Fray Bentos Hash, and a Q

[LadyG]

So, as any salty sailor knows, there is nothing better than Fray Bentos home made corned beef hash: caramelise your onions, lots of onions, add corned beef, add cooked potatoes, enough to fill the pot while still allowing stirring with wooden spoon. Serve to hungry sailors. Optional: Colmans Mustard on the side..

Once you have run out of everything fresh its time for a pie, you need Fray Bentos pie and a UK patent all metal wing can opener.

Heat oven to hot, cook till almost burnt. Serve with potatoes, and maybe HP sauce, and mushy peas on the side.

ALERT reviews tell me that recent pies are lacking in meat! Can this be true? 

[MtB]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

ALERT reviews tell me that recent pies are lacking in meat! Can this be true? 

 

Hopefully yes, this will be a major improvement on their grisly pies.

[NB Esk]

6 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Hopefully yes, this will be a major improvement on their grisly pies.

Yes, they are a bit grim.  Bit of "meat" in the bottom with a flaky top lid.  Did they used to have a pastry bottom, too, or is this a false memory?  I seem to think they were half decent at one time.  That probably is a false memory....

[Naughty Cal]

Due to the lack of an oven on board we don't use Fray Bentos pies as emergency rations.

[jonesthenuke]

We tried a pie as an emergency ration a couple of years ago. We won't do it again. They seem Ok in the 1960s, they may have got worse or our expectations may be a lot higher?

[rgreg]

I had a Fray Bentos pie last month for the first time in many years. I used to love them but was totally disappointed with the lack of chunky meat in the present version. I won't be buying one again, not even for emergency rations.

[nb Innisfree]

Fray Bentos pies were the working class fine cuisine once, but alas no more. 

 

Growing up in Sheffield we, unusually, never had corned beef hash in our house, probably because my dad would only eat fresh meat from the butchers. I didn't try it until my 30s, corned beef stew actually, and I was instantly converted.

 

Best wi' 'endersons relish onnit. 

[Mike Hurley]

Last time i bought these pies they were made by Princes, same shape tin but different inside. When trucking years ago my emergency rations were a tin of minced beef and onion, small tin of potatoes and a tin of mushy peas, all done in 1 pot, lush.

[LadyG]

36 minutes ago, NB Esk said:

Yes, they are a bit grim.  Bit of "meat" in the bottom with a flaky top lid.  Did they used to have a pastry bottom, too, or is this a false memory?  I seem to think they were half decent at one time.  That probably is a false memory....

Nope, they were fine with good meat and kidney, a brilliant idea to revive morale after a long cold wet day with a colder, wetter, longer night ahead.

No pastry underneath but if the oven was not hot enough the pastry left something to be desired, a big dollop of Mash [dtill available] made up for it.

 

[MtB]

23 minutes ago, nb Innisfree said:

Fray Bentos pies were the working class fine cuisine once, but alas no more. 

 

Growing up in Sheffield we, unusually, never had corned beef hash in our house, probably because my dad would only eat fresh meat from the butchers. I didn't try it until my 30s, corned beef stew actually, and I was instantly converted.

 

Best wi' 'endersons relish onnit. 

 

 

Ah now there's another thing changed beyond recognition. Corned beef. When I was a brat a tin of corned beef had proper meat in it, put in the tin simply to preserve it. Corned beef in slices and pickle in sandwiches, brilliant! 

 

Nowadays a tin of corned beef contains just pink mush, and a high proportion of fat. It looks like the old corned beef I remember but with all the stuff recognisable as meat taken out. 

 

And why is it called 'corned' beef anyway? No corn in it that I can see. Or taste.

[nb Innisfree]

Mutton chops, that's another fond memory.

 

We often used to have a mutton joint for Sunday roast before posh expensive lamb pushed mutton off the scene. 

[LadyG]

6 minutes ago, nb Innisfree said:

Mutton chops, that's another fond memory.

 

We often used to have a mutton joint for Sunday roast before posh expensive lamb pushed mutton off the scene. 

Mutton has made a comeback as high class nosh, but its no longer aged, toothless, ewes [now channeled to Indian restuarants]. 

Real mutton bred for the table and matured for two years is very expensive, and scarce.

Edited May 21, 2018 by LadyG

[nb Innisfree]

2 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Mutton has made a comeback as high class nosh, but its no longer aged, toothless, ewes [now channeled to Indian restuarants]. 

Real mutton bred for the table and matured for two years is very expensive, and scarce.

Funny old world, back in the day mutton was the norm and lamb expensive, all to do with fashion I think. Same with venison, back in the 80s no one wanted it, it was the cheapest meat available until it became the latest restaurant trend in London and the price soared overnight. 

