No mystery why this meat pie tastes good
A beefy taste of Australia to tide fans over until release of Miss Fisher’s feature film
Hang on to your pearl-handled pistols because Phryne Fisher is coming to the big screen.
The glamorous detective from Australia’s Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (on Netflix Canada) will star in Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears, according to website Den of Geek.
Played to perfection by Essie Davis, Miss Fisher is an amateur sleuth and proud feminist in 1920s Melbourne. She keeps a gun in her garter, races her Hispano-Suiza and flies a plane. She matches wits with police inspector Jack Robinson (Nathan Page) in a will-they-or-won’t-they tension that recalls Moonlight by way of Downton Abbey.
Until the movie is released — filming planned for later this year, with financing pending — fans could use a taste of Australia to tide them over. I suggest a meat pie from Kanga.
Kanga is a Toronto bake shop with three locations. The Canadian women who founded it lived in Australia where, outside of bush tucker and Vegemite, individual meat pies are arguably the iconic food.
This isn’t the fine cuisine Miss Fisher’s butler prepares. Kanga’s traditional pie ($6.85) is more like Bert and Cec, the two working-class blokes who help Phryne (pro- nounced “fry-knee”) with the heavy lifting.
The ground beef filling holds together like some kind of antipodean meat loaf, albeit one that’s juicy and flavourful. The top crust flakes, the sides less so.
Like Miss Fisher on a case, it pays to examine all the evidence at Kanga. A side salad ($3.50) is fresh and bright with arugula, shredded beets, goat cheese and, in a minor crime against good taste, stale walnuts.
Still, when the deliciousness of the Lamington cake ($3.99) is revealed — fluffy vanilla sponge dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut — the story ends on a happy note.
Kanga, 199 Bay St. (Commerce Court and two other locations), 416504-2626, eatkanga.com. Open Monday to Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. apataki@thestar.ca, Twitter @amypataki