View source for Steak and kidney pie

{{Short description|British savoury pie}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name             = Steak and kidney pie
| image            = Steak and kidney pie.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = A steak and kidney pie, as served in a [[pub]]
| alternate_name   = 
| country          = Britain
| region           =
| creator          = 
| course           = 
| type             = [[Savoury pie]]
| served           = Hot
| main_ingredient  = {{hlist | Beef | kidney | onions | [[brown gravy]] | pastry shell}}
| variations       = 
| calories         = 
| other            = 
}}
'''Steak and kidney pie''' is a British dish. It is a savoury pie filled principally with a mixture of diced [[beef]], diced [[Kidney (food)|kidney]] (which may be [[beef]], [[Lamb and mutton|lamb]], [[veal]], or [[pork]]) and [[onion]]. Its contents are generally similar to those of [[steak and kidney pudding]]s.

==History and ingredients==
In modern times the fillings of steak and kidney pies and [[steak and kidney pudding]]s are generally identical,<ref name=dh/> but until the mid-19th century the norms were steak puddings and kidney pies.<ref name=ad>Davidson, p. 754</ref>{{refn|[[Elizabeth David]] came across a 17th-century recipe for a "Steake Pye", but unlike modern pies it had no lid, and contained a mixture of beef and mutton.<ref>David, p. 145</ref>|group=n}} ''Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle'', 1826, records a large dish of kidney pies in the window of a baker near [[Smithfield Market|Smithfield]],<ref>"Jack Scroggins and the Kidney Pie", ''Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle'', 12 November 1826, p. 3</ref> and ten years later a kidney-pie stand outside what is now the [[Old Vic]], emitting sparks every time the vendor opened his portable oven to hand a hot kidney pie to a customer.<ref>"the Streets at Night", ''Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronicle'', 17 January 1836, p. 3</ref>

"Rump Steak and Kidney Pie" was served in a [[Liverpool]] restaurant in 1847,<ref>"Café Français et Restaurant", ''The Albion'', 25 October 1847, p. 5,</ref> and in 1863 a [[Birmingham]] establishment offered "Beef Steak and Kidney Pie".<ref>"Benson's", ''Birmingham Daily Post'', 17 February 1863, p. 1</ref> But until the 1870s kidney pies are far more frequently mentioned in the newspapers, including one thrown at a policeman during an affray in [[Knightsbridge]] in 1862,<ref>"Local Police", ''West Middlesex Advertiser'', 1 November 1862, p. 3</ref> and an assault case in [[Lambeth]] in 1867 when a customer attacked a waitress for bringing her a beef pie instead of a kidney one.<ref>"Police Intelligence", ''The Sun'', 30 March 1867</ref> By the mid-1870s steak and kidney pies were as often mentioned as kidney ones. Both appeared in verse of the period:
<poem>
     You say you are too sad to eat!
          Just hand your plate and try
     This steak and kidney pie, my love–
          This steak and kidney pie.
                                        From ''[[Fun (magazine)|Fun]]'', 1875<ref>"Tiffin'", ''The Star'', 24 July 1875, p. 3</ref>
</poem>
<poem>
     I've eaten as much as a man could eat,
          I've gone through a very remarkable feat;
     From the twopenny tart to the kidney pie,
          I've swallowed as much as I could, have I.
                                        From ''[[The Zoo]]'' (1875), by [[B. C. Stephenson]] and [[Arthur Sullivan]]<ref>[https://www.gsarchive.net/sullivan/zoo/zoo.pdf ''The Zoo''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007041602/https://gsarchive.net/sullivan/zoo/zoo.pdf |date=2021-10-07}}, Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, p. 7. Retrieved 2 May 2022</ref>
</poem>
According to the cookery writer [[Jane Grigson]], the first published recipe for the combination of steak and kidney was in 1859 in [[Isabella Beeton|Mrs Beeton]]'s ''[[Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management|Household Management]]''.<ref name=jg>Grigson, p. 243</ref>{{refn|The work was published in book form in 1861, but had appeared as a part-work over the previous two years.<ref name=jg/>|group=n}} Beeton used it in a [[steak and kidney pudding|pudding]] rather than a pie. She had been sent the recipe by a correspondent in [[Sussex]] in south-east England, and Grigson speculates that it was until then a regional dish, unfamiliar to cooks in other parts of Britain.<ref name=jg/>

Beeton suggested that steak and kidney could be "very much enriched" by the addition of mushrooms or oysters.<ref>Beeton, pp. 281–282</ref> In those days oysters were the cheaper of the two: mushroom cultivation was still in its infancy in Europe and oysters were still commonplace.<ref name=jg/> In the following century [[Dorothy Hartley]] (1954) recommended the use of black-gilled mushrooms rather than oysters, because long cooking is "apt to make [oysters] go hard".<ref name=dh/>{{refn|Hartley suggested that if seafood were wanted in a steak-and-kidney mix, cockles would be preferable to oysters.<ref name=dh>Hartley, pp. 87–88</ref>|group=n}}

