SultanOfSwing

Empanadas are readily available. Kind of like a Mexican pasty.

kimilseung

and those folded over pizzas. Still not the same though.

SultanOfSwing

No, but the empanada gets you pretty close.

scrubbedexpat098

'restaurants' that have pies on their menu, but it turns out to be a stew with a lid, I might put this on the what's pissed you off thread . Anyways, I'm off th that joy of joys which is the Christmas eve fish market, wish me luck and merry Christmas all from ahem, down under

Hiro11

I thought they were Spanish?

SultanOfSwing

Originally, but when I order one it isn't at a Spanish restaurant

amideislas

I've never been a big pork or steak pie eater, but you stateside bunch at least have Marie Callender's. And whilst not exactly 'home made', are one of the things I found 'not bad' in terms of pre-packaged food (and they aren't only pastry on the top). Pretty rich though. Still, wish we could get them here.

http://www.mariecallendersmeals.com/pot-pies.do

Pulaski

They OK to keep in the freezer as a standby, but if 10 is perfect home-made, and 1 is barely edible, I wouldn't rate Marie Callender's higher than about a 5.

SultanOfSwing

Fret ye not - Amazon to the rescue once more

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...ds=fray+bentos

Pulaski

A bit late for Christmas, but I might have to invest in some of those in the New Year.

amideislas

Yeah, but you can >get< 'em. I hated the first White Castle I ever had, but now I have a twisted sort of yearning... and... Chicago-style pizza ohh boy..., and... it's been decades, but there used to be a thing called "A&W". I don't suppose they exist anymore. The only "root beer" I ever found desirable. They also used to have a "basket o' shrimp' and something called "tenderloins", which were also ridiculous, but somehow I have a yearning...

SultanOfSwing

A&W still exists. I don't like root beer but I do like their cream soda. I went to the burger joint up in Canada once, too. That was my first taste of poutine. Good stuff

Oh yeah, Chicago style pizza is the dog's bollocks.

Anian

I read somewhere on the BBC site recently that they were an import from Cornish miners.

GeoffM

I've heard lots of theories about empanadas. Doesn't really matter where they're from though, as they're in Asia, South America, and probably other places too. Trouble is, the Filipino ones tend to be quite sweet (even meat+veg ones), and then there are the *really* sweet ones.

Fray Bentos... mmmm. Maybe not a proper pie but nice nonetheless. I have considered ordering off Amazon but the eye watering price put me off.

Though I put a lot of stuff on TripAdvisor, I think I've only had one direct reply. This hotel in Porthmadog was a bit of Fawlty Towers yet had mostly good reviews. My colleague had a pie which was supposed to be locally sourced quality meat but was served as chewy beef stew in a bowl with a puff pastry lid cooked separately and dumped on top. Hotel manager was not impressed with the description of "tinned, microwaved stew with separate puff pastry lid" in my description. Funnily enough a few months later he was on a documentary about fake TripAdvisor reviews and I could've sworn he was referring to my review in the 5 seconds they gave him!

Petition: Make wrongly describing a casserole with a pastry lid as a pie a criminal offence.. Sign it!

amideislas

Empañadas are on every street corner here. There are some excellent ones - There is a chicken version here with fresh peas (a local crop). Cheap and cheerful.