It was an accidental first fling. I wasn’t thinking straight, stupefied by the sheer selection of plump, golden pies and intoxicating savoury smells on my first visit to The Angry Baker in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast.
I misread the sign “Cincinnati Beer Chilli and Cheese” and thought I’d bought a standard beef and cheese pie, then I bit into it and a chilli kick knocked me out.
Minced beef is slow-cooked in beer with fresh tomatoes. The beery broth is absorbed during the cooking process, so it’s not overly saucy. The filling is luscious, meltingly tender and layered with flavours, as Cincinnati chilli should be. (For the uninitiated, Cincinnati chilli is a kind of Midwestern chilli con carne, traditionally served on top of spaghetti, or hot dogs.)
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SUBSCRIBE NOWEvery incredible mouthful divulges more of its famed Ohioan heritage. The flavour profile is built from layers of onion, organic beans and cheese – which adds an all-important ooze factor; and finally, the chilli beef mixture.
The firepower is from roasted smoked chilli powder and paprika, as well as smoked herbs, which gives a smooth, Texan barbequed edge. It may not have the Scoville heat of fresh Thai chillies, but it can still clear sinuses. A bronzed, puff-pastry lid almost pops from the bottom crust, so packed is the pie, and expertly made is the buttery pastry.
If I can’t wait to get home (or don’t want to share) I eat mine while sitting on the main shopping drag of Bulcock Street. If I take a selection of pies home to share, we inevitably fight for forkfuls of the Cincinnati number.
It may have been an accidental first meeting, but I’m at least a dozen pies into the relationship now. I’m committed, there’s no other pie for me.
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