“When in Rome, do as the Romans” goes the saying. Apparently it then goes on to say “but when you’re in Melton Mowbray it’s sacrilege not to eat a pork pie”.
And that is what the three of us found ourselves doing when we passed through the town of Melton Mowbray on a spot of business just the other day. Although we were only in the town for about 20 minutes, we were there on one mission only: to sample the finest damn pork pie that the town had to offer.
Spoiler: we were not disappointed.
Let the Pork meet the Pie
If you really don’t know what a pork pie is then I will assume that you’ve not been to any buffet gathering anywhere in the UK within the last century.
According to wikipedia “a pork pie is a traditional British meat pie, usually served cold. It consists of a filling of roughly chopped pork and pork fat, surrounded by a layer of jellied pork stock in a hot water crust pastry.”
That actually sounds a bit rank, when you put it like that. But rest assured, it’s a proper delicacy in the midlands. Admittedly, so is peas pudding, bread and dripping and something worryingly called ‘groaty dick’ (according to this list of midlands delicacies). But a pork pie is a different class.
Why go to Melton Mowbray for a pork pie?
Pork pies are sold in any decent supermarket. Why then, should you go to Melton Mowbray just to sample one?
Melton Mowbray is a town in Leicestershire, England. It’s about half way between Leicester and Grantham – and if that doesn’t complete a trinity of glamour-towns then I don’t know what does.
But, what sets Melton Mowbray – a town with a population of about 25 thousand people – apart is that it is the center of the pork pie world.
Melton Mowbray high street – gateway to fulfilling your pork pie dreams
They’ve been making pork pies there since the 1700s, and it seems that the tradition has never stopped.
Quite simply, when you’re heading there on the hunt for a pie, you’re going to stand the best chance of getting a proper decent one, because they’ve had about 300 years working on it.
So, if you’re happy to make a pork pie pilgrimage, this is your spiritual home.
Where can I get the best pork pie in Melton Mowbray
Ok, let’s cut to the chase.
The oldest and best place to get a pork pie in Melton Mowbray (and most probably the entire universe) is Dickinson & Morris: Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe, at 10 Nottingham St, Melton Mowbray LE13 1NW.
Here she is in all her glory:
When you’re there, you’ll be greeted with an array of pork pies. It’s worth asking the shop assistant to talk you thorough it all as it’s a bit overwhelming. There are big pies, little pies, pies with toppings, pies with eggs in the middle, and much more! You may feel overcome with the sheer madness of it all.
When we went, the girl working there was only too happy to talk us through an enormous array of pork pies and point us towards with ones we might like to purchase.
Above is just a small sample of the pork pies available.
We ended up getting a classic large pork pie as well as a couple of the specialty pies. They’re basically your classic pork pie with a topping.
There’s Stilton (which Ben had), apple (which Dave had) and spicy gooseberry relish (which for some reason I decided to go for). All three were decent, and ridiculously filling.
What sets a Melton Mowbray pork pie apart?
Until we had proper Melton Mowbray pork pies, it felt like we’d never lived.
Ok, that is an exaggeration. But there is definitely a difference in these pies – they’re a cut above the usual.
Firstly, you’ll notice that when you bite into the pork filling you don’t just find yourself eating a finely minced pink substance. No, no, you get real chunks of pork and you know you’re sampling something a little bit special.
Second, the pastry. It’s thick and crusty like no pastry you’ll sample in a supermarket pork pie. It makes the pie into a complete unit and we spent some time of our car journey back agreeing that the whole pie is so solid that you could quite easily use it as a weapon. It makes the pie a huge, dense meal.
What else is there to do in Melton Mowbray?
Admittedly, we only really saw the high street and it doesn’t look like it’s brimming with places that you might want to stay and soak up.
Leisureland amusements – a fun day out in Melton Mowbray? You decide.
But the town does seem to be in quite a pleasant area and there’s a vistor website for Leicestershire pointing out a few things you might want to look into whilst you’re in town.
For us though, our visit was confined to just a 20 minute pork-pie stop. Although we hadn’t got to sample any of the sights and the sounds, we’d ticked off one of life’s great bucket list items: a proper pork pie in Melton Mowbray.
Life will never be the same again. We will endlessly look at supermarket-bought pork pies with a haughty disdain. For we have sampled the king of all pork pies in Melton Mowbray. Home of it all.
So, until we can work our way up to Pie Fest, which – no lie – is an actual thing held in Melton Mowbray on an annual basis, we’ll have to live content in our memories of Ye Old Pork Pie Shoppe.
Melton Mowbray, thank you for the Melton times we had.
If you’re still reading then sorry to disappoint – this website isn’t one aimed at pork delicacies. Though rest assured, if our travels take us near any more, we’ll get stuck in. Actually, we’re running a little project to try and make money – read more about it here.