BOLTON pie king Frank Partington is saying "move over Morrisons" after the supermarket chain launched its new Balti pie on an unsuspecting public -- because for Frank it's a case of: "Been there, done that."
On Tuesday, the BEN took the Morrisons taste test and sampled the new mouthwatering Balti bake which was launched to coincide with National Curry Day.
But master pie maker Frank, who has been at the helm of Burnden Park Pie Shop for 48 years, has been currying favour with Bolton's pie-buying public for the past 18 months.
And Frank, 68, says his special Chicken Madras pies could stack up against the supermarket version any day.
In fact they have been flying off the shelves like hot pies!
Innovations like the Chicken Madras special have kept the customers coming in.
"I got the idea because there were a few curry pies around and I thought I would give it a go," he told the BEN. "It's spicy, we only use the best cuts of chicken and they are all made to our special recipe.
"Our secret is we only to make what we can sell on the day. When we close, our shelves are empty. We don't sell a pie we haven't baked that day and this proves how popular our curry pie has become."
Recently Frank and family received the thumbs up from the national press when football photographers from across the country -- yearning for the heady days of Burnden Park matchdays -- took a consignment of Frank's meat and potato favourites to Old Trafford.
The press corps voted Frank's pies the best they had have ever tasted.
"The curry pie won't replace the meat and potato," he said. "But it certainly is a big seller."
The future looked bleak for the Burnden Park bakery when Bolton Wanderers left the area for their new home at the Reebok.
But innovations such as his curry with a crust are keeping the hungry punters flooding in.
"Things have been tougher since the Wanderers left," he said. "I should have retired by now but decided to stay on to help things pick up.
"A business park is being built on the old Wanderers' ground and I am hoping that business will pick up when this opens."
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