> Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous@austin.rr.com> wrote:
> 
> Margaret, from  Melbourne, Australia, answered my questions about meat 
> pies with:
> <<< The meat pie is an "Aussie icon" along with kangaroos and Hills 
> Hoists. >>>
> 
> Okay, I'll admit my ignorance again. What is a/are "Hills Hoists"?

A rotary clothes drying line for your back garden - kind of like an enormous umbrella, with just the ribs (and wires strung between them) but no fabric. They wind up and down, so you can bring them down to put the clothes on, then up to catch the breeze, which if strong enough makes the whole thing rotate. Great for swinging on, but your mum yells at you.

> 
> I thought part of the idea of a meat pie was that it was "finger food". 
> Something, like a sandwich, that you could pick up, easily eat without a 
> lot of utensils, even perhaps carry around. Both this tomato 
> sauce/ketchup and this floating in pea soup, seem to really defeat this 
> purpose. 

Eating one without getting stuff down your front is a bit of a knack :) 
There are specific "party pies" that are one or two bites with a much bigger pastry/meat ratio, which can be used as adult finger food but turn up much more commonly at children's parties.

> 
> <<< (Texas BBQ, Pepperoni or Southwest anything not so much.) >>>
> 
> Yeah. Definitely a regional variation. I can imagine various other 
> "regional variations" as well, such as what you might do in New York or 
> New Orleans or Florida. Hmmm. Fish isn't common in Australia?

It is, but I'm not sure I've ever seen it in a pie.

Other Lochacians (and past visitors) have weighed in to defend the meat pie. I stand by my position that the average one is pretty, well, average, but I acknowledge that yes, the best ones are really, really good - and you never quite know where those good ones are going to turn up.

Margaret/Emma