Pie Group eyes up classic

Angelo Georgalli with a healthy variation on the Kiwi staple. Photo / Janna Dixon

It's a staple of the Kiwi diet, used to fend off hangovers and provide a hot, filling snack on the run.

But the humble pie is under attack - or at least the fatty versions.

Tomorrow, the 12 members of the Pie Group will meet for the first time in a bid to make the pastry-based delights healthier.

Bakers, ingredient suppliers and health experts are among those discussing ways to reduce the fat content, said to reach 32g in an average pie.

Pie Group member and Heart Foundation nutritionist Andrea Bidois said draft ideas, including reducing the fat content in pastry and using leaner cuts of meat will be supplied to bakers in the next few weeks.

But she said the group was proposing moderation rather than cutting out pies.

"If you have a pie a day - you should actually think about reducing that."

That could be a challenge.

For The Great New Zealand Pie Guide, food writer Andre Taber, sampled pies at 120 bakeries and found Kiwis munched through 67 million a year.

A 2009 report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development found New Zealand has the third highest obesity rate of 30 developed nations. The rate among adults was 26.5 per cent in 2007, up from 18 per cent a decade earlier.

Pie Group member and Couplands Bakeries chief executive Annette Campbell said most major bakers have adopted a new technique that can reduce the fat content in pastry by a quarter.

It involves folding baker's margarine into the flour and layering pastry repeatedly to create the flaky texture New Zealanders love.

Gourmet bakers are also finding innovative ways to make pies healthier.

Auckland chef and cafe owner Angelo Georgalli has developed a 98.4 per cent fat-free filo pastry pie containing roast chicken breast, caramelised onion, low fat feta, pumpkin and capsicum.

But Baking Industry Association president Jason Heaven is a staunch defender of the classic pie. The main issue, he said, was the amount of fat in pastry.

Some bakers substitute a pastry top with mashed potato or kumara and some customers at his Hawke's Bay bakeries ate only the filling.

However, he said without the fat content, a pie "doesn't taste as good".

"The average Kiwi pie eater is a truck driver, they don't care how much fat they eat."