Sunday, July 24, 2005

Food Review: Fray Bentos Chicken Curry Pie

Not long ago Sixthseal did a review on Fray Bentos Chicken & Mushroom Pie. I was intrigued that there is such a thing as canned pie. So I bought this from Safeway for around £1.30. It has laid in my kitchen cupboard for about five/six weeks now. I wasn't looking forward to eating it until I got back today and found my fridge was empty. Because it was quite late (the supermarkets have already closed), I decided to have this.



As you can see this is the curry chicken version. What am I letting myself into?



'Nutrition' fact at the back. 40g of fat/65g carb out of 475g of dry weight. I am dead.



Opening it is pretty easy. I used a can opener and viola the lid pops up easily. Not cuts for me. As you can see from the picture above, it is a soggy mess of gooey - wheat flour. Disgusting looks!



30 minutes later from a 250C oven and this was what I got. Overcooked. The crust has risen and it is indeed golden in colour.



Is it any good I hear some of you ask? Uhm...surprisingly it tasted well. It is not spicy but it is curry. English'fied curry that is. Yes, there are chicken pieces but not too many. The problem is although I obviously overcooked the crust, some parts of the inside feels uncooked. The inside layer was still soggy.

At £1.30 something it is good value, if you can stomach something as disgusting as this. Yes, the curry tastes well...but that's just the top layer. The inside layer is inedible. Head to the pub instead and order yourself a hearty meal of proper pie instead.

10 comments:

Jay said...

You could go to the pub, but this is just £1.30 mah! Doesn't look too bad. Me, I like to keep a stock of tinned curries/beef goulash at home. Cook rice in my little 'fan pou', microwave the food and voila! a meal.

Or eat instant noodle lor. Maggi Mee, cepat dimasak, sedap dimakan.

boo_licious said...

Yours looks better than sixth seal's one though as the pastry has puffed up. His looks totally uncooked!

Jon Choo said...

I usually have spares of instand noodles, even bread for toast but I couldn't believe that I forgot to refill the kitchen. No choice lor but to eat this.

Yeah, mine looks so much better. What kind of oven he used I wonder...?

Kat said...

Eurghhhh.. seriously, you guys can pop by my place anytime for a proper meal instead of this rubbish. :P

Jon Choo said...

Heh. Is that an invite? ;)

Anonymous said...

hey fools the pies are nice get the steak and ale one

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

I am actually cooking a fray bentos pie right now and I am very much looking forward to eating it thay are gorgeous I cannot understand how people do not like them

Jason King Prawn said...

I have eaten in many of the finest restaurants in my home town of Dublin. Pies, a speciality area, can be hard to find - and are too often fair, middling and far from fine. However, Fray Bentos beats the lot into a cocked hat. I find the preparation admirabling interactive - opening the can carefully, placing it in the oven etc. Me and my pal love watching the food bubble and broil to perfection on the other side of the oven door (outside that is!) And the taste? I am a man of few words and so can only say the texture and fragance are as Proustian as I have ever consumed -aaah the memories of youth, the sweet cheat gone etc. And so filling! A day without steak and kidney pie is a day unlived. It is a taste sensation and a guiding light through the culinary tunnel of despair through which we all pass these days.

Unknown said...

hi i bought two chicken pie`s after i cooked them and started to dish them out for my husband and son i was shocked to see how little chicken was in the pie one pie had two pieces of chicken in one and three pieces in the other one i ended up giving the two pies to my husband and i made something else for myself and my son the photo on the tin does not merrit the contents kind regards mrs irene mcgeachy cumbernauld