“‘If I could fly, I’d be back at Castle Black eating a pork pie,’ said Sam.” -A Clash of Kings
Medieval Pork Pie with Currants
Thoughts:
When we began to make these, we naively thought, “Two meat pies? We’ll surely have leftovers for days!” They were gone within hours. Like many of our modern and medieval comparisons, the resulting dishes were quite different from one another. Here’s the breakdown:
The medieval pork pie is definitely in the sweet category. The amount of eggs in it makes it fluffier than the modern version, and the currants and ginger only add to the sweetness. However, it is a sweetness that really suits the pork. We might leave out an egg or two in the future, just so the meat holds together a bit better.
The modern pork pie is dense, and is very serious about being pork. It could have used a little more salt, but when dipped in either ketchup or BBQ sauce it is rendered delicious. If you do have leftovers, this pie is wonderful for a quick, cold breakfast straight from the fridge.
Bottom line? Modern is savory, medieval is sweet, but both are delicious, and will be a hit with anyone who can get their fork into one.
**NB: The cookbook contains a tweaked version of the Medieval Pie, and a much more dynamic version of the Modern Pie.**
Medieval Pork Pie
A-nother manere. Tak fayre porke y-broylid, & grynd it smal with yolkys of Eyroun; than take Pepir, Gyngere, & grynd it smal, & melle it with-al, & a lytel hony, & floryssche thin cofyns with-ynne & with-owte, & hele hem with thin ledys, & late hem bake, & serue forth. – Two Fifteenth-Century Cookery-Books
Our changes: Instead of boiling down our own pork roast and grinding it up, we used pre-ground pork. Much easier! ALSO! This makes a great pairing with the Cream Swans, because you will be able to use the egg yolks for this, and the whites for that. Win!
Ingredients:
- 1 9″ pie shell with lid
- 1 1/2 lb. ground pork
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 6 egg yolks
- 2 tsp. ginger
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1/2 cup currants
- 1/2 cup chopped dates
Brown the pork over medium heat. Let cool slightly, and mix well with all the other ingredients – The filling should be very moist. Place mixture in pie shell & add lid. Fold top dough under and pinch edges shut. Cut decorative steam holes in the top of the pastry, and bake at 375° F for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a golden brown.
Modern Pork Pie
The new, updated, and totally delicious modern recipe is available in The Cookbook!
Mmm, lovely! I believe I have a full menu for premier night! :D
This looks absolutely fantastic; you should do a cookbook.
Thanks, and we’d love to!
Wow, I just finished making the Medieval version, and it’s sooo good! Although I couldn’t find currants so I used craisins instead. We also made two pies, which I was going to serve tomorrow at my premiere party, but they smelled so good we figured nobody will know there was supposed to be 2 lol
I think this is my favoritest food blog ever! You guys rock!
Hooray! Delighted you really liked it! Thanks for letting us know!
Made this for the premier of the GoT show. Everyone loved it. I did make some adjustments I thought I would share. I chose to use goji berries instead of the currants. Also, the pork came in 1lbs. packages so mine had 2lbs. in it and it fit just fine. I also added pine nuts. Wife wants me to make it again.
Great suggestions! And I’m glad it went over so well!
Did you know that goji berries are also called wolfberries? I thought that was very appropriate, well done! =)
Just got some freshly ground pork from local farm, will try the pie on the morrow!
And, by the way, where is your Inn at the Crossroads? I want to come and feast in it! :))
These look wonderful! I just want to clarify before I get cooking – the medieval version calls for the pork to be browned, but the modern one doesn’t mention it. Should the pork be left raw for the modern version? Thanks!
Correct! The medieval pork gets browned, and the modern one does not. I’ve tweaked the instructions to make it clearer, too. Hope that you love them, and let us know how it turns out! :)
Thanks so much! We’re doing the modern onion and cheese pie for tonight’s dinner, and will probably do the pork pie next week. Thank you so much for all your hard work – this is such a treat for me and my husband, who love ASOIAF *and* food probably more than we should :~D
Made the modern version for dinner tonight, and it was *phenomenal* with BBQ sauce!
I realize this is a bit late, but I’m surprised you didn’t put sage in either pork pie.
Interesting suggestion! Neither of the recipes we used called for it, but it could make a nice addition.
superb dish! we loved it.
I’ve been wanting to make this for a long time and finally tried making the medieval recipe tonight. I love it!