[Naughty Cal]

8 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Mutton has made a comeback as high class nosh, but its no longer aged, toothless, ewes [now channeled to Indian restuarants]. 

Real mutton bred for the table and matured for two years is very expensive, and scarce.

Last mutton we had was when we were in Scotland on the island of Kerrara. Was reared on the farm a couple of hundred metres from where the boat was moored. 

 

It wasn't overly expensive but it was very tasty. 

 

Struggled to find it since. We have been using goat instead.

[tree monkey]

27 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

Ah now there's another thing changed beyond recognition. Corned beef. When I was a brat a tin of corned beef had proper meat in it, put in the tin simply to preserve it. Corned beef in slices and pickle in sandwiches, brilliant! 

 

Nowadays a tin of corned beef contains just pink mush, and a high proportion of fat. It looks like the old corned beef I remember but with all the stuff recognisable as meat taken out. 

 

And why is it called 'corned' beef anyway? No corn in it that I can see. Or taste.

"Corned' is a method of preserving meat, I've had proper corned beef for breakfast when staying with a Polish family.

Still didn't like it

[Mike Hurley]

7 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

"Corned' is a method of preserving meat, I've had proper corned beef for breakfast when staying with a Polish family.

Still didn't like it

Battered corned beef is great.

[tree monkey]

4 minutes ago, Mike Hurley said:

Battered corned beef is great.

I would have happily battered it tbh but as I was a guest I had to be nice

[rgreg]

My mother used to make Spam Fritters and I seem to remember quite liking them. 

[system 4-50]

Supermarket pies. 90% onion. Ready meals. 90% onion.  Steak & Kidney pies. 90% onion.  Onion and I don't get on.  Is there anything in British cuisine that isn't stuffed full of onion?

[Naughty Cal]

10 minutes ago, system 4-50 said:

Supermarket pies. 90% onion. Ready meals. 90% onion.  Steak & Kidney pies. 90% onion.  Onion and I don't get on.  Is there anything in British cuisine that isn't stuffed full of onion?

Fish and chips?

[zenataomm]

I think you unsatisfied ones have mistakenly bought the Fray Bentos Minced Beef pies.

Do what I do and shoplift … errr I mean purchase the Steak in Ale variety.

 

Ingredients

Water, Beef (25%), Puff Pastry (24%) (Wheatflour (with Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Margarine (Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Salt, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids)), Water, Salt), Ale (contains Wheat?, ?????) (9%), Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Onions, Wheatflour (with Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Spices, Sugar, Tomato Paste, Barley Malt Extract, Yeast Extract, Flavouring, Beef Extract, Chicory Extract, Colour (Plain Caramel), Tomato Powder, Garlic Powder.

 

Mmmmm …. Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, yum yum my favourite!

 

[rgreg]

2 minutes ago, zenataomm said:

I think you unsatisfied ones have mistakenly bought the Fray Bentos Minced Beef pies.

Do what I do and shoplift … errr I mean purchase the Steak in Ale variety.

 

Ingredients

Water, Beef (25%), Puff Pastry (24%) (Wheatflour (with Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Margarine (Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Salt, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids)), Water, Salt), Ale (contains Wheat?, ?????) (9%), Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Onions, Wheatflour (with Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Spices, Sugar, Tomato Paste, Barley Malt Extract, Yeast Extract, Flavouring, Beef Extract, Chicory Extract, Colour (Plain Caramel), Tomato Powder, Garlic Powder.

 

Mmmmm …. Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, yum yum my favourite!

 

Mine was definitely Steak & Kidney; not as nice as I remember them. 

[Naughty Cal]

42 minutes ago, zenataomm said:

I think you unsatisfied ones have mistakenly bought the Fray Bentos Minced Beef pies.

Do what I do and shoplift … errr I mean purchase the Steak in Ale variety.

 

Ingredients

Water, Beef (25%), Puff Pastry (24%) (Wheatflour (with Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Margarine (Palm Oil, Rapeseed Oil, Water, Salt, Emulsifier (Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids)), Water, Salt), Ale (contains Wheat?, ?????) (9%), Stabiliser (Xanthan Gum), Onions, Wheatflour (with Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin), Modified Maize Starch, Salt, Spices, Sugar, Tomato Paste, Barley Malt Extract, Yeast Extract, Flavouring, Beef Extract, Chicory Extract, Colour (Plain Caramel), Tomato Powder, Garlic Powder.

 

Mmmmm …. Mono- and Diglycerides of Fatty Acids, yum yum my favourite!

 

If it is only 25% beef and 24 % pastry that is a pretty poor pie 

[WotEver]

2 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

Fish and chips?

With a pickled onion?  Oh...

[Naughty Cal]

8 minutes ago, WotEver said:

With a pickled onion?  Oh...

Pickled egg.