BOB's BLOG - The Humble Kiwi Pie: A love story in pastry - Friday 20 February 2026

You must always blow on the pie! Grab yourself a delicious Steak & Guinness, Chicken Veg & Tarragon, Vege Chilli Bean & Cheddar or one of our Cumberland Sausage Rolls made fresh every day at Tried & True! The Humble Kiwi Pie: A Love Story in Pastry

There are few things in this world as universally beloved in New Zealand as a good pie. Warm, golden, filled with something glorious, and absolutely guaranteed to burn your mouth if you don't exercise patience — the humble Kiwi pie is more than just a snack. It's a cultural institution, a rite of passage, and for many of us, the taste of home.

Where Did It All Begin?

The pie's story in New Zealand is one of happy colonial inheritance. When British and European settlers arrived in the 19th century, they brought with them a deep and abiding love of pastry-encased fillings. Pies had long been a practical food in England — a portable, filling, and economical way to feed working people. Minced meat wrapped in shortcrust or flaky pastry was the lunch of labourers, miners, and tradespeople across the British Isles, and that tradition transplanted beautifully to the new colony.

New Zealand, with its abundant farmland, cattle, and sheep, had no shortage of the quality beef and lamb needed to make a proper pie. The mince and cheese pie — perhaps the most iconic of all — became a staple at bakeries, dairies, petrol stations, and sports grounds from Kaitaia to Invercargill. Over time, Kiwi bakers put their own stamp on the form, and what emerged was something uniquely ours: the New Zealand pie.

Pies and Kiwi Culture: It's Complicated (In the Best Way)

Ask a New Zealander about pies and you'll likely trigger a spirited debate. Butter chicken or mince and cheese? Flaky pastry or shortcrust? Bakery pie or servo pie? These are the arguments that define us as a people.

The pie is the great equaliser. It doesn't matter whether you're a tradie knocking off at noon, a family on a road trip, or a crowd of rugby fans rugged up against the winter chill — the pie is there for you. It's at the sports ground, it's in the school canteen, it's at the A&P Show. There's even a New Zealand Bakels Pie Awards — a national competition that treats the humble pie with the same reverence a Frenchman might reserve for a perfectly turned soufflé.

For Kiwis, eating a pie isn't just sustenance. It's community. It's comfort. It's home.

How the Brits Do It

Our friends across the waters have their own rich pie traditions, and it's worth tipping our hats to where so much of our love of pastry originates. In Britain, the pie takes many magnificent forms — the steak and ale pie, fragrant with dark beer and slow-cooked beef; the classic chicken and leek; the Cornish pasty with its crimped edge and hearty filling of beef, potato, and swede. British pubs have long served pies as the centrepiece of a proper meal, often alongside creamy mashed potato, mushy peas, and a jug of thick gravy.

The British take their pies seriously. Regional recipes are fiercely protected, handed down through generations, and debated with great passion. A Scotch pie — that compact, upright little mutton pie in its hot water crust — is almost a national symbol in Scotland. The pork pie, with its gelatinous filling and distinctive pastry, is a staple of the English picnic.

It's a tradition New Zealand inherited and made its own. We kept the spirit, refined the fillings, and produced something that, pie for pie, can stand proudly beside anything from the Old World.

How to Enjoy a Pie (Properly)

There is an art to eating a pie, and it must be respected.

First: always blow on the pie. This is not optional. This is not a suggestion. This is the sacred first commandment of pie eating. The filling — whether it's bubbling with gravy, melted cheese, or rich sauce — retains heat at a temperature that has humbled even the most confident of pie enthusiasts. Bite in too early and you will regret it deeply. Blow first. Always.

Beyond that fundamental rule, there's a pleasing freedom in how you approach the experience. Some people start at the top, carefully lifting the pastry lid to let steam escape. Others bite straight into the side — bold, committed, perhaps a little reckless. The correct method is whichever one brings you joy, provided you have honoured the blow.

If you're eating in, there's little finer than pairing your pie with a generous scoop of creamy mashed potato and a ladle of glossy, well-seasoned gravy pooling around the plate. The pastry soaks it up. The flavours meld. It becomes something greater than the sum of its parts.

Tried & True's Pies: Made Fresh, Made With Love

At Tried & True, we believe a pie should be something to look forward to. That's why every pie in our range is made fresh in our own kitchen with all butter pastry - shortcrust on the bottom, flaky on top, every single day — no shortcuts, no compromises.

Our pie range includes:

• Steak & Guinness — slow-cooked beef in a rich, savoury gravy, wrapped in golden pastry

• Chicken, Vege and Tarragon — a fragrant, elegant combination with the delicate anise note of fresh tarragon

• Chilli Bean and Cheese — our vegetarian hero, with bold chilli flavour and melted cheese in every bite

And because no pie counter is complete without them, we also make our own sausage rolls — buttery, flaky, and filled with well-seasoned pork. Honestly, they don't last long.

Eat In or Take Away

If you've got a moment to sit down, we'd love you to try your pie the proper way — served with mash and gravy, the kind of combination that makes you feel like everything in the world is going to be okay.

Short on time? No problem. Every pie travels well, wrapped up and ready to go. Just remember: whether you're heading back to the office, the ute, or the couch — you must always blow on your pie.

Come in and try one today. We're making them fresh, we're making them with care, and we can't wait for you to taste the difference.

Tried & True — good food, made properly, every day.

Looking for a unique gift?

You may have seen that we've been adding to our retail lines at Tried & True with our Rookery Farm Organic Eggs, Sevenseeded Breads, Alt Milks, T&T Totes and Tshirts, T&T Diner Mugs and a wide range of Specialty Coffee and Brewing Equipment available to purchase.

We've added a variety of artisan products including Olive Oils, Dressings, Chutney, Hot Sauce. Let us know if there's anything you'd like us to source.

We've also expanded our range through our webshop hosted at shop.barnabyandboos.co.uk

Here you'll be able to select some exclusive new items including ceramic coffee mugs featuring Rachel Hunt Designs and our new T&T Original Brunch T Shirt. A perfect gift available in two colours and multiple sizes.

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