Steak and kidney pie is not just a meat pie, it is a British Institution like fish ‘n’ chips or roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding!

Traditionally the pie filling is a mixture of diced beef, diced kidney (often of ox, but lamb is a better choice), fried onions and the thickened stock for the gravy.

The gravy typically consists of the beef broth flavoured with Worcestershire sauce and black pepper, and thickened with refined flour, beurre manié, or corn starch.

To add an Irish slant, the gravy may also contain Guinness.

To add a Welsh slant, the onions could be replaced with leeks and a little crumbled Caerphilly added.

Many different pastry crusts can be used including rough puff and short-crust pastry.

During its long history the pie has acquired various corruptions of its name into popular rhyming slang such as Kate and Sid pie or Snake and Kiddy pie or even Snake and Pygmy pie!

The recipe given here is from the 1932 volume of Practical Cookery and includes a recipe for making your own rough-puff pastry if you should be tempted to try the ‘real’ thing!

Enjoy!