It smelled kind of overly… meaty while i was making it and i was worried that would be a little overbearing, but the sweetness of all the other ingredients balances that out SUPER nicely. If this is what they get to eat at the Castle Black then sign me up ;)
Medieval Pork pie is now one of my favorites. since I couldn’t find any currants though I switched it with apricots, that was good but since both the dates and apricots were dried it was a little dry, so I made another one and used black berries in place of currants and it’s prefect.
Wow! So excited. I cook A LOT, but never have tried medieval recipes, so when I heard your piece on NPR today, I couldn’t wait to check out your site! This is great. The pork pie looks awesome. Thanks!
I made this Sunday this incredible recipe and it was “glorious”!! It was so delicious!! I made the medieval recipe and used agave syrup instead of honey and it was perfect! One of the best dishes I’ve ever made from your fantastic cookbook!
Thank you for this marvelous recipe!!
Awesome! I’m so glad it was a great success!
What sort of pie crust do you use for these?
I usually use the basic medieval crust recipe, found here. Any favored crust recipe will do, however!
I do not have a pie plate at the moment and can’t seem to find even a disposable one anywhere but want to make this tonight- instead of making two separate pies do you think it would work to make one big square shaped ‘pie’ in a casserole dish?
Definitely! I’ve done many a similar thing when the going got tough. :)
Made this just as the recipe called for (the modern one). I was dubious about all the spices–but actually it came out great. (note: I did add some flour to thicken the pork together a bit)
1 1/2 of what for the pork? Cups?
I up this since I were wondering the same thing, but I thought maybe 1.5 lb ?
pounds! Sorry about that- a lot of these recipes got tweaked going into the cookbook, but that’s not always reflected on the blog…
Haha, thanks. No problem, it allows you to correct the old recipes here ^__^
By the way, I’ll have to try that at home to see if it can make my boyfriend like pork !
I had a bash at the pork pie. Its an odd flavour, but I think thats just because of the different range that the modern palate is unused to. It does grow on you especially if you made as much of the stuff as me.
Brush some of the egg whites on top ;) Makes the pie shiny and golden and delicous! Thanks.
Been looking forward to making this since I first picked up the cookbook! Going to try the medeval version in the oven soon, and if that goes well, going to try it again baked in my Big Green Egg, for a truly authentic “hearth-cooked” experience!
Oooh, I’m so jealous of your egg! Those make for some amazing meals.
Yeah, I love it! Turned out some good chickens and an AMAZING Thanksgiving turkey on it last year, looking forward to trying out more recipes on it this year!
The Pork Pie in the oven was a hit! Can’t wait to try it on the Egg!
So, something in the pork pie recipe didn’t quite click with me, and I think it was the chopped dates. I was wondering what a good substitute would be. I was thinking perhaps golden raisins, or if feeling very dedicated, very finely minced dried pears.
Raisins would definitely work, and I’d be very curious to hear the results with dried pear. Sounds like it could be very good! I suspect apricots might do, as well…
We LOVE the cookbook. I want to cook the Modern Pork Pie for a dinner party but I want it to be a gorgeous pie like the one shown in the picture. It seems a bit higher on the sides than your standard pie that’s been based in a tin. Can you tell me what you used to get that final look?
Absolutely! The secret is to use a springform pan, which gives you that tall shape. Cook mostly as usual, but carefully take the sides of the pan off to golden-up the sides of the pie a little before the pie is finished.
My husband’s family’s pork pie (French Canadian fur traders) used sage, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon with garlic, potatoes, and onions The meat (ground pork roast) is browned and cooked with garlic, onions and potatoes before being strained and put in the buttery flaky crust. It still manages to be suberbly tasty and rich.
I made the modern pork pie for the first time last night! It was an instant hit with all of my guests! Seriously so good!
We tried the medieval recipe at our local feast guild cooking day and we loved it! and will be serving it at our next event.I’ll be having copies of your recipe and your blog info as to where I got the recipe for people to enjoy. I was wondering if you knew the date or era this recipe came from. thanks
My family loved the modern pork pie. I made it with some extra cheese (cause how can you go wrong with that), and pink lady apples. I found that it was a little too dense and sausage-ey tasting for me though. Any suggestions on how to make the pork filling less dense?
Good pork is not “white meat”. Good pork looks like beef. Buy pastured pork from a local farmer. Purchase stock bones also from a farmer, and toss them in a crock pot on low over night. Cool and skim the fat. This broth will be thick, rich and a 100 times better than beef or chicken broth. Keep fat for pie crusts.
Always braise meat before adding to recipes. That is how you get the carmalizing and the tasty bits.
Now go and make these recipes and respect the animal that fed you.
I have been using this recipe for years and I love it. It’s my go-to meal on cold days and I love sharing it with friends. Thank you so much!