Neither Beeton nor Hartley specified the type of animal from which the kidneys were to be used in a steak and kidney recipe. Grigson (1974) calls for either veal or ox kidney,<ref name=jg/> as does [[Marcus Wareing]].<ref>[https://www.thecaterer.com/news/foodservice/steak-and-kidney-pudding-by-marcus-wareing "Steak and Kidney Pudding by Marcus Wareing"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512085424/https://thecaterer.com/news/foodservice/steak-and-kidney-pudding-by-marcus-wareing |date=12 May 2021}}, ''The Caterer'', 11 September 2006</ref> Other cooks of modern times have variously specified lamb or sheep kidney ([[Marguerite Patten]], [[Nigella Lawson]] and [[John Torode]]),<ref>Patten, p. 156; Lawson, Nigella. [https://www.nigella.com/recipes/steak-and-kidney-pudding "Steak and kidney pudding"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127201334/https://www.nigella.com/recipes/steak-and-kidney-pudding |date=27 November 2021}}, Nigella Recipes. Retrieved 1 May 2022; and Torode, p. 122</ref> ox kidney ([[Mary Berry]], [[Delia Smith]] and [[Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall]]),<ref>Berry, p. 65; Smith, Delia. [https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/mums-steak-and-kidney-plate-pie "Mum's Steak and Kidney Plate Pie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320063852/https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/mums-steak-and-kidney-plate-pie |date=20 March 2022}}, DeliaOnline. Retrieved 1 May 2022; and Fearnley-Whittingstall, p. 53</ref> veal kidney ([[Gordon Ramsay]]),<ref>Ramsay, p. 138</ref> either pork or lamb ([[Jamie Oliver]]),<ref>Oliver, Jamie. [https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/352054895846143996/ "Steak and kidney pudding"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502142920/https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/352054895846143996/ |date=2 May 2022}}, jamieoliver.com. Retrieved 1 May 2022</ref> and either ox, lamb or veal kidneys ([[Gary Rhodes]]).<ref>Rhodes (1994), p. 122 and (1997), p. 118</ref>

==Cooking and variations==
[[File:Round steak and kidney pie - 3.JPG|thumb|Round steak and kidney pie]]
Some versions are full, or "double-crust", pies, in which the cooking dish is lined with pastry before the meat mixture is added, after which a pastry top is put over it.<ref>Berry, pp. 184–185</ref> In other versions the meat is put straight into the dish, with only a pastry lid.<ref name=m53/> In either case, a [[pie funnel]] is often used to stop the top crust sinking into the meat mixture during baking.<ref>Willan, p. 91</ref> Some recipes call for [[puff pastry]]; others for [[shortcrust]].<ref name=m53>Martin, p. 53</ref> In some the meat is cooked before going into the pie;<ref>Smith, Delia. [https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/mums-steak-and-kidney-plate-pie "Mum's Steak and Kidney Plate Pie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320063852/https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/british/mums-steak-and-kidney-plate-pie |date=20 March 2022}}, DeliaOnline. Retrieved 1 May 2022</ref> in others it goes in raw.<ref name=dh/> In addition to the steak and kidney, the filling typically contains carrots and onions, and is cooked in one or more of beef stock, red wine and [[stout]].<ref name=fc>Cloake, Felicity. [https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/mar/01/how-cook-perfect-steak-kidney-pudding "How to cook the perfect steak and kidney pudding"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331072741/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/mar/01/how-cook-perfect-steak-kidney-pudding |date=31 March 2022}}, ''The Guardian'', 1 March 2012</ref> 

The steak and kidney pie is found in numerous regional variants. In the [[West Country]] clotted or double cream may be poured into the pie through a hole in the pastry topping just before serving.<ref name=b321>Boyd pp. 321–322</ref> The Ormidale pie from the [[Scottish Highlands]] is flavoured with a teaspoon each of [[Worcestershire sauce]], vinegar and tomato sauce.<ref name=b321/> In [[East Riding of Yorkshire|East Yorkshire]] sliced potatoes are substituted for kidneys and the dish is called meat and pot pie.<ref name=b321/> In the English Midlands, Northern England and Scotland oysters or mushrooms or both are often added; in Scotland this variant is known as Musselburgh pie.<ref name=b321/>

== Popular culture ==
Among the various vernacular names for steak and kidney pie are Kate and Sidney pie, snake and kiddy pie, and snake and pygmy pie.<ref>[http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations/steak-kidney-pie Icons.org - steak-kidney-pie] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061217072313/http://www.icons.org.uk/nom/nominations/steak-kidney-pie |date=17 December 2006}}</ref> [[Eric Partridge]] dates the first of these to around 1880.<ref>Partridge, p. 502</ref>
A substantial part of the plot of [[P. G. Wodehouse]]'s 1963 comic novel ''[[Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves]]'' hinges on the disruptive allure of a magnificent steak and kidney pie for a young man whose fiancée has decreed that he must turn vegetarian.<ref>Wodehouse, pp. 50, 52, 56, 73–74 and 98</ref>

