Goronwy Glen Cutters’ Pies

by Donla Pheinkuk

Savory hand pies are popular throughout the cities and hamlets of Holthar. Originally developed as a humble lunch for traveling day workers, today these portable pastries have become a regional staple, found everywhere from roadside vendors to the tables of high society. Each village has its own favored recipe, but the most well-known version is the Goronwy Glen Cutters’ Pie. With minced beef, sharp cheese, and dried sour cherries, these particular hand pies are the perfect traveling lunch for the wood cutters working in the Great Woods that surround the Capital. Please note: These are similar to (but should not be confused with) a more rustic version found in the region called a Trappers’ Pie. Carried by local hunters and trappers, these typically do not contain cheese and often substitute various game meats for the traditional minced beef filling. While the Cutters’ Pie has something of a standard recipe that has been refined over time, the Trappers’ Pie is a bit more of a mystery, and should be eaten at your own risk. – Excerpt from A Traveler’s Guide to Sobukand by Donla Pheinkuk
For a full recipe on how to make these for yourself, follow this link to the Feast In Thyme article
Preparation is simple for these hand pies as they evolved out of the needs of humble working folk. First the filling is prepared with a mixture of meats, vegetables, and spices. Once that has rested from the cook, a thin dough, rich with butter, is rolled out, cut, filled with cheese and the filling mixture, and pinched closed leaving a small opening at the top for the vapors to escape. The forming of the pie itself has regional variations and has been used to judge the social status of the cook at times. Some cooks have specially prepared baking tins to support their pies while others lay them directly on the brick oven floor.
These hand pies travel well to the site of a job and can be prepared in such a way as to keep for several days if necessary. For longer travels they can be wrapped in paper or placed in a food pouch. In the winter they have been preserved for months in the cold rooms. Despite this ability to travel well, the pies are also quite tasty fresh from the oven.