The recent heatwave over the Easter break reminded me of a few months ago when I was in Victoria State, at the peak of the Australian summer where the mercury was touching the mid-forties.
I was on a road trip and found myself in a small town called Rutherglen just over the state border from New South Wales.
Found myself isn’t completely accurate, I’d purposely headed to Rutherglen after hearing about Parker Pies. This family run business had caught my attention when I had looked at their website to see they had received over 200 awards for their pies and also it featured in the Lonely Planet Guide for Australia (almost alongside the Opera House and Uluru).
As in the UK, Australia likes its ‘gourmet pies’ and so I was excited to try the Indian Beef Curry Pie – which was described as lean beef mince infused in a screaming seed sensation with aromatic flavours of India. Perhaps not the best choice for the height of the Australian summer, but in the tasting I was really enthused by the thick delicious flaky pastry surrounding a sensitively spiced filling. I also picked up a standard Steak & Mushrooms to attempt an objective comparison to similar pies ‘back home’. Again the pastry was strong, thick, and flaky with a smattering of poppy seeds on top. The filling was nothing short of sumptuous! Thick tender chucks of local beef enhanced with the flavour of the field mushrooms.
As an aside, they also produce a selection of Gourmet Pasties with fillings including Emu, Buffalo, Kangaroo, Tiger Prawns and Crocodile! Not something that you see much of in the bakeries of the UK. It looks like when I’m next in the Land Down Under, I’ll have to make a detour again up to Victoria to continue sampling Parker Pies menu.
I’m pretty pleased I made the detour to Rutherglen.
www.parkerpies.com.au
86/88 Main Street, Rutherglen, VIC 3685, Australia
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