I know, I know, two Special Attempts in a row is a bit of a cop out, BUT we are heading out literally tomorrow for review mother-flippin' #300, this is just a little fill in to keep you occupied until then.
Four 'n Twenty have been trying to crack the parma pie for a while now. I've listed this as "V.2" since we have done this before back in 2013 with their previous attempt at a parma pie. If you don't remember it might want to read that review to refresh your memory, as I'm probably going to be making a lot of references to it in this one.
I didn't mind pie V.1, It wasn't perfect, but I thought the little schnitzel balls within the pie was an inspired way to transfer the parma experience to pie form. So when I heard last year that Triple M had teamed with Four 'n Twenty to create a brand new parma pie, my first thought was "why?", they had pretty much gotten it right the first time.
When the parma pies were branded as the footy pie they were impossible to find. I had planned a special attempt when they were all the rage but a point-to-point search of all servos that I could find yielded no result. I had given up, Until I learned that Coles were now selling them in their freezers
On special for $4 per 4 pack. Bargain!
Cooking from frozen, I cracked one out of the bag...
V1 parma pie came with a microwave safe bag to ensure the retention of crispiness. V2 had no such bag. Nobody wants a soggy pie, so I checked the oven bake instructions on the pack. 45 minutes from frozen. Ughh ... Okay.
Fired up the oven, chucked in the pie and 45 minutes later...
Okay! Freaking starving at this point, this was looking okay. Hot and crispy, as much as it was a pain in the ass I'd rather oven bake than microwave in the future.
Out of interest I cracked open the lid and peered inside...
A river of cheese! With ham chunks floating on top. This was a promising sight.
I let it cool for a little, if this pie was anything like V.1 that cheese was hotter than the fires of Mount Doom in which the one ring was forged.
After a few minutes I was still a little worried about the temp, so opted to do the wimpy thing and proceed with a knife and fork
An eruption of tomato and cheese spewed forth. And to be honest it was actually pretty tasty!
I had my suspicions, but to my dismay Four 'n Twenty have ditched the ingenious schnitzel balls for more traditional chunks of straight chicken throughout the pie. I will say there was more of it compared to the V.1 version, But in my opinion the schnitzel balls made for a more genuine parma experience.
Other than that it was a pretty solid pie! I am quietly stoked to have another three waiting for me in the freezer, although I doubt my drunk-at-2am self is going to have the patience to wait 45 minutes to heat the damn thing in the oven, hopefully its microwaved counterpart isn't that bad.
My thoughts on the V.2 parma pie are very similar to my thoughts on the V.1 parma pie - Not anywhere close to as good as a real parma at the pub, but worth a crack if you see them around.