Getting a good taste of Central

THE idea of munching into a good pie after a day’s cycling obviously appeals to many. The Waipiata Pie Co, which is run out of the tiny town’s one and only pub, can pump out up to a 1000 pies a week in the height of the season to meet demand from visitors, many of whom have heard about the pies from cyclists still raving about them hours down the Otago Central Rail Trail.

It all started about five years ago, Waipiata Country Hotel publican Mark Button says, after their chef decided to turn leftover lamb shanks into a pie.

They sat the pies in an area visible to cyclists, who soon snapped them up.

Button decided they might be on to a good thing, and they began making pies on a regular basis.

They started experimenting with different flavours, trying them out on the locals on pie and pint nights.

‘‘If we do a curry night any leftovers go into a pie. We’ve had butter chicken, lamb and rosemary, chicken and chorizo, pumpkin, ricotta and spinach. I think we’ve done 16 flavours.’’

Last year that original recipe for a lamb shank pie won the Eat.Taste.Central pie competition.

This year they are competing with a Cooney’s Creek beef brisket pie — full of chunks of Maniototo beef in a rich gravy. We were sold.

In the great Kiwi tradition, the pie can also be served with mash and vegetables — a bit more glamorous than the ‘‘pea, pie and pud’’ of my childhood.

Their pies are now so popular they have had to outsource the

production of the pastry in order to keep up.

Pies are not their only menu item; the pub has a full menu which attracts hundreds of people, especially on a Friday night when there is often standing room only.

The ‘‘boys’’ in the kitchen also do a mean cheesecake featuring wild berries from the nearby Sowburn walk as their sweet dish for Eat.Taste.Central, with a finishing touch of edible gold leaf.

When lockdown hit, they put their thinking caps on and, when restrictions allowed, began doing takeaway meals, turning out 500 to 700 a week.

‘‘It got the staff back and engaged — we hit the ground running,’’ Button said.

While the food side of the business is back on track and even up on last year, Button says the accommodation side has taken a hit, especially while Auckland was at Alert Level 3.

But they are not letting the Covid19 situation get them down, instead working on ways to create reasons for people to visit.