That golden flaky crust... Kiwis have an enduring love affair with pies. Photo / 123rf
That golden flaky crust... Kiwis have an enduring love affair with pies. Photo / 123rf
From service station classics to gourmet game fillings, the humble pie remains one of New Zealand’s most beloved snacks.
It is near impossible to think about road trips, rugby matches or early morning tradie stops without thinking of a pie. Golden, flaky and portable, the savoury pastry parcel is so embedded in the national consciousness that even as tastes evolve, New Zealanders can’t seem to give them up.
The New Zealand pie is more than a convenience food. It is a rite of passage, a culinary shorthand for comfort and a symbol of our national palate. Whether picked up from a dairy, petrol station or gourmet bakery, a hot pie holds a special place in Kiwi culture.
Pies may not have originated here, but few countries have embraced them with quite the same fervour. According to Big Ben, one of New Zealand’s most recognisable pie brands, Kiwis eat more pies per person than anywhere else in the world, including Australia. And while traditional beef pies still dominate, our tastes are evolving.
“The majority of Kiwis prefer beef-based pies,” says a Big Ben spokesperson, “but over the years, tastes have changed and some of our pie lovers have started to become a bit more adventurous.” The company points to a recent Radio Hauraki collaboration, where listeners voted for a limited-edition steak and jalapeno cheese pie, as evidence of our growing appetite for new flavours.
Still, certain classics endure. “Mince and cheese consistently sees the highest sales, followed by steak and cheese,” Big Ben confirms. That comes as no surprise. As Big Ben points out, New Zealand is a dairy nation, and consumer testing shows that when a pie doesn’t include cheese, its overall appeal tends to drop. The company now only makes one product without cheese – its original sausage roll.
Steak & Cheese is just behind Mince & Cheese in Big Ben's biggest pie sellers. Photo / Brett Phibbs
That reliance on cheese, the beef bias and a love of portability have turned pies into a cultural mainstay. The company traces its own pie lineage back to World War II, when its predecessor brands Cheffy and Broadway were supplying baked goods to the Pacific. In the 1970s, George Weston Foods bought the Auckland Bakeries business, which would go on to create the Big Ben brand. Today, the company’s pies are a familiar sight in dairies and supermarkets across the country. But they’ve been joined by many others.
While nostalgia runs deep, it hasn’t stopped a new generation of bakers from tinkering with the format. The past decade has seen the rise of boutique bakeries offering everything from smoked kahawai pies to vegan renditions filled with jackfruit and mushroom ragu. There are awards for best pie, pie festivals, and pie-focused social media accounts. The pie has gone gourmet.
Cazador's deli pies are among the gourmet versions we'd take a drive for. Photo / Kim Knight
Still, the essential appeal remains the same: a golden crust, a generous filling, and the satisfaction of something warm and reliable in hand. Pies, says Big Ben, are ideal for “DIYing or doing some epic adventure – nothing hits the spot quite like a pie”.
And there’s something egalitarian about the pie, too. Whether you’re grabbing one from a petrol station at dawn or ordering one with pinot noir at a bistro, the basic qualities are the same. That golden crust. A rich, savoury filling. A burn on the roof of your mouth that you never quite regret. (Although, of course, we should all heed the advice of the cop on TV show Police Ten 7 who famously told a suspect, “Always blow on the pie. Safer communities together.”)
The pie, in all its humble, flaky glory, is less a food trend than a national treasure – and one that New Zealanders are unlikely to relinquish any time soon.
That versatility is perhaps the secret to its survival. It has evolved with us. While it might still be associated with petrol stations and school tuck shops, it now also appears on farmers’ market stalls and cafe blackboards. And, like any national favourite, it carries with it a weight of personal history: childhood memories, travel rituals, shared smoko breaks.
The humble pie, then, is anything but. As tastes change and the food scene shifts, it continues to fill more than just a hunger gap – it fills an emotional one too.
