The English tradition of meat pies dates back to the Middle Ages, when an open top pie crust was used as the container for serving the meat and was called a coffyn. Since then, they have been a mainstay of English cooking. Different types of pastry may be used, including the lard-rich pastry of a raised pie. Meat pies generally contain standard fillings such as chicken-and-mushroom, steak and ale, minced beef and onion, lamb, mixed game or meat-and-potato. In recent years, more exotic fillings, such as balti curry have appeared.
Savoury puddings are made with a soft suet casing, the most famous being steak and kidney pudding(originally steak and oyster). Pork pie is usually eaten cold, with the Melton Mowbray pork pie being the archetype. Open pies or flans are generally served for dessert with fillings of seasonal fruit. Quiches and savoury flans are eaten, but not considered indigenous. Pasties are pies made by wrapping a single piece of pastry round the filling. The Cornish pasty is oval or crescent shaped with a stiff, crimped rim, traditionally filled with beef, and swede, although many variations are possible. Other pasties may be rectangular and filled with beef, cheese, or vegetables. Another type of pie is topped with mashed potato instead of pastry – cottage pie (made with minced beef), shepherd's pie (made with minced lamb) and fisherman's pie using a choice of several fish and seafood.