only eat meat products three days each week.
ReplyDeleteI should really eat more fish - but not from the fish and chip shop up the road!
DeleteLove the postcard header.
ReplyDeleteI used it ages ago and found it again - it's probably copyrighted!
DeleteOh dear! It is too easy for profiteering business to muscle in and ruin everything.
ReplyDeleteBut our farm shot is a proper farm shop selling local produce rather than crap made in factories. The veg. pasties are local and not full of preservatives etc. Need to be consumed either same or next day. Agreed, it is cheaper to make your own, preferably in batches and freeze them.
Farm shops and farmers markets in Suffolk have turned into Tourist Destinations - and have prices to match
DeleteWe also have local a bakery / patisserie that good ones. Made on the premises, sold in paper bags.
DeleteThere's a pasty shop in Canterbury that sell its pasties off for half price in the afternoons. One of the many things I miss from England is the pies and pasties.
ReplyDeleteI need to make some pies for freezing rather than trying more weird things
DeleteThanks for the info on differences between brackets and parentheses Sue - I have never known their correct use!
ReplyDeleteI grew up in the '60's and we had allsorts of E numbers and whatnot in our food and drink, but I didn't think that nowadays there would be such a list - for such a small product I am amazed that there was room for a such a long list on the label. Gen.
I still don't know the difference even after reading the information!
DeleteNext time could you just take a photo of the ingredients, and post the photo. It might save you a little time and frustration. Just a thought. I enjoy your blog. Deb
ReplyDeleteThe writing was so tiny no one would have seen it!
DeleteI wasn't really frustrated - just a figure of speech
The list of ingredients is lengthy, shame it wasn't worth it. Thank goodness for books in this stay at home weather.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
More rain today and cold wind with it here - just horrible
DeleteThanks for typing out that long list of ingredients ... pretty horrific for something from a Farm Shop, you sort of expect their things to be better don't you ... but just clicking on the photo makes the label perfectly easy to read on both my laptop and phone. :-)
ReplyDeleteI know how easy it is to get tempted by something in the shops, or waylaid by something you have read or watched. I have just bought some Higgidy Veg Samosa flavoured sausage rolls, at least the ingredients don't seem too bad but they have a LOT of spices that make it look like a long list. Are you finding that since reading Chris VT's book about UPF you are settling quite naturally into seeking out better foods, I know I am. I am an avid label reader once again.
Enjoy your library books in the evening, it's definitely the time of year to be tucked in with a good book after dark.
The price seems low to reasonable to me? Esp w your ''ingredients x 3" rule of thumb. We have a new gourmet doggy bakery here in town. All pet safe ingredients. I was all set to order a cake for Baby Mo's tenth bday. [pug/ pugs have birthday parties, lol] A 4" --yes four inch --cake was $30.oo! Omigosh. He'd rather have a small steak.
ReplyDeleteYour homemade pies are preservative free and better than any farm store pie. I make a chicken pie using meat from a bought fully cooked chicken. I add chopped onions, mixed veg, potato and chicken gravy. With a pie crust on the bottom and top, my pie looks and tastes outstanding. No preservatives. My large pie serves five one meal or several meals for one or two. When I buy a chicken or beef pie from a farm store they are $15. It is a high price but convenient in a pinch.
ReplyDeleteI thought I'd treat myself to some organic chicken from a farm shop a couple of years ago. As soon as I opened it, there was a horrible smell! It was so off! I emailed to complain, but never got a reply. It rather put me off farm shops.
ReplyDeleteGosh, more money and still a disappointment! All those ingredients too. ust make your own I think is the answer.
ReplyDeleteThat was a really long list of ingredients.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.