Fredo's Pies, Pacific Highway, Frederickton, NSW

Sorry about the lengthy delay between postings (again), folks - it's been a bit busy in my neck of the woods with EOFY. Now that that's out of the way, I hope to increase the volume in the second half of the year. This week, we're in cockroach country; trying to bring a bit of Qld joy to those hapless souls who have the misfortune to live south of the Tweed River:

Aaaaah, Frederickton – as the old saying goes, it’s not the arsehole of the Earth, but you can see it from there. And in Frederickton’s case, you most certainly can. Perched on a hill, it has majestic views south to Kempsey; aka Earth's date. It’s populated by people who can’t afford to live in Kempsey – or I assume so, as I can’t see any other reason why you would live there.

The houses in Frederickton certainly aren’t up to Kempsey’s standard of boxy, run-down neo-Australian post-war masterpieces, and there seems to be an abundance of sagging aluminium awnings and car bodies on front yards. Not the sort of place you’d want to stop; or break down. Except, that is, for Fredo’s Pies.

Fredo’s has been operating since 1993 – no doubt sustained by the 10,000 trucks that rumble through town every hour of every day. Everyone knows how much truckies love a pie, and they’re a pretty picky bunch, too. The mere fact that Fredo's is still around after 20 years is testament to the fact that they're doing something right - and this is reinforced by the semis, cars, and caravans that always seem to be lined either side of the street near the pie shop.

Mulloes and I rode into town early one Saturday morning. It was freezing, snot-inducing weather to be astride a motorbike. It was colder than mother-in-law’s breath; but we were having a ball. Much as a grand chess master is planning 10 moves ahead; I’m planning 10 meals ahead. I’m the Garry Kasparov of pies, if you like. So a bit of forward planning the previous evening had us lobbing outside Fredo’s 15 minutes after the 7am opening time; ravenous and ready for some hot pie-goodness.

From the outside, Fredo’s looks pretty good, but given the state of rest of the town that wasn’t exactly difficult….a bit like Hayley Lewis on the Biggest Loser…she’s no Miss World, but hey, compared with the competition…..

Perhaps it was the anticipation, perhaps it was the general hunger, but the smell of the shop was fantastic – not only could you smell golden baked pastry, but there was a rich casseroley aroma of slowly stewing meat that hit me from 3 feet outside the door. I did my best impersonation of Pavlov’s dog.

Once inside, the view was like a vision from heaven (well, fat-bloke heaven, anyway). I knew from previous experience that Fredo’s had a big range. One look at their website can confirm that for you, but there is the disclaimer that not all varieties are available at once. Well when we walked in, it certainly looked like they were; three full bain maries presented themselves. And when I say ‘full’, they were stocked to the brim, with plates of sausage rolls and other goodies balanced between the pies…

Service was friendly and welcoming, and the lady waited patiently while we ummed and aahed over our decision. The lady behind the counter also suggested that we nip next door for a coffee at Café 73 (no affiliation to Fredo’s) due to the frostiness of the morning - I can highly recommend the coffee there, too: it's top notch.

 

Fredo’s is famous (amongst those who know of them) for their crocodile pie. It therefore chose itself. As there was such an exotic selection (nearly every animal known to man is encased in pastry at Fredo’s), I felt an obligation to Roobs and everyone else not to go for yet another curry pie, so I chose a wild boar pie instead. That’s right, wild boar. Giddy-up. It really was a tough decision though – Fredo’s claim to have 160 different pies, and on offer when we were there were things like Mongolian Lamb, buffalo, pork honey and chilli, and venison.

Mulloes chose a ‘truckies pie’, which was steak, bacon and onion; and a kangaroo pie. I really should have selected an emu pie (yes, they have them), so that we could say we’d eaten the two animals on our national flag for breakfast; but I find emus to be nasty birds and imagine them to be mean and stringy.

The pies looked really good straight out of the packet – a standard size that taunted the hungry traveller to chance his arm at a third. I almost did. Probably could’ve too, but I heard my darling wife’s singsong voice in my head reminding me politely that I’m not getting any younger. Or thinner. She even called me by my full name like mother used to when I was in trouble, so I thought I’d better not. Regretted that one for the rest of the day. Still do. *sigh*

 

Anyway, the pies had been baked in foil, and their size and general structure reminded me a lot of my ‘home’ bakery, the Wavell Hot Bread shop. The foil had no holes in it, so the base was cooked through (see photo), but still very pliant. Some people hate this, but it doesn’t bother me so long as the pastry itself is cooked. Sometimes bakeries go too far the other way, and the short crust becomes too solid (I’m talking about you, Gerbino’s) and it feels like you’re eating a biscuit.

The amount of filling wasn’t over the top without being stingy. It meant that, despite the soft nature of the base, it wasn’t going to fall into your lap just as you’re punching 16^th gear in your B-double causing you to run headlong into a bus-load of pensioners on a Probus outing. It’s a treacherous track, that Pacific Highway, and it's good to know that Fredo's are doing their bit to keep you and I safe.

I attacked the crocodile pie first, figuring that it would be the more delicate of the two, and found the flavour to be excellent. I expected the large chunks of croc to taste like chicken, but it didn’t at all. It was moist and delicate, and was a bit like fine-grained gravy beef on the tooth, with that gelatinous connective tissue broken down through hours of slow cooking. It also had some chunks of celery in there (I can hear you retching from here), but I really liked it, and it worked well with the white sauce that held it all together.

The gravy was a bit odd in texture and (much like the wild boar pie) it didn’t look good at all; but tasted fine and was well seasoned. Temperature was also really good, and from memory they were a fraction over $5 per pie – maybe $5.50. Either way, I wasn’t quibbling.

This one scores an 8/10 from me. Extra points for originality.

The wild boar pie was an unusual beast. It was kind of gamey, kind of beefy, kind of dog foody, and I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it. The pastry was really good once again, and the temperature was OK considering it was sitting on a freezing cold table for 5 minutes while I demolished the croc pie. OK, 3 minutes, but you get the picture.

Speaking of pictures, this one illustrates the interior workings of the wild boar pie pretty well. It doesn’t look hugely appetising, does it? A bit like congealed Pal perhaps? Fortunately, the taste was a lot better than the appearance, but I wouldn’t buy another one with so many other interesting pies to choose from. I don’t think that one is worth more than a 6 – 6.5/10.

 Mulloes said that his pies were pretty good without being spectacular - below is a picture of his kangaroo pie, which looked strangely similar to my wild boar pie...but as there was different lettering on the top, that must just be a coincidence...don't you think?

So if you have the pleasure of driving along the mighty Pacific Highway – the undisputed jewel in our nation’s motorway crown, and the envy of expressways worldwide – and find yourself within cooee of Frederickton, Fredos Pies is definitely worth the effort.

We tried some unusual pies because on the day we were in the mood for something a bit different from the usual offerings, but next time I would be tempted to go for something a bit more mainstream and see how it stacked up against the competition. I also would have been keen to take a few home, but that just wasn't possible. Maybe we'll just have to plan another ride....is 1000 km round trip too far to go for a pie? Methinks not. Until next time, take care.

Cheers,  Pieologist

http://www.fredopies.com.au/