A 2022 survey by Sushi Daily revealed that close to 20% of Brits aged 18-29 have never tasted a pork pie, and a 2024 survey commissioned by Dickinson & Morris found that the cold pork and jelly components are the main barriers for pork pie newbies. Given the iconic crimped pastry’s heritage status in the UK – which dates back to the nineteenth century – this may come as a surprise. But what are butchers, pastry makers and chefs doing to keep the cold pie relevant?

While raised meat pies can be traced back as far as the fourteenth century, it’s widely accepted that Melton Mowbray-based pie maker Mary Dickinson pioneered the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie as we know it today; in 1851 she hand-raised the first pastry case with a wooden dolly and created the pie’s distinctive bow-walled shape. The ‘Melton Mowbray’ name is now seen as a mark of quality by consumers. 

From there, Mary’s grandson, John Dickinson, went on to make pork pies at Burton End in Melton Mowbray before leasing a building called Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe in 1851. In 1901, the business changed its name to Dickinson & Morris. Today, ‘Melton Mowbray Pork Pies’ is protected by PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status. Awarded in 2009, the certification stipulates a Melton Mowbray pork pie must be made within a certain geographical area to its traditional recipe using fresh, uncured pork.

Traditionally, pork has been the key cold pie filling. At the heart of Dickinson & Morris’ cold pies – which they’ve been crafting for over 170 years – is uncured, 100% British pork, alongside their signature savoury jelly and seasoning, encased in a golden hot water crust. And it’s this historic recipe that’s used in their Melton Mowbray mini, individual and sharing pork pies today, consumed up and down the country with a variety of condiments and sides, each a personal preference. 

For example, pie-eaters in the North of England favour pairing cold pies with condiments such as mustard, ketchup and brown sauce, while pickle, mushy peas, baked beans, chips and gravy are popular sides for the pastry centrepiece.

Now, Dickinson & Morris is pioneering modernised riffs on the classics with the aim of attracting new, younger customers. In recent years, they’ve teamed up with chef Calum Franklin – crowned ‘the pie king’ by Jamie Oliver – to devise a number of enticing twists featuring different proteins, flavoured jellies and more innovative flavours. Its festive showstopper for 2024, while made with the traditional crisp hot water crust and outdoor-bred British pork, also contained duck, ham and chestnuts in a sweet apple and calvados jelly. And, departing from the traditional crimped lid and bow-walled design, was finished with a Parisian-inspired swirl.

Franklin has elevated the pie into a haute cuisine creation and art form. Formerly of Holborn Dining Room, where he launched The Pie Room in 2018, he has since taken his famed pies across the channel, opening the Public House brasserie in Paris in 2024. Today, The Pie Room continues to serve a variety of artisan hand-raised pies including pork shoulder and smoked bacon with aromatic fennel seed and sage surrounded by technically perfect pastry.

But how far does Calum like to stray from tradition? “I actually think the classic hot water and lard-based pastry is best for a cold pie filling, so I tend to keep that the same. But I like to change up the decoration or shape of the pie into something new,” explains Calum. 

Calum also enjoys playing around with various meats and fillings. “I’d love to see people experimenting more, using spices and fresh herbs. I've been using a lot of citrus and vinegars lately to lighten pie fillings and jellies. Over the years, we’ve experimented with adding ~smoked flavours into pies and have introduced all sorts of ingredients from Mexican chillies to Italian cured fats that don't dissolve in cooking, as well as preserved lemon with spiced mutton and Merguez sausage. There have been so many!”

With more people working, cooking and spending their downtime at home during the Covid-19 pandemic, sales of cold pies shot up by 6%. Does Calum anticipate this upward momentum will continue? “The attitude to the cold pie in the UK is rapidly changing,” he says. “It's moving away from the motorway bite and guilty desk snack to something more revered and respected in our food culture. Some of that is down to the work of chefs celebrating them more, and some is down to people learning more about this country’s rich history of cold pie making. I've worked alongside Dickinson and Morris for years now on changing this perception and that's led to our pies being stocked in the country's most luxurious department stores. Wherever this movement comes from and from whomever,  I'm so happy to see this shift.” 

From traditional takes to more experimental interpretations, it’s becoming clear that the appetite for the cold pie is far from sated. From historic shops to high-end restaurants, these celebrated recipes continue to enjoy a firm footing on British menus while the revival of artisanal pie making combined with enthusiasm for original, bold fillings is driving an exciting new wave of culinary tradition. Long may it continue!