British Pie Week: Inside Portsmouth's pie factory that supplies restaurants throughout Hampshire

Dating all the way back to ancient Greece, people have been putting food into pastry – sometimes for a tasty snack, other times for a full-on meal. But it was the ancient Romans who created the pies we know today, putting a top and bottom crust together with a filling.

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Although many countries have variations, it’s Britain that unmistakeably does it best, from steak and kidney to pork pies and cottage pie.

This week is British Pie Week, and to celebrate The News went to the source of Portsmouth’s greatest pastries.

We were kindly invited to Mum and Dad’s Kitchen (Mad K) in Claybank Road, to see how their pies are made – and to try some ourselves, albeit in a blindfolded taste test.

This place is like the Garden of Eden for pies; Dave and Jane Endean’s pies are served in restaurants all over Hampshire, including Pie and Vinyl in Southsea and Piecaramba in Winchester.

Dave said: ‘We’re a totally gluten-free premises, making gluten-free pies, cakes and more, but anyone can eat them of course. We supply quite a few local restaurants and are continuing to grow all the time.

‘Pies are great because they’re so versatile – you can put just about anything in them and it can be a substantial meal for all ages.

‘We’ve made so many different fillings, from a cheeseburger pie to a fish and chips pie, and even a spaghetti and meatball pie.’

This week, the team at Mad K have put a brand new pie on the menu – a Sunday lunch pie containing beef, potato, carrot, peas and even cauliflower cheese.

It sounds like the sort of thing that might take a while to perfect, but Dave explained how ‘after doing it for this long, you just sort of know how to get it right first time.’

In a bid to compound their list of awards, the team will be heading to Melton Mowbray tomorrow for the British Pie Awards, having entered into more than a dozen categories.

Mad K’s pies are also on JustEat for delivery.