Who eats all the pies? We do!
SA has taken the crown of the nation’s most ardent fans of meat-filled pastries in a new poll. Which begs the question ... where are Adelaide’s best pie spots?
SA is officially the most pie-tastic state in Australia, taking the crown of the nation’s most ardent fans of meat-filled pastries in a new Roy Morgan poll.
The national research firm found that consumption of the meat pie is seeing a resurgence, with pie popularity most beefed up right here in SA.
According to Roy Morgan, almost 9.4 million Australians, or 47.5 per cent of the population, love a meat pie, up from 8.1 million (42.6 per cent) in 2013.
In South Australia – home of the pie floater – a whopping 52.8 per cent of the population enjoy pies. But Adelaide is outdone by country SA, with an overwhelming 61.6 per cent of rural South Aussies loving a bit of cow in pastry.
Home Grain Bakery owner Toff West says he’s not surprised that South Australia topped the pie-lovers’ list because “our pies are better than anyone else”.
“We put better ingredients in and across the board,” he says, “so SA bakeries are better places to eat.”
“You can’t even get a real pasty on the east coast of Australia,” says West, who runs five bakeries in southern SA since opening his first store in Aldinga in December 2011.
He attributes the popularity of their product to using good-quality local ingredients “and we like to say, using methods that would make your grandmother proud, because I think it’s the love and the care that goes into every pie that ensures our customers always leave better when they come in.”
The ice-coffee connection
Whereas 9.9 per cent of Australian pie fans consume coffee-flavoured milk in an average seven days, 20.8 per cent of South Australian pie fans drink it in the same period! The only state that comes remotely close is Tasmania, with 13.8 per cent of its pie fans drinking iced-coffee in an average seven days. So South Australians are the pie and iced coffee kings and queens of Australia.
Football, meat pies
Roy Morgan data also found that the “steaks” are high when selling pies to footy fans.
Some 56.4 per cent of AFL supporters like a pies/pasties. This rises to 59 per cent of financial members of AFL clubs and 59.8 per cent of AFL supporters who attend matches (little wonder, notes Roy Morgan, that Four’n Twenty sponsors Port Power).
Despite the Four’n Twenty backing, however, Adelaide Crows supporters are slightly more likely than Port Adelaide Power supporters to enjoy eating pies: 58.6 per cent of them vs 56.6 per cent of Port supporters.
However, the AFL team with the highest proportion of supporters who have a penchant for pies is the Carlton Blues (62.8 per cent)
Intriguingly, among A-League supporters the figures are reversed, with 56.7 percent of A-League supporters who watch matches on TV being partial to a pie, while only 52.4 percent of paid up members like one.
Meanwhile, South Australian pie fans are:
-135 per cent more likely than the average Aussie to be Chiko Roll fans
-83 per cent more likely to like hotdogs
-40 per cent more likely to like chicken burgers/rolls
-42 per cent more likely to like chicken nuggets
-51 per cent more like to like dim sims
FIVE PIE HOT SPOTS
Kings Head
This pub’s beef brisket and Hahndorf smoked bacon pie in green pea soup with Beerenberg chutney takes the humble pie floater up a notch.
Kings Head, cnr King William and Sturt Sts, Adelaide, kingsheadpub.com.au
Home Grain Bakery
With five different locations on the Fleurieu, a stop at one of Home Grain’s bakeries is almost obligatory when heading down south. One of their most popular varieties is the steak and green peppercorn using grass-fed Fleurieu beef from Wakefield Grange.
Home Grain Bakery, 13 Old Coach Rd, Aldinga, homegrainbakery.com.au
Abbots and Kinney
This Pirie St eatery’s adorably named pie – I Pie With My Little Eye – comes with slow cooked beef, mushroom, bacon and rosemary. And if you’re feeling guilty about a pasty indulgence - all lunches at Abbots and Kinney are served with a weekly salad special.
Abbots and Kinney, 78 Pirie St, Adelaide, abbotsandkinney.com
Cafe De Vili’s
The café that never closes has been helping South Aussies with late-night (or early morning) pie cravings for years. Why not give their gourmet chicken pie a go? And during Fringe, head to The Tuck Shop in the Royal Croquet Club for a Vili’s pie.
2-14 Manchester St, Mile End, vilis.com/vilis-cafe
Bakery on O’Connell
Another beloved bakery offering up flaky goods around the clock is Bakery on O’Connell. While the hot spot also has old-school flavours, you might find some special varieties like a lasagne pie with pizza sauce or a pulled pork burrito pie.
128 O’Connell St, North Adelaide, bakeryonoconnell.com.au
What’s your favourite meat pie bakery? Join the discussion here