Who ate all the pies?

[Burney]

Apparently the traditional recipe is very specific. Mince, potato, swede, onion, salt, pepper. Nothing else. Not w ee drop of stock to moisten the beast. Not a sprinkle of parsley for colour, if nothing else. A touch of thyme? No. The essential thing is that it is as grey and bland as possible.

I once made one myself with all the traditional ingredients. Lard pastry, skirt steak, the lot. Made lovingly and, when I ate it, it just tasted like a Cornish Pasty. The only saving grace is to season it properly and go particularly heavy on the pepper. Ketchup was still necessary to give the thing some flavour.