Details
The 'Pie Floater' was originally created during the 'Great Depression' to feed members of the population who had left their farms to try and find work in Sydney. Many of them found themselves homeless and unable to feed themselves or their families so food and pie manufacturers would donate their 'left-overs' to soup-kitchens, who would then add a pie to a bowl of soup. The most popular at the time was pea and ham soup, as it was easy and cheap to make and had more nutritional value than most other soups being made at the time due to the limited availability of produce. The most famous place in Australia to get a 'Pie Floater' is Harry's Cafe De Wheels, originally set near the graving docks(Now Australian Naval Dockyards known as 'Garden Island Naval Base' Woolloomooloo), east of the Sydney Opera House. This was the site of the first 'Harry's Cafe De Wheels' as there was such a concentration of unemployed workers in that area who needed a cheap, but nutritional, meal to sustain both themselves, and in some cases, their families. The most popular version of the Pie Floater, these days, is a traditional meat pie with mushy peas set on top with a depression made in it to make a bowl where gravy is poured onto it. The addition of the pea soup provides extra flavour and dietary fibre, and extends what otherwise may be considered a snack to a full meal. Anthony Bourdain, Joe Cocker, Billy Connolly, Nigel Mansell, Shane Warne and Angus Young are high profile fans of the pie floater.
In 2003, the pie floater was recognised as a South Australian Heritage Icon by the National Trust of Australia.
The pie floater is probably best known in the metropolitan areas of the capital cities of South Australia and New South Wales.
Across the rest of Australia, a similar taste experience can be found in a pea pie, a meat pie with a layer of mushy peas under the crust, often sold at local bakeries. A variation on the pie floater is to substitute the pea soup with mushy peas.
The pie floater also makes an appearance in the Discworld novel The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett, where it is sold by Fair Go Dibbler, one of a number of similar characters who sell "regional delicacies" across the Disc.
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