The Two Fat Ladies

Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson were the ultimate, unfiltered antidotes to clean-eating trends. Ripping across the UK in a vintage Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle and sidecar, they aggressively championed traditional, heavy, historical British cooking. They cooked with immense amounts of butter, lard, and heavy cream, loudly dismissing modern dietary neuroses with eccentric aristocratic wit, vast historical knowledge, and joyful, unapologetic theatricality.

Legacy

Revived lost historical British recipes; provided a highly theatrical, eccentric counterpoint to mainstream lifestyle television.

Traditional Lard-Crust Game Pie

An ultra-traditional, incredibly rich pie packed with seasonal game, rich stock, and a hand-raised hot water crust.

Ingredients

500g Diced Game Meat (Venison, Pheasant, Rabbit)
100g Smoked Bacon, diced
1 Large Onion, chopped
300ml Beef Stock & 150ml Port wine
350g Plain Flour
150g Lard (pure animal fat)
1 Large Egg, beaten

Method

Sauté bacon and onions in a pot. Add game meat chunks and sear until brown. Pour in port and stock, then simmer for 45 minutes.
To make pastry, melt lard in 120ml boiling water. Pour immediately into flour and stir with a knife until hot dough forms.
Work the warm dough quickly, pressing it up the inside walls of a deep springform cake tin to form the pie shell.
Strain cooked game meat into the pastry base, adding just enough remaining rich reduction liquid to keep it moist.
Top with a pastry lid, crimp edges tight, brush with egg wash, cut a central steam hole, and bake at 200°C for 50 minutes.

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