Hastings Old Town pub famous for its pies launches cook book

The Albion, in George Street, has a cult following for its pies and also created the much loved Sussex pasty. Now chef Clare Stuart has joined forces with landlord Bob Tipler to not only launch the book but offer a pie take-away service in beautifully decorated boxes.

The book ‘Albion Pies’ contains simple recipes for 12 popular pies of all types to suit different budgets and dietary requirements, such as gluten-free and vegetarian. It contains easy, foolproof guides to making different pasty, such as puff, suet crust, short-crust and gluten free.

Included are recipes such as its popular Christmas pie of venison, Merlot and Stilton, as well a parsnip and chickpea curry puff pie. There is also a hearty beef, Guinness and black pudding suet pudding and a recipe for the famous Albion Fisherman’s Pie, rumoured to date from the 18th century.

Clare said she is proud of her venison and Stilton pie but says she is most proud of her Moroccan beef and saffron short crust topped pie (included in the book). She said: “It was the first adventurous pie I undertook and I wasn’t entirely happy with it but people loved it and I got some amazing feedback.”

She added: “I love making the pies, it feels as though you are making them for each individual customer.”

Bob said: “Some people have assumed we buy in our pies from somewhere, when the reality is they are all home-made here at The Albion, using many locally sourced ingredients, including foraged mushrooms. The pies have worked really well for us. Most seafront pubs can do well selling beer during the hot weather, but we wanted something to carry us through the winter months and pie is quintessentially English dish.”

The artwork for the book and the take-away pie boxes was done by talented Hastings graphic designer Grace Leaney, who also came up with the design for the Old Town re-usable drinking cups, launched last summer.

The cook books are on sale from the Albion and from the Hastings Bookshop in Trinity Street, in the town centre, priced £6.

Have you read? Major regeneration plan announced for Hastings town centre

Have you read? Get on board a Christmas special steam train at Hastings for a magical experience