Product Description

Pies are the business. You can dress them up or dress them down. Make them classic or modern, savoury or sweet, shroud them in butter crisp pastry or top them with creamy potato. Eat them hot, warm or cold, with a scoop of cream, a slug of vanilla custard, a dollop of creme fraiche. You can fold the fruit in, tuck the crust under, build up the layers. No food comforts and nurtures like a proper home-made pie. Tamasin's selection includes classic savoury pies like Chicken Pie, Egg and Bacon Pie, the Cornish Pasty, an Italian Easter Pie with eggs and artichokes, la Torta di Zucchini, a Galician Pork and Sausage Pie, Koulibiac, the traditional Russian Salmon Pie, and a delicate Feta, Rice and Yoghurt Pie. Sweet pies include a section on apple pies, a Sugar-topped Cherry Pie, Raspberry Ripple Ice-cream Pie, Shaker Lemon Pie, Peach Pie, Southern Pecan Pie, Key Lime Pie, Mississippi Mud Pie and Blueberry Pie.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #141587 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-09
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

CAKE CRAFT & DECORATION
'... a stimulating collection of sweet and savoury pies that tingles the tastebuds.'

Review
'A delightful collection of sweet and savory pastries... posh pies, everyday pies, new pies, old forgotten favourites; a greedy celebration of crust and filling' (Nigel Slater OM (THE OBSERVER) 2/11/03 )

'With sensuous photos by David Loftus and Day-Lewis's own voluptuous prose... well, never before have we found homemade pastries to be so sexy.' (VANITY FAIR (Oct 03) )

'Is there a more enthusiastic cookery writer than Tamasin Day-Lewis? 'Tarts with Tops on' is her stupendous follow up to 'The Art of the Tart'. It's subtitled 'How to Make the Perfect Pie... what are you waiting for? Get baking!' (WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY )

'Tarts with Tops on is the provocative title of the latest book by our food writer Tamasin Day-Lewis. Her new book is actually about how to make the perfect pie, with recipes for savoury and sweet classics, such as bacon and egg, Cornish pasty and apple, plus Key Lime, Misisippi Mud and Shaker Lemon.' (COUNTRY HOMES & INTERIORS (Oct 2003) )

'The title is suitably, but mildly, naughty and the prose has all of Lawson's posh and flirty tones: mental back-burners, culinary boulevards and lots of delectable scrumminess. The pies themselves look good enough to eat.' (HAM & HIGH (14 Nov 03) )

'... a stimulating collection of sweet and savoury pies that tingles the tastebuds.' (CAKE CRAFT & DECORATION )

''Tis the season for pie I think. Here is a no nonsense cookbook that confirms what I have been preaching for years, that there really is a pie for every occasion. If you are not convinced and think pies are old-fashioned or boring then Tamasin Day-Lewis will convert you with her range of traditional and innovative recipes.' (EPICUREAN LIFE )

'No-one quite does a pie like the English. Although, as Day-Lewis concedes, the Americans also know a thing or two about sweet pies. Her engaging and intelligent voice contributes a large part to the success of this collection, as do the thoughtful balance of recipes and the lovely presentation.' (GOURMET TRAVELLER )

'There can be no current English food writer delivering a regular slew of recipes to her public who does it more entertainingly than Tamasin Day-Lewis. What is more, her recipes work. She is often referred to in this house.... Very good stuff... She writes as she speaks: often firm in her instructions, but always cheerful.' (PETITS PROPOS CULINAIRES (Dec 2004) )

VANITY FAIR (Oct 03)
'With sensuous photos by David Loftus and Day-Lewis's own voluptuous prose... well, never before have we found homemade pastries to be so sexy.'

Customer Reviews

Great recipes, bigger font size needed for us over 40s
Excellent recipes and a good mix of savoury and sweet pies. Two small gripes -
1. the font size is very small to be able to read easily in the midst of a busy kitchen
2. it would be helpful to have the sizes of the pie tins and dishes used. I seemed to have loads of excess filling left over on several occasions.

Perfect pies
This book is packed with mouth-watering pies. There are traditional savoury pies, foreign pies, apple pies and sweet pies. In short, this book has a pie for all occasions. There are also some unusual pies - for example the Feta, Rice and Yoghurt Pie was an eye-opener!

The chapter on Traditional Pies offers several old favourites, those long-forgotten pies that have been violated by commercialisation. These pies will take you back to the good old days when pies were made from wholesome ingredients, guaranteed to leave you satisfied. Here you will be able to recreate Melton Mowbray Pork Pies, Cornish Pasties, Devonshire Squab Pies and Streak and Kidney Pudding, amongst others.

There is also a chapter dedicated to pies made famous by other people, such as Claudia Roden, Nigel Slater and Michel Roux.

My personal favourite - sweet pies: from apple pies to a whole host american pies. All I can say is this section alone will inspire you to bake more pies. I have made about two thirds of the recipes in this section and each one has been applauded by family and friends. I think this book is worth getting even if it's just for the sweet stuff.

Of course, as in The Art of Tart, Tamsin Day Lewis seems to insist on all things organic. Sometimes, it is just not possible to get organic cocoa powder, and I happily ignore such instructions and the results are still excellent.

You can't beat a juicy pie!
Forget nouveau cuisine and posh clobber like that. The world would be a better place if there were more pie's in it. This book is great. It's got all the old favourites from everyones childhood and a few little suprises too. I never realised you could get so much under a crust. Get your flat cap out, slap your whippet and indulge this winter. Sink your teeth into a great pie every night of the week. There are more than enough recipes to keep you going. Chuffin wonderful.