Stratford Culinary Tour: Shakespeare Pies and The Best Little Pork Shoppe

Our last two destinations of the day were at Shakespeare Pies and The Best Little Pork Shoppe. Shakespeare Pies, owned by Susie and Gerry Wagler, sells fresh pies made from scratch with fruit from surrounding Mennonite farms. They also carry different varieties of meat pies, tarts, cookies, jams, relishes, pickled eggs, maple syrup, apple butter, honey, and many more neat stuff. You must drop by Shakespeare Pies on the way home if you're a pie or tart lover.

There are big pies, like this cherry pie.

and pecan pie.

Not sure what this pie is. Looks like some mixed fruit pie.

There are small pies as well, and the tarts are at the bottom.

And also cookies!

We got to see the production at the back. Shakespeare Pies is a small, family owned business and as I mentioned, everything at Shakespeare Pies are made from scratch. 

Here is Susie kindly putting out pie after pie after pie for us to try.

All the pies I tried were absolutely delicious! I had many many pieces of blueberry pie, rhubarb custard pie, and pecan pie. I knew there was no way I could fit in dinner after all this pie indulgence!

Next, we headed to The Best Little Pork Shoppe, our last destination of the day.

You can't miss it with this giant pig at the front.

The Best Little Pork Shoppe has been around since 1987 and is owned by Linda and Gerry Knechtel.  They carry a unique selection of collectibles in a distinctly farm animal theme.

Of course, most gifts are pig-related. These piggy utensils are super cute!

The Best Little Pork Shoppe works closely with local, small, independent, government-inspected packing houses to supply their carefully selected products.

Here's a list of meat products that they sell:

Sausages, tenderloin, side ribs, back ribs, bacon, loin chops, smoked ham hocks, ayrshire bacon, bacon burgers, bacon wraps, black forest style ham, London broils, melton mowbray pies, meatballs, peameal and smoked back bacon, pepperettes, pig tails, pork steