Pie Floater

Ingredients

Pea soup

• 500 gdried blue boiler peas or green split peas, soaked overnight
• 2 litreswater
• 1onion, finely diced
• 1carrot, finely diced
• 1 tbspbutter
• 1bay leaf
• 1 tspsalt
• ½ tspwhite pepper
• 1 tspsugar

Meat pies (or use 4 good bought ones)

• 600 gbeef chuck, cut into 1 cm dice
• 1onion, finely diced
• 2 tbspplain flour
• 400 mlbeef stock
• 1 tbsptomato sauce
• 1 tspWorcestershire sauce
• ½ tspground nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• 500 gshortcrust pastry for the bases
• 300 gpuff pastry for the lids
• 1egg, beaten, for glazing

To assemble

• tomato sauce, in a generous squeeze
• white pepper and malt vinegar on the table

Directions

1. Drain the soaked peas, put them in a heavy pot with the water and bay leaf, bring to the boil and skim the grey foam, then simmer covered for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally so they do not catch.
2. Soften the onion and carrot in the butter for 10 minutes, stir them into the peas and cook another 30 minutes, until the peas have completely disintegrated into a thick puree that holds a spoon upright.
3. Season with salt, white pepper and the sugar. The soup must be thick, almost stodgy, because a thin soup will not hold the pie up and the whole dish depends on the pie floating rather than sinking.
4. For the filling, brown the beef hard in batches, add the onion, dust with the flour, then add the stock, sauces and nutmeg and simmer covered for 1 hour 15 minutes until the meat is tender and the gravy is very thick. Cool completely.
5. Line four pie tins with shortcrust, fill with the cold beef mixture, top with puff pastry lids, crimp the edges, cut a steam vent and brush with egg.
6. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 25 to 30 minutes, until the lids are risen, deep golden and crisp and the filling is bubbling at the vent. Rest 5 minutes.
7. Ladle the hot soup into wide shallow bowls to a depth of about 4 cm and let it settle so the surface is smooth.
8. Turn each pie upside down and lower it gently onto the soup so it sits inverted and half submerged, then squeeze a generous spiral of tomato sauce over the exposed base. Serve immediately with white pepper and vinegar, and eat it with a spoon.

Technique

• The pie goes in upside down. This is not a garnish detail: the flat shortcrust base sits uppermost so it can take the tomato sauce without going soggy, while the puff lid softens into the soup.
• It is Adelaide’s dish, sold from the pie carts that stood outside the Adelaide railway station and the General Post Office from the late nineteenth century, and it was listed as a South Australian heritage icon in 2003.
• Blue boiler peas, not split green peas, are the traditional pulse and give a greyer, earthier soup; split peas are a modern and perfectly acceptable substitute.
• The soup must be thick enough to support the pie. If yours is thin, keep reducing; if it is too thick to ladle, loosen with a little water rather than stock.

Substitutions

• Bought pies are entirely normal here, and most Adelaide pie carts used commercially made pies; look for a plain beef pie with a puff lid and a shortcrust base.
• A meat-free floater works with a lentil and mushroom pie on the same pea soup, which needs no other changes.
• No blue boiler peas: green split peas cook faster, in about an hour, and give a brighter colour.

Variations

• Some carts served it with a dob of mint sauce stirred into the soup.
• A modern restaurant version plates the soup as a puree with a pie sitting on top rather than floating in it.
• In some households the pie is served right side up, which is considered incorrect in Adelaide.

History

An Adelaide pie-cart tradition sold outside the railway station and post office; the National Trust of South Australia listed it as a state icon in 2003.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pie Floater?

Pie Floater is a street food from Australia: meat pie capsized in a bowl of thick green pea soup with tomato sauce. An Adelaide pie-cart tradition sold outside the railway station and post office; the National Trust of South Australia listed it as a state icon in 2003.

How long does Pie Floater take to make?

Pie Floater takes 40 min of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Pie Floater?

Yes, within limits. Bought pies are entirely normal here, and most Adelaide pie carts used commercially made pies; look for a plain beef pie with a puff lid and a shortcrust base. A meat-free floater works with a lentil and mushroom pie on the same pea soup, which needs no other changes. No blue boiler peas: green split peas cook faster, in about an hour, and give a brighter colour.

What is the most important thing to get right in Pie Floater?

Drain the soaked peas, put them in a heavy pot with the water and bay leaf, bring to the boil and skim the grey foam, then simmer covered for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally so they do not catch.