"I think I could eat one of Bellamy's pies."

I'm sitting here getting ready to email my cousin Jim (so many 'Jims' in my odd constellation), listening to the Smiths and pondering how Listmaker has done it again; having cursed the Atlanta Braves as effectively as he pulled the rug out from under the Red Sox. I'm debating whether or not it is late enough to switch from tea to a dark-and-stormy; perhaps instead I should open a bottle from the dwindling supply of red wine that looked so robust a few short weeks ago (maybe I will have both: "beer before liquor, never been sicker, liquor then beer, you're in the clear" makes no mention of wine and besides, tomorrow is a holiday). My Sunday shirt- a comfortable favorite- seems to smell vaguely of old drawn butter, which is odd, as we haven't had lobster in a while and it was washed on Friday. I should change it, but I'll admit the light dairy wiff wafting up from the placket is intriguing. I suppose I will just have to continue procrastinating as far as these matters are concerned.

One thing I have already prevaricated too long about is a tip from Little Bruvva about a new pie on the market in England. He called today for a chat and we had a good discussion of East Midlands cuisine. Before the deluge begins about the paucity of good British food- and especially in the industro-agricultural wasteland of the midlands- begins I'd like to point out that great strides have been made in recent years in the rediscovery of well made, artisinal regional delicacies and that the East Midlands (with the Appellation Controlee of stilton) lead the way. Bruvva was at a conference recently which featured "East Midland's Cuisine"- quiches made with stilton and red leicester, gourmet sausages, pork pies, and so on (no mention if Walker's Crisps were on the menu, and being a government affair it is doubtful that pints of County were on offer). Bruvva set my tastebuds a-tingle with a report of a pork pie with the top crust and about an inch of meat removed and replaced with stilton (a local favorite in Loughborough where he lives and Mrs. Bruvva hails from). This in turn reminded me of an email he sent last week about Leicestershire's Pukka Pies:

Morning,
After reading your piece on curry I thought I should tell you how they have now combined my two great loves curry and pastry to make the Pukka Luxury Halal Chicken Balti Pie, though being a creature of habit I still stuck to beef and onion at the '300 Spartans'* last night. Not only that, you can now buy Pukka pies in Sainsburys, I warm to Leicestershire more each day!

(*His local Greek-owned chip shop)



Would that America warm to the humble meat pie as my brother has warmed to Leicestershire!