Klaairk's Pies

Today has tested my positive attitude to the limit!

It started oh so well!

I won a Clark's Pie last week from their twitter feed.

The competition was simple. Invent a new pie flavour. So I tweeted them:

"The Gavin Henson. A pale orange pastry and you never quite know what you are going to get.." I was chuffed to nuts to have won, and I had to go to Grangetown to collect my pie!

Now for my non Cardiff/ Welsh followers; Grangetown is an autonomous state of Cardiff. A bit like the Vatican City. In Grangetown they have their own language, their own accent, their own spiritual leader in the shape of Mister Frank Hennessy, their own customs, and their own cuisine in the shape of the Clark's Pie.

You can not simply pop into a chip shop in Grangetown and say: "Could I partake in one of those delicious looking meat filled pastries and bag of your chips my fine fellow...", you would get blank looks.

The proper way to ask in Cardiff, or Kaaairdiff as it is locally know, is to ask for a Klaairk's Pie. They should only be eaten whilst supping a local beer known as Brain's Daaairk. For true authenticity they should be consumed on the bob bank of the Kaiirdiff Aiirms Paaairk, or the old Ninian Paaairk.

I ate mine, like a heathen, with salad and back in the Rhondda Valley (You need a special license to take them out of Grangetown).

Here I am, being presented with my free pies by the lovely Debbie, from the authentic Clark's Pie shop in Bromsgrove Street.

The pie was delicious .. and I am a new comer to the Clark's Pie Experience!

But this tale has a twist!

My free pies in fact cost me £60 and 3 points on my drivers license for using a mobile phone whilst driving. I got lost getting there. Grangetown is a warren of side roads to trap the unwary Woolly Back Valley Boy like me!

I had pulled up to use the sat nav on the iPhone once already. I had missed the turn off for a second time, and was checking whilst stopped at traffic lights. The next thing .. TAP! TAP! TAP! .. it was a fair cop. Caught literally red handed .. annoying all the same, but you have to take these things on the chin sometimes! The policeman was quite apologetic, which was quite odd!

Thanks to the girls down in Grangetown. Great meeting you. If I win another pie I know how to get there now!

"I can't remember not having a Clark's Pie. As soon as Cardiffians saw the Millennium Stadium they fell in love with it. They didn't realise why. It's like a giant Clark's pie with four cocktail sticks in it!"

Frank Hennessy