Woolton Pie

Invented by Savoy maître-chef François Latry (1919-1942), and named after the Minister for Food, Lord Woolton. It was offered on Savoy Restaurant menus, and was intended to be a dish created by a Savoy chef, which ordinary housewives could recreate in their own homes in spite of the rationing restrictions. This recipe has been translated from an original Savoy Restaurant kitchen copy

Woolton pie

Ingredients

1 lb potatoes – King Edward
2 lbs carrots
½ lb mushrooms
1 small leek
2oz margarine or chicken fat
2 spring onions
Salt, pepper, nutmeg, chopped parsley
Bunch of herbs made of 1 small bay leaf, 1 small sprig of thyme, parsley and celery

Method

Peel the potatoes and carrots, cut them into slices of the thickness of a penny. Wash them well and dry in a tea-cloth. Fry them separately in a frying pan with a little chicken fat.
Do the same for the mushrooms, adding the finely chopped onions and leek. Mix them together and season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg and roughly chopped fresh parsley.
Fill a pie-dish with this mixture, placing the bundle of herbs in the middle. Moisten with a little giblet stock or water. Allow to cool. Cover with a pastry crust made from half beef-suet or chicken fat and half margarine. Bake in (a moderate) oven for 1½ hours.

Recipe for wheatmeal pastry (for Woolton Pie)

Blend 8oz (22g) plain wheatmeal flour with ½ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon baking powder.
Rub in 2oz (50g) margarine or cooking fat or dripping, then add enough water to make a rolling consistency, although one that is slightly softer than when making pastry with white flour.
Roll out and use as in the individual recipe.

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