I am also partial to good pork pie

His letter immediately brought to mind the former Ernest Friedrich’s Pork Butchers shop in The Wicker.

Of course, the Melton Mowbray pie is quite distinctive from other pork pies.

It uses uncured meat - which is grey, not pink, and chopped, not minced - hot water crust pastry, and has a bow shape because it is free-standing when cooked.

They are best purchased from one of the nine local producers.

My good friend Dr Matthew O’Callaghan – we have worked together both in the UK and in Central America – founded the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association in 1998.

Our aim was to campaign for Protected Geographical Indication, which was eventually awarded in 2009, to protect standards and rebuff imitators.

Matthew has been an unrelenting and outstanding campaigner on behalf of the Melton Mowbray pork pie.

All the more amazing when you learn that he is a vegetarian!

You can find out more at http://mmppa.co.uk

Howard A Knight

Lyons Street, Sheffield, S4