==See also==
* {{portal-inline|Food}}
* [[Jellied eels]]
* [[List of beef dishes]]
* [[List of pies, tarts and flans]]
* [[Steak and kidney pudding]]

==Notes, references and sources==
===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=n}}
===References===
{{Reflist}}
===Sources===
* {{cite book | last = Beeton | first = Isabella | authorlink=Isabella Beeton | title = The Book of Household Management | date = 1861 | location = London | publisher = S.O. Beeton | url = https://archive.org/details/b20392758/page/280/mode/2up | oclc =1045333327}} 
* {{cite book | last = Berry | first = Mary | authorlink = Mary Berry | title = Mary Berry's Christmas Collection | date = 2006 | location = London | publisher = Headline | isbn = 978-0-7553-1562-8}}
* {{cite book | last = Boyd | first = Lizzie | title = British Cookery: A Complete Guide to Culinary Practice in the British Isles | date = 1977 | location = London | publisher = Croom Helm | isbn = 978-0-85664-851-9}}
* {{cite book | last = David | first = Elizabeth | authorlink = Elizabeth David | title = Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen | date = 2000 | orig-date = 1970| location = London | publisher = Grub Street | isbn = 978-1-902304-66-3}}
* {{cite book | first = Alan | last = Davidson | authorlink = Alan Davidson (food writer) | title = The Oxford Companion to Food | location=Oxford | publisher =[[Oxford University Press]] | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-19-211579-0 | url-access = registration | url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00davi_0}}
* {{cite book | last = Fearnley-Whittingstall | first = Hugh | authorlink = Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall | title = The River Cottage Year | date = 2005 | location = London | publisher = Hodder & Stoughton | isbn = 978-0-340-82822-9}} 
* {{cite book | last = Grigson | first = Jane | authorlink = Jane Grigson | title = English Food | date = 1992 | location = London | publisher = Ebury Press | isbn = 978-0-09-177043-3}} 
* {{cite book | last = Hartley | first = Dorothy | authorlink = Dorothy Hartley | title = Food in England | date = 1999 | orig-date = 1954 | location = London | publisher = Macdonald and Jane's | isbn = 978-1-85605-497-3}}
* {{cite book | last = Martin | first = James | authorlink=James Martin (chef) | title = James Martin's Great British Dinners | date = 2008 | location = London | publisher = Mitchell Beazley | isbn = 978-1-84533-582-3}}
* {{cite book | last = Partridge | first = Eric | authorlink=Eric Partridge | title = A Dictionary of Historical Slang | date = 2009 | location = London | publisher = Penguin | isbn = 978-0-14-051046-1}} 
* {{cite book | last = Patten | first = Marguerite | authorlink = Marguerite Patten | title = Learning to Cook with Marguerite Patten | date = 1958 | location = London | publisher = Pan | isbn = 978-0-330-23025-4}} 
* {{cite book | last = Ramsay | first = Gordon | authorlink = Gordon Ramsay | title = Gordon Ramsay's Great British Pub Food | date = 2009 | location = London | publisher = HarperCollins | isbn = 978-0-00-728982-0}} 
* {{cite book | last = Rhodes | first = Gary | authorlink = Gary Rhodes | title = Rhodes Around Britain | date = 1994 | location = London | publisher = BBC Books | isbn = 978-0-563-36440-5}} 
* {{cite book | last = Rhodes | first = Gary | title = Fabulous Food | date = 1997 | location = London | publisher = BBC Books | isbn = 978-0-563-38385-7}}
* {{cite book | last = Torode | first = John | authorlink=John Torode | title = Beef | date = 2008 | location = London | publisher = Quadrille | isbn = 978-1-84400-690-8}}
* {{cite book | last = Willan | first = Anne | authorlink = Anne Willan | title = Grand Diplôme Cooking Course | date = 1979 | location = Danbury | publisher = Grolier | oclc = 1035310033}}
* {{cite book | last = Wodehouse | first = P. G. | authorlink = P. G. Wodehouse | title = Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves | date = 1966 | orig-date=1963 | location = London | publisher = Penguin | isbn = 978-0-14-002479-1}}

==See also==
* {{portal-inline|Food}}
* [[Jellied eels]]
* [[List of beef dishes]]
* [[List of pies, tarts and flans]]
* [[Steak and kidney pudding]]
==External links==
* {{commons category-inline|Steak and kidney pies}}
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/steakandkidneypie_73308 Steak and kidney pie recipe]

{{British pies}}

[[Category:Australian pies]]
[[Category:British pies]]
[[Category:English beef dishes]]
[[Category:Food combinations]]
[[Category:Offal]]
[[Category:Savoury pies]]
[[Category:Beef steak dishes]]
[[Category:British beef dishes]]