Why Do We Have Steak Pie on New Year's Day?

Steak pie on New Year’s Day is one of the things we most look forward to. It’s traditional, delicious, and seems like the perfect way to soak up whatever happened the night before, right? 

We wondered whether this was the only reason that we have steak pie on New Year’s, or whether there was more to the tradition. We did a bit of research, and it seems like that New Year’s Eve alcohol sloshing around isn’t the only reason we have it on the 1st of January.

There are many countries who seemingly have round items on New Years day, and according to a Newsroom article on the Scotsman (link below), this symbolises the seamless end and beginning of a New Year. Far more poetic than we imagined! The Italians eat lentils, the Dutch have doughnuts, and we have steak pie. Although if we’re being totally honest, many steak pies come in plenty of shapes and sizes (ours, for example, is rectangular!).

The second reason according to the same article of why we have steak pie is the fact that…it was easy! The first of January has only been a holiday in the western world for a few hundred years, and before that, our ancestors wanted an easy solution on what to cook. Many would go to their local butchers, much like we do now, and order their steak pies. An easy, filling, and tasty meal with minimal effort.

Even within Scotland there seems to be divergence as to not only what goes into the steak pie (sausages?), but even whether having one on New Year’s Day is a custom or not. An article by Edinburgh Live asks whether they’re just a central Scottish tradition through a few sets of polls, and it seems like there are mixed reviews in Edinburgh, a strong consensus in Bute and many regions in the West coast, although even here such as in Renfrew, it seems to be more typical to have it on Hogmanay.

Whatever the origins or the ingredients that go into it, we do love a steak pie on New Year’s Day.

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