The Dish: Meat Pie
Sydney's Signature Snack Sums Up the Nation, in a Crust
By CHIP ROLLEY / Wall Street Journal / March 28, 2008
Along with the Sydney Opera House, a race horse called Phar Lap and, yes, that vitamin B-rich spread Vegemite, the meat pie is an Australian icon, whether gobbled at a "footy" game (Australian Rules football or Rugby League) or at a pie cart after a pub crawl.
Perhaps no other dish goes to the heart of Australia's sense of itself as a no-nonsense, egalitarian land as does the meat pie, a simple thick beef stew encased in pastry, usually served with a dollop of "tomato sauce" (ketchup). You can stand shoulder to shoulder with your mates and eat it with your hands. And it goes down well with an ice-cold beer.
The History
This is not to claim that the meat pie is an Aussie invention. Many cultures around the world have a version. It's said one variant can be traced back to ancient Greece. But in Australia, the pie really has hold of the national psyche. According to one mass producer of frozen pies, the country's 20 million people consume 500 million pies a year.
The Aussie version certainly traces back to the early English and Irish settlers (both forced and voluntary). By the mid-1800s it became a staple of pubs' "counter lunch." Pie sellers would push carts through the cities, stopping outside sporting venues and pubs.
The Setting
Meat-pie traditions vary across Australia. Football-mad Melbourne buys its pies from carts at the game. Adelaide likes them plopped in a bowl of pea soup -- the "pie floater."
But it's Sydney that has the nation's most famous pie cart, Harry's Cafe de Wheels. There's enough legend and lore packed into this one tiny establishment to make the meat pie an iconic Sydney dish. According to the citation listing it on the National Trust register, "a visit to Harry's is associated with the concept of being a true Sydneysider."
Harry's, originally a mobile canteen made from an old army ambulance, was established in 1938 by Harry "Tiger" Edwards, a gambler and erstwhile taxi and fruit-truck driver. Mr. Edwards left to fight in World War II, but returned to re-establish the business in 1945. Harry's has been in continuous operation along the same road ever since, under a series of proprietors. It's now a permanent building between the Finger Wharf -- home to some of Sydney's trendiest nightspots -- and the Garden Island naval shipyard.
Harry's draws cabbies, businesspeople, musicians and tourists, and its location ensures a steady traffic of sailors. Lots of celebrities, including Olivia Newton-John and Frank Sinatra, have dined here.
The Judgment
However iconic Harry's is, though, not everyone thinks its pies are the best. Its filling can be more saucy than meaty.
But it's not bad, and the meat is truly beef. That's an issue now for some pies. Australia's standard was tightened last year to require that a pie be 25% "meat flesh" by weight to qualify as a "meat pie." By specifying "meat flesh," the standard now excludes, for example, snouts. Still, what remains is a very elastic definition. If it's beef you want, look for "beef pie" or "steak pie."
The "chunky steak" pie at Pie Face, a relatively new chain of "designer" pie cafes founded by designer Betty Fong and former banker Wayne Homschek, who have a clothing label called Paablo Nevada, is meatier than Harry's, and (it must be said) tastier.
Since Sydney went irretrievably gourmet about a decade ago, there has been a continuing effort to "tart up" the humble meat pie. Chefs have mixed fresh herbs, exotic spices, mushrooms, even truffles into the filling. The zenith so far can be found at the Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay in Glebe: a snapper pie (made with white truffle oil) that carries a price tag of about US$40 -- though it does come to your table on a cart.
But for those wishing to indulge in a gourmet sensation that retains something of the simplicity of the traditional, the beef pie at the Bourke Street Bakery may be the ideal. Its filling is a rich and thick stew of beef flavored with fresh garlic, thyme and a little malt vinegar, according to co-owner Paul Allan. "And we use butter in the pastry, not pastry margarine," he adds. If you're not lucky enough to grab one of the two or three seats in his tiny corner shop, you'll be tucking into the beef pie out on the pavement.
The Sources
Harry's Cafe de Wheels
Cowper Wharf Road, Woolloomooloo, Sydney (corner of Brougham Street, between the Blue Hotel at the Finger Wharf and the entrance to the Garden Island Navy Shipyard.)
61-2-9357-3074
Meat pie (with or without tomato sauce) about US$3; tiger pie (beef pie topped with mashed potato, peas and gravy), US$4.80.
Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 a.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 a.m.
Pie Face
Ten locations (and counting) around the city, from Potts Point (23 Darlinghurst Rd.) to Parramatta (Westfield shopping mall, K546); see
www.pieface.com.au for more. Gourmet pies include Thai chicken curry and spinach, sundried tomato and ricotta, but you can't go wrong with a classic chunky steak.
Chunky steak pie, US$3.80.
The Bourke Street Bakery
633 Bourke Street (corner Devonshire Street), Surry Hills.
61-2-9699-1011
Monday to Friday, 7 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Beef pie, US$4.30.