Stand Pies

[rescuer]

Why are large - usually pork - pies referred to as "stand pies"?

[Narolines]

I didn't know they were - is that a regional name?

[rescuer]

Are they regional ?, you ask.

I'm not sure, but certainly in Yorkshire and Lancashire it is an accepted name - yet nobody seems to know why.

There must be somebody out there who can help!?!

[PhilBy]

Going way bavck to my childhood here but my Grandmother always had a 'stand pork pie' in the middle of her table come Christmas ..... This was a huge thing that had to be specially ordered and would always disappear back into the larder until New Years eve when it would eventually get cut into.... I always presumed that it was called a 'Stand Pie' because that is exactly what it did .... Stood in the centre of the table?

[ursula62]

In London we call them "raised" pies - and that's because the pastry has to stand up on its own rather than clinging to a mould of some sort.

[GruntFuttock]

You're right Ursula- Stand pies are large pork pies that are made with a hot water pastry which enable them to stand unsupported in the oven.Hence 'Stand' pies.

Traditionally they were the centrepiece of the festive table on Boxing Day.

Yummy!

[rescuer]

Thanks to all for your help. It would appear that a pie without a 'support' is the answer. I have received answers from two other sources which refer to www.newboulds.com/page 2 and www.foodtimeline.org

The latter refers to Cassell Dictionary of Cooking. it seems that it goes back to a medieval tradition but was not pork. All very interesting - we learn something new (or in this case 'old') every day.

Thanks again

[HanoverJones]

I am a native born Bradfordian, Bradford being the true home of the stand pie. I was brought up to understand that they were so called because they were presented on the table on a cake stand as the centre piece of a proper Yorkshire tea.

[RueDeWakenin1]

It's a Yorkshire expression and is to show it isn't an individual hand held pork pie but one which stands in the middle of the table and you take a slice.

[RueDeWakenin1]

It's a Yorkshire expression and is to show it isn't an individual hand held pork pie but one which stands in the middle of the table and you take a slice.

[Althebutcher]

I have been in the meat industry in Yorkshire for more than 40 years and have always believed that stand was abbreviated from the word “standard” as these type of pies generally come in standard sizes: 1lb, 2lb, 3lb etc.

[Cnocspeireag]

My late parents were born over 100 years ago and lived their lives in what was the West Riding of Yorkshire. They both understood a 'stand' pie to be a pork pie made with a hot water crust and large, and fancy, enough to be displayed on a stand, as a centrepiece of a special meal. smaller versions were just 'pork pies'.