Ping: Right Pondians - More Pie Stuff

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peace :]

New member
So call me goofy, but many years ago I could buy tinned steak and
kidney pies here in the US and I loved 'em.. My memory is that they
were from Ireland, but it has been decades since I had one, so I am
not sure. Puff pastry top, round, flattish tin.

I realize this is something I can make from scratch, but kidneys are
not easily obtained in my area, especially if there are no ice-filled
bathtubs readily available.

So, I see there is a UK brand of tinned S&K pie from a company called
Fray Bentos. Are these things any good? The shipping charges are
pretty high and if they are not any good, I will just go search
farther afield for a good butcher.

Yeah, I like liver, too, so don't try to warn me off the kidney.

Boron
 
On 2011-01-25, Boron Elgar wrote:

By "tinned", I am assuming you mean canned. Yes, no, maybe?


???! You lost me on that one.

UK frozen stk/kdny (and variants) pies sold in not-so-upscale SFBA
mkts looking for a niche. Also in small specialty UK mkts. I loved
'em! They were like Swanson pies, in small disposable alum pie tins.


If cooked right, it's all good.

nb
 
On 25 Jan 2011 19:33:00 GMT, notbob wrote:


Yes. Canned.

There is an UL about kidney thieves...the victim awakes in a tub
filled with cold water and ice and has a back-ache.

These were shelf-stable and in a real "can." To bake, one removed the
lid with a regular can opener and popped the filled bottom into a hot
oven.

I think so, too.

Boron
 
Boron Elgar wrote:

LOL!


If you liked the other ones, the FB ones will do you alright too. Tried
one once. Expected overly-salted gravy. Pastry bakes up OK.
 
In article , [email protected] says...


Fray Bentos (brandname owned by Campbell Soups) has the entire, deeply
downmarket tinned pie market all to itself. Why not just replicate the
effect at home with a can of dogfood and some frozen pastry.

Janet
 
On 2011-01-27, Janet wrote:


I guess Campbell Soups, at least in the in US, knows its market. I've
never even seen such an animal on the shelf.

nb
 
On 27 Jan 2011 14:15:48 GMT, notbob wrote:



They used to be readily available as imports, although not carried in
all stores in the US, but BSE put the kibosh on a lot of meat
products coming in from Great Britain.

Boron
 
On 2011-01-27, Boron Elgar wrote:


At least "canned" meat products. I recall seeing stuff like canned
pate, pheasant, etc, as a kid. We still get frozen stuff. I used to
buy UK frzn pot pies at a couple upscale and specialty mkts. Good
stuff! Refrigerated, too. Pates, wursts, etc.

nb
 
In article ,
[email protected] says...

Fray Bentos canned meat was never British afaik..it used to come from
that bastion of bovine health and food safety, South America. In the
1960's , there was an outbreak of typhoid in Britain which was traced
to imported FB tinned meat and insanitary conditions at the Fray Bentos
processing plant.

Janet
 
On 27 Jan 2011 15:17:44 GMT, notbob wrote:


Seems like an odd rule, then...why frozen or refrigerated, but not
canned?

I can understand regs due to product - ie - not allowing brains or
products that use or may contain spinal column or bone scrapings or
some such, but I confess that I have not really kept up on any of
these regulations.

Whatever they are doing over in GB to contain the BSE problem, it
seems to have worked, as I have not heard about new (human) cases from
there in the US press. Perhaps our GB friends can elucidate.

Boron
 
On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:24:27 -0000, Janet wrote:



The canned meats (corned beef and such) came in from Uruguay and that
is where the they typhoid was traced - poorly chlorinated water. The
meat pies, on the other hand, have been made in GB since the late
50s.

Nevertheless, the Fray Bentos name has been used on various lines of
foods and gone though several take-overs, and is, I believe, now owned
by Premier.

Boron
 
In article ,
[email protected] says...

The pies are manufactured in the UK; but that doesn't indicate the
meat they contain is British. Meat processors here import vast amounts
of cheap meat.

If anyone here has a tin of FB steak and kidney pie made in the UK, it
would be interesting to see exactly what the label says about the meat
origin.

Janet
 
On Thu, 27 Jan 2011 18:23:02 -0000, Janet wrote:


Food manufacturers source their products from all over the place and
take advantage of US label laws to indicate country of origin for
ingredients only when necessary.

I've no idea where the FB pie meat comes from, but the original place
in Uruguay that was the typhoid source closed long ago. We get
Brazilian and Chilean beef, Australian lamb..and that is just the
fresh meat. Any dinner I put on the table is liable to have products
that come from overseas, especially fresh fruits and vegetables,
cheeses, etc.

We live within a global economy, and though the locavore movement is
delightful, it is generally enhanced by incorporating goods from
elsewhere. We all hope for food safety standards, but know that there
is no country that can police it perfectly and prevent it altogether.
It isn't possible these days.

Boron
 
Janet wrote:

Oh! Thanks for that info. It is just as well I haven't had one
for a long time then. I guess the main problem with trying to
make such a thing myself is that I'd have to travel pretty far to
get kidneys (assuming I could do that at all, even if I tried to
special order them).

--
Jean B.
 
Janet wrote:

I wonder how many cases go undiagnosed here, there, everywhere?
And how many people die before the question arises? These
diseases, IIRC, can not become obvious for a very long time.

--
Jean B.
 
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