Whether you like a pie with a crispy pastry lid, a crumbly crust, a mashed potato lid or even a sliced potato top, one thing is for certain – if you're a pie connoisseur like Paul Hollywood, you don't want a pie with a soggy bottom.
Pies in Leeds fell out of favour when restaurants and bars adopted menus packed with ribs and burgers – Nation of Shopkeepers' goats cheese and butternut squash pie was to die for – rather than your traditional pastry pie. But they're returning, wading through the piles of pulled pork, to remind us why we love a good filling encased in buttery pastry.
Some of the city's most-loved pies aren't available on a day-to-day basis, instead appearing at pop-up events and sporting fixtures, which means you're always left wanting more. Here's a round-up of some unlikely pie places to seek out during British Pie Week.
The Greedy Pig
The Greedy Pig might look like your average greasy spoon from the outside, when it's packed with builders and construction workers scoffing hearty breakfasts. But when you step into the functional space – with added touches like fresh flowers – you knows there's more to this place than meets the eye.
As well as the usual, The Greedy Pig offer a selection of highly-regarded menus via their supper clubs and pie nights. Their pie nights began last year as a series of fundraising evenings so that Jo and Stu could provide a customer loo. Owing to their success, the pies have found themselves on the supper club menus. The supper clubs take place on a regular basis and I have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of the pie nights – Twitter goes mad for them. The next supper clubs are on Friday March 20 and Saturday March 21.
Wilsons pies
The words 'Wilsons pork pie' are to pie fans what Chanel or Prada must be to perfume nerds. Mention Wilsons and it immediately conjures up thoughts of one of their melt-in-your-mouth pork pies, enjoyed outside, on the go, with a side of peas and a hot drink. To get your Wilsons fix you'll need to visit their award-winning Crossgates, Armley or Morley shops, but if you're a Leeds Rhinos fan, Wilsons will come to you with their Jiffy Pork Pie van. The van is present at all home games behind the North Stand at Headingley Carnegie Stadium. It's almost worth watching a game for the pie alone.
Temple Newsam
The introduction of a gluten-free diet can feel like you've got to cut out all of the tasty stuff: bread, cakes, pies, you name it. But there are a number of gluten-free alternatives fighting for counter space in shops, cafés and restaurants and York pie company Voakes are our pie saviours. Luckily for us Leodiensians, Voakes pies are stocked in a few places, most notably at Temple Newsam. If there's a perfect treat for a long Sunday morning walk, it's a pork pie. Be warned: they sell out… fast.
Voakes pies
West Yorkshire Playhouse
Have you skipped that high-brow cultural evening out because you're not sure you'll be able to stuff your face with pie beforehand? It happens to us all. The Playhouse have recognised this problem, though, and offer a solution – a Play, Pint, Pie for just £12.50. The affordable ticket price, along with everything we need to satisfy our hunger, is to encourage us to watch new work by a selection of award-winning and emerging playwrights. The next event, from 26-30 May, is a world-premiere by Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues.