Clark's Pies, also

colloquially Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in conversa ...

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d "Clarkies" or "Clarksies," are well-known

meat pie A meat pie is a pie with a filling of meat and often with other savory ingredients. They are found in cuisines worldwide. Meat pies are usually baked, fried, or deep fried to brown them and develop the flavour through the Maillard reaction. M ...

s that originated in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, and can now be found in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and the South of Wales.

History

A printed paper bag from the 1930s states that the business was established in 1909. A shop opened on Llanmaes Street in

Roath Roath ( cy, Y Rhath) is a district and community to the north-east of the city centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. There is no community council for the area which is mostly covered by the Plasnewydd electoral ward, and stretches from Adamsdo ...

, Cardiff in 1913. Developed by Mary Clark, a second shop opened on Cowbridge Road East in nearby Canton in the 1930s. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the first shop was closed due to wartime meat

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

. Dennis Dutch, Mary Clark's grandson, opened the third pie shop and bakery on 10 May 1955 in Bromsgrove Street, Grangetown. In 2005, Dutch celebrated the shop's 50th anniversary. The family have since sold Clark's Pies in Cardiff to another bakery ending their association with Clark's Pies In the 1920s, (Harold, Harry) Percy Clark left his mother Mary to branch out on his own, establishing a shop in North Street,

Bedminster, Bristol Bedminster is a district of Bristol, England, on the south side of the city. It is also the name of a council ward which includes the central part of the district. The eastern part of Bedminster is known as Windmill Hill. To the south is Bedmi ...

, where he built his own business. The shop passed to Percy's sons, John, Ken and Roger Clark, who have all since retired. Keith Prested now owns Clark's Pies Ltd along with his partner, Roger's daughter, Dawn Clark, who continues in the family tradition as a director of the business, which is still located at 259 North Street, Ashton Gate,

where it has been making pies and pasties continuously since the 1930s.

Recipe

The exact recipe of the pie filling is a closely guarded secret containing

beef Beef is the culinary name for meat from cattle (''Bos taurus''). In prehistoric times, humankind hunted aurochs and later domesticated them. Since that time, numerous breeds of cattle have been bred specifically for the quality or quantit ...

vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...

s and

gravy Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a simple mix of salt ...

. Unusually for a pie, the

pastry Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" sugges ...

is thick enough not to require a foil tray. Each pie has the word "CLARPIE" stamped into the pastry.

Consuming the pie

Knives and forks are not required; the pastry is thick enough to pick up and eat in the upright position without crumbling or getting soggy. Microwaving the pie will negate these qualities, making the pie pastry soft. A ''Clark's Tash'' is the nickname given to burning the upper lip with the hot filling.

Clark's Pie quotes

* Frank Hennessy: ''I can't remember not having a Clark's Pie. As soon as Cardiffians saw the Millennium Stadium they fell in love with it. They didn't realise why. It's like a giant Clark's pie with four cocktail sticks in it.'' *

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

, former

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

player/manager, erroneously claims the pie to be a

invention: ''There's some great things that have come out of

– Clark's pies, a couple of football teams.... not sure about me, though!''

References

External links

*
Clarks Pies (Bristol) Website

Secret of Clark's success kept under the pie lid – The Western Mail

BBC South Wales East Food

Photo gallery of the Clark's Pies Anniversary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarks Pie, The British pie brands Companies based in Cardiff Food and drink companies established in 1909 Food and drink companies of Wales Family-owned companies of the United Kingdom Privately held companies of Wales Welsh cuisine 1909 establishments in Wales