Still trying new stuff

We all try new stuff from time to time—or, I hope we all do. For me, at least, the new stuff is mainly about food and drink, whether commercial products or new recipes. Back in 2017, I started a series of occasional posts I labelled “AmeriNZ Test Kitchen”, a tongue-in-cheek tag for the posts. I don’t have a lab, of course, nor any culinary training or qualifications, but I thought it was a fun way to group posts about trying food or drink, especially for the first time. I’m still trying new stuff—I just keep forgetting to say anything about it. It’s time to change that—and expand the idea.

Recently, I tried several new food items, but for some reason or other I just haven’t been able to get around to blogging about them. This post is about two commercial products I recently tried, and it’s just the beginning.

The first thing I tried was the I Love Pies "Angus Beef Mince & Mozzarella" pie. It’s a fresh (in this case, that means it’s refrigerated, not frozen) pie sold in supermarkets. It was on special recently, so I thought I’d try it. I was glad I did.

Many years ago, I was like a lot of Americans who arrive in New Zealand and immediately become obsessed with NZ’s savoury pies. They’re dramatically nicer than any “pot pie” I ever had in the USA, and I quickly settled on beef mince (“ground beef” in the USA) and cheese as my favourite, though steak and cheese is a runner up. For most of my first year in New Zealand, I had a pie for lunch nearly every work day.

Such pies are a mainstay of basic food in New Zealand, and were traditionally kept in heated cabinets usually called “pie warmers” (examples) from which customers could select the pie they wanted. Pie warmers were found in many dairies (small neighbourhood superettes), petrol stations, and some bakeries (although sometimes bakeries kept them in a case only the staff could access (and those pies were often higher quality).

Between 1977 and 1998, there was a New Zealand fast food chain called Georgie Pie, which specialised in pies, oddly enough. It was started by the guy who opened New Zealand’s first supermarket, Foodtown, in 1958. That company merged with one called Progressive Enterprises in 1961, and in 1988, it was sold to an Australian company. It was briefly a NZ-listed public company, from 1992 to 94, but the majority shareholding was still Australian. In 1996, after further foreign sales, Progressive decided to close the chain rather than sell it as a going concern. It sold off all the locations to McDonald’s NZ, which converted most locations to McDonald’s and sold off the rest.

Years passed. The calls to “Bring Back Georgie Pie” started to grow, and at first McDonald’s—which still owned the brand—took little notice. I remember much speculation in the early 2000s that, legally speaking, McDonald’s had “abandoned” the brand, meaning it might be possible for independents to bring it back. The conglomerate began trying to enforce its “intellectual property” in the brand name and logo, but as pressure continued they said they “might” consider returning the pies to the market through McDonald’s units.

In 2013, they launched a trial, then expanded it to most of their units. The pies were, well, okay, I suppose, but just not the same as the original, in my opinion—nor as good as some available elsewhere. In 2020, McDonald’s quietly stopped offering Georgie Pie. That would seem to be that.

Pies are, and actually always have been, “grab it” food—something grabbed quickly, often on the run, and not usually something that someone goes out of their way to get. That was the problem with the original Georgie Pie as a chain, and the short reintroduction of the product.

Which leaves us with all the other options we’ve had all along. However, refrigerated supermarket pies have never been particularly good—until now.

I Love Pies is part of I Love Food Co, itself a part of Walter & Wild, a holding company that owns various New Zealand food brands. The company was founded by New Zealand’s richest man, Graeme Hart, and his son Harry (the company’s brands can be found here). All of that means that the brand itself, which was started by home cooks selling at farmers markets and the like, may not last in New Zealand ownership forever, or even for long, which is a shame: The pie I had was really, really good, and I’d hate to see other (probably foreign) ownership degrade the product, as has happened many times with various food products.

The text on the packaging is written in a casual, colloquial style, which suits the brand, but it’s the product that matters. From its “sour cream pastry” to its NZ angus beef mince and other fillings (and containing no MSG, palm oil, or artificial flavours or colours), it was yummy. My only complaint was that it took much longer to heat than the 20 minutes stated on the box. Was my fridge too cold? My oven not hot enough? Both are possible. I really ought to check those at some point. Still, possible technical issues aside, I’d definitely buy the pie again, and may try some other products in the “I Love…” range.

The next product I tested was not successful.

I tried a jar of “Classic Butter Chicken Meal Sauce” from Barker’s of Geraldine (a company I used to know as just “Barker's”). The company was originally founded by farmers in Geraldine in the South Island, and as it grew and diversified, it acquired NZ jam and condiment maker, Anathoth, in 2008. Nigel and I always bought Anathoth’s jams, and I still buy those and the Anathoth brand of tomato relish (still my favourites), however, we never bought all that much of Barker’s offerings, though not because of dislike.

In 2015, the company sold the majority shareholding to French food company Andros. For now, the majority French-owned company is continuing to use NZ grown produce, but, obviously, there can’t be any guarantees for the future. This particular sauce was made in New Zealand, though it doesn't list country of origin for the ingredients (they don't have to under current regulations), so I don't know if all the ingredients are from New Zealand or not.

The product itself was far more like a korma sauce than a butter chicken sauce, and a little too spicy for a product labelled mild. I’ve tried making it a few times now, but my last attempt—in March of last year—was so awful that it put me off trying it again (so far). One solution, I thought, might be sauce in a jar.

The meal I made with the Barker’s sauce was considerably browner than butter chicken from an Indian restaurant usually is, which is a problem I had the first time I made the dish from scratch. It also had none of the flavours of one made by an Indian restaurant.

Add it all up, and the sauce was very disappointing. I won’t be buying it again.

And that’s it for this round of things from my AmeriNZ Test Kitchen. Continuing the cheeky theme, I’m planning on some posts from the AmeriNZ Test Lab to talk about non-food products I try. Because, why not? But that’s for another day, because I’ve already hung up my metaphorical lab coat.

Important Note: The names of brands/products/companies listed in this post are all registered trademarks, and are used here for purposes of description and clarity. No company or entity provided any support or payment for this blog post, and all products were purchased by me at normal consumer prices. So, the opinions I expressed are my own genuinely held opinions, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the manufacturers, any retailer, or any known human being, alive or dead, real or corporate. Just so we’re clear.

All photos are my own. The one up top is of the pie in its package and after heating in the oven. The of the jar of butter chicken sauce includes a photobomb by Leo.