Clarks don't just make shoes

 

I took the opportunity to head west a few weeks back to understand the Clarks phenomenon. Pulled up in a working class area of Cardiff to be hit by the sweet aroma of baking and students wheeling shopping trollies back to the supermarket they carried them from on their head's the previous night just to get the quid back.

 

 It's half nine on a Saturday morning and they only open at ten but it does say to go down the side and ring the bell. Someone's nicked the bell though so I just wander in. Right in the middle of the kitchen in fact. A big, jolly Welshman confronts me

 

"Can I help you?"

"Yes I'd like a pie"

"Who left that door open?"

"Dunno"

"That's a quid"

"Thanks"

 

 

 

 

And it's a mountain of a pie for a quid: dark, deep and devious. Not sure on the flavour as it mainly seems to consist of mince and no sooner than I have bit into it, I end up with a "Clarks tache" as they call it in these parts with gravy spilling onto my top lip. Hmmmm heavenly.

 

 

 

 

An hour later, I'm in Bristol at another Clarks pie shop in Bedminster. Weaving along the A5 past the Severn basin and past the football ground (City not Rovers) where they have a mobile stand. I park up in Aldi and wander down the street. Last time I was in this area I was getting chased down the street by irate Stone Island wearing Bristolians shouting "cam on then you fackin' Northern mankee" after my beloved Wigan Athletic had beaten them 1-0 on a Friday night.

Much more sedate this morning. I enter the shop and a man in white overalls is serving meat and veg pies through a small hatch. Nice touch. Don't mind if I do. This is a surrogate Clarks you see. They are as big in Bristol as they are in Cardiff but at some point a relative moved out of Wales and set up their own franchise. If such a word existed in the 1920's.

The differences are discernible, there is more potato and onion in the Bristol version and a more defined crimp in the top crust. They've also added 50p to the price. Both are a large oval shaped affair with a raised top crust and consist of a sturdy yet doughy pastry, the Cardiff version is slightly more peppery and has the CLARPIE stamp engraved into the bottom as if to hint at the evidence of a rivalry between the two, seeking that seal of authenticity.

The Bristol version is called a Meat and Veg Pie and the Cardiff one...well I bought it off a bloke in a kitchen so I don't really know. They were both top notch though, shaped like a rock cake but filled with meat and as a resident of Wigan, the supposed home of the pie it is truly inspiring to see such traditions and high regard for the humble pastry product in the South West too.

The above is an abridged extract from the Life of Pies book to be published in Summer 2014