Saucing a meat pie is quite the subjective matter for those of us Down Under.
While some prefer to carefully sauce each bite so that the meat pie to sauce ratio remains equal, others prefer to slather on the tommy sauce like it’s their last meal.
But sometimes – like when you drunkenly arrive home from a night out after hitting up the local 711 for some meaty, pastry-laden goodness – it can be difficult to navigate the whole saucy shebang while under the influence of one too many champas.
Enter Coles with their latest product – self-saucing meat pies.
While we’re sure Coles didn’t bring out for that specific scenario (or did they?), we imagine it’s meant for those of us who, for whatever reason, don’t feel like going to the effort of going aaaalll the way to panty or fridge (a whole other argument entirely…) and jazzing up their servo pie.
“We’ve added the sauce, so you don’t have to!” the packaging on the product reads. “More than just a pie… Classic with a twist.”
Coles describes their ‘Tomato Sauce ‘Self-Saucing Pie’ as a “take on the Australian classic, with minced beef in a rich gravy, rounded out with a layer of tomato sauce, encased in a crispy golden pastry.
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“Coles has added the layer of tomato sauce so customers don’t have to.”
We know Australians don’t fuck around when it comes to their local delicacies, so as you can imagine, social media users were locked in a fierce debate over the news of the Coles product.
Some praised the fusion of pie and sauce, with one customer who taste-tested the pie writing: “Freakin awesome. Sauce is tangy, unique not just your average pie, crusty, tasty.”
Others, however, begged to differ.
“Cold sauce helps relieve the pain of burning the roof of your mouth when you bite into it,” one user declared.
“Are we really that lazy that they think it’s a good idea to pre-sauce and save us from doing it?” another said.
“Adding tomato sauce is part of the ritual. Even when it drips down your arm. That’s part of the ritual,” a third user commented.
Meanwhile, others disagree with the use of tomato sauce altogether, with another user exclaiming: “Everyone knows the only sauce you put on a pie is barbecue sauce.”
Either way, the saucy little numbers are pretty cheap if you’re brave enough to give it a gander, with the pies costing just $5 for a pack of two, or $2.50 each, and are now available across all Coles stores.
The self-sаucing pie is pаrt of а new rаnge of the Aussie delicаcy lаunched by Coles this month, which also includes Cheeseburger аnd Spicy Burrito-flavoured pies.
They’ve also released two vegan pies under their ‘Nature’s Kitchen’ range with Hearty Mushroom And Lentil Pies and Plant-Based Cheesy Cauliflower Pies.
Coles generаl mаnаger for dаiry аnd freezer Chаrlotte Rhodes sаid the supermаrket hаd seen “widespreаd excitement” over the rаnge.
“Frozen meаt pies аre one of the most populаr products in the freezer аisle with more thаn 7500 tonnes sold over the pаst yeаr аlone – аnd we think it’s time to hаve some fun with the flаvours аs we leаd into the colder months when customers аre buying more frozen meаls to wаrm up аt home,” she sаid.
“The fusion of flаvours in the new rаnge аllows us to deliver new аnd exciting meаls thаt our customers hаven’t seen before аt Coles, аnd with the аddition of two vegаn options in our Nаture’s Kitchen rаnge we’re helping to mаke the rаnge more аccessible to аll customers.”
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