Tesco's Small Melton Mowbray

This week's pie is the “Small Melton Mowbray” offering from British supermarket giant Tesco. At 71 pence per 140g pie, it's easy to see how the retailer made over £2 billion last year in profits, the question is - has any of the cash been reinvested in product improvement?

On opening the greaseproof paper, the pies were a sight to behold. Resplendent in dark pastry cases, they sat up in the stout manner of a well formed porker. Further examination of the pies showed a translucent, lard covered base which some found to be a little off-putting. As this reviewer isn't one to be discouraged by a little extra fat, this greasy delight was thoroughly welcome, and expected to impart extra flavour and additional succulence.

The pies cut well, with the pastry gently crumbling with the texture of a digestive biscuit. Surprisingly, while on inspection the base seemed to be moist and fat laden, on cutting it was solid and slightly crispy. This unexpected event prompted squeals of barely concealed glee at the prospect of tasting a pork pie imparting such contrary impressions.

The selected quarter was exposed and turned to face outwards, revealing the firm pork glory within. The meat within was extremely tightly packed, surrounded by just a hint of jelly, to which one reviewer was moved to comment “I love it when my meat touches the sides”. However you interpret this, the firm and full filling looked sure to supply more than adequate savoury satisfaction.

Unfortunately the pie once again contradicted these lofty expectations with a dull and unexciting taste. While not offensive, the meat was certainly not as flavour packed as it was tightly packed in the pie. Maybe I desire for a heavily seasoned filling, but this slightly insipid meat certainly didn’t enrapture the eater.

On the other hand the pastry shell of this small Melton Mowbray pie did live up to it’s billing, having texture and taste that was slightly biscuit like, confirming earlier observations, and providing a stark contrast to the disappointing filling.

It’s tough to draw conclusions from this review – this pie promised much and delivered little. While expectations were built of a fat, firm and fine pork delight, it left the tasters on this panel rather ambivalent about the proposition of finishing the pie.

By constructing a product that is firmly in the middle of the pork pie pecking order, Tesco have managed to neither delight nor offend this panel, an response that is perhaps Tesco’s biggest achievement. This strategy is exactly what has allowed them to dominate the competitive supermarket niche. By appealing to all, and offending none, they can shift larger volumes of product than any other retailer in the British Isles.

To answer my original question: Yes. This pork pie has been designed and improved. Unfortunately enhancements have been made not to taste and texture benchmarks, but to Tesco's balance sheet and profit forecasts. By moulding their pies to cause least offence, Tesco have come up with a product entirely uninspiring and exciting. And there’s the rub. To attain the heights that a truly great pork pie can achieve, you need to put culinary perfection before profits.


Flavour balance: meat 15%, pastry 80%, gelatine 5%.

Overall score: 7/10