Szczesny points the way!

Marseille: pre-match food

Round to Piebury Corner on Tuesday night to sample the ‘Ian Wright’ which is lamb with vegetables in a flavoursome gravy just the kind that Mrs H would love. Unfortunately, the preponderance of peas in the veg would not be appreciated by her. All in all another great gastronomic experience but, perhaps, not quite good enough to break into the top three. So 4 pies eaten, 2 fixtures remaining - the two Charlies: Nicholas and George. The former is the Scotch pie while the latter is a 'lucky dip' - I'm not sure if this is just a random selection from the other 5 or whether it is truly something different.

Piebury Corner League Table:

1.     Dennis Bergkamp – eaten 1

2.     Tony Adams – eaten 1

3.     Reg Lewis - eaten 1

4.   Ian Wright - eaten 1

Olympiacos: Pie update

As forecast, I made a pre-match visit to Piebury Corner and ordered the Reg Lewis which is the vegetarian option. The very kind lady at Piebury Corner insisted I sample the other pies I had yet to try. So my plate consisted of the Reg Lewis and samples of the lamby Ian Wright and Charlie Nicholas which, of course, is the Scotch pie. And no ordinary Scotch pie it seems as it is the 2011 Champion Scotch pie!

The Reg Lewis was good but imho doesn't dislodge my current table toppers (update below).

Will, of course, try full versions of the the other two as the season progresses. I am particularly looking forward to the Scotch pie as the pastry is different from the others. According to a Google search, it's hot water pastry which is made using lard. Apparently, the filling can vary: "a typical Scotch pie recipe will have meat, salt, pepper, nutmeg, Worcestershire sauce, onion and pastry. Many local Scottish bakers will keep their Scotch pie recipes secret, especially the spice ingredients and quantities."

Piebury Corner League Table:

1. Dennis Bergkamp – eaten 1
2. Tony Adams – eaten 1
3. Reg Lewis - eaten 1

Bolton home - Piebury Corner

I attended an athletics coaching seminar in Stevenage on Saturday morning and afterwards it was straight on the train to Finsbury Park with no opportunity for lunch.  No problem, however, as it gave me another opportunity to visit Piebury Corner.  I approached the counter and ordered the Tony Adams Steak ‘n’ Ale.  I then noticed that my previous blog about Piebury Corner had been printed out and was attached to the front of the stall!  Having revealed my identity, I got talking to the proprietor, Scotch Paul, who gave me the background to Piebury Corner and his vision of Piebury Corners at every football ground in the world (well, the Premiership, at least). He also tipped me the wink about a high-class burger joint near Drayton Park close to the school with the lifeboat in the playground. So shouldn’t be too hard to find and is on the list for a visit once I’ve gone through the menu at Piebury Corner. With a home Champions League fixture on Wednesday night, it’ll be once again down to Piebury Corner for pre-match sustenance. At the moment, I’m tempted to go for the Reg Lewis which is the veggie option.

The Tony Adams was excellent but, on balance, I have a slight preference for the Dennis – see League table below. Incidentally, there is now a new sign outside the stall which is about 12 feet tall. So keep your eyes open so you don’t walk into it and take the opportunity to have some really tasty pre-match food.

Piebury Corner League Table:

1. Dennis Bergkamp – eaten 1
2. Tony Adams – eaten 1

Building on SP's vision, the two worst match day foodie experiences last year were at Everton and West Ham. So perhaps Piebury Corner could develop a 'Toffee' pie and a 'Bubbles' pie? Any recipe ideas? (Btw - any suggestions that the latter should be based on bushmeat will be rejected immediately!)

Shrewsbury at home - pre-match dining!

A slight change of routine - instead of the in-stadium CBP, I ventured down Gillespie Road to Piebury Corner and tucked into a 'Dennis Bergkamp' topped with a sample of the steak pie - the kind lady was most insistent that I could have a sample even if I was buying a pie. The chicken and leek 'Dennis' was excellent.
Pricing wise I discovered that for £5 you get the pie and a can of drink though the latter is not obligatory!

This morning (21st) I found I had a comment on my Swansea post from the people at Piebury Corner which complemented me on my discerning palate and listed their other offerings.

Arsenal v. Swansea

First the positives! There's a new stall opened opposite the Golden Fish Bar in GillesPIE Road. It is punningly called 'Piebury Corner' and sells a range of Arsenal-themed pies. Samples were on offer - I tried the Tony Adams Steak 'a' Ale on the way to the Emirates and the Dennis Bergkamp, which is chicken, on the was back. Both were very tasty with good cuts of meat. At £5 a go they are more expensive than the stadium Chicken Baltis but are, I think, of superior quality. Piebury Corner together with last season's new addition, the stall selling roast pork or beef baguettes further along Gillespie Road, means there is now a choice of superior eating outlets though I did notice the traditional 'cereal' burger bars were still doing a good trade.

The match itself was disappointing though a win is a win. The goal was fortuitous but it still required a lot of composure and skill by AA to put it away. Arteta passed the ball well in patches, RvP hit the post with a right-foot shot, Chamakh rose well but couldn't quite direct his header away from the goal keeper. Mertesacker failed to win one ball in the air and could be another Pascal Cygan - not convinced but it's early days. Frimpong was strong - couldn't believe another blog only gave him 4.5. Theo confirmed he's a fast runner but running with the ball is a big problem. He got petulant when not awarded a rather obvious free-kick and followed through with his tackle on the oppo full-back, rightly earning a booking. It's a pity he can't show that level of aggression, albeit in a controlled way, throughout the match. He put in a dreadful cross that disappeared high into the crowd but showed no sign that he was disappointed with his effort. It was almost as if he was saying: "look I can't cross, play me through the middle". For the remainder of the match, he demonstrated his unique ability to hide between two oppo players so he is no position to receive the ball. It did offer the opportunity for me and the chap next to me to engage in a good game of 'where's Theo?' Again the work rate from Theo and AA in particularly was poor though AA's movement when he came inside was good and created some chances. Even Ramsey gave up after driving forward into the box - the ball broke a couple of yards away but by then he had just turned aimlessly away showing no interest in putting their defenders under pressure.

So same old same old (whatever that means but it feels appropriate). No desire, no confidence, no commitment - it's gonna be a long season but only 34 games to go!