REACH FOR THE PIES

To celebrate British Pie Week (5-11 March), we caught up with chef Calum Franklin, who has gained ‘insta-fame’ thanks to his perfect pastry

Calum Franklin ( @chefcalum) is executive chef at Holborn Dining Room (holborndiningroom.com), and has over 40,000 followers on Instagram. We talked to him about all things pie.

What’s the most popular pie in the restaurant?

Currently it’s our curried mutton pie, but of all time, I think it’s the chicken, girolle and tarragon pie.

What’s your favourite kind of pie?

A classic pork pie with a hot water crust pastry, if well made, it’s a pretty special thing to eat.

If you could share your top three tips for the perfect pie, what would they be?

Use pure egg yolk to brush the pastry before cooking, use the freezer instead of the fridge to rest pastry and cut the time in half and lastly, always make sure that the sauce is thick enough to at least coat a spoon.

What’s currently on-trend in the world of pastry? Geometric and complex lattice work have come into the spotlight recently, I adore the care and attention people are putting into pies. The next step is for the focus to shift to the quality of ingredients on the inside, which is equally as important.

What’s the secret to the perfect pie?

Finding the right balance of filling, sauce and pastry for each pie, for instance some meats require more sauce, whereas fish pies require less, so it’s about adapting.

• Look out for Holborn Dining Room’s dedicated Pie Room opening soon, where you can watch chefs, including Calum, making the pies, and buy them to eat in or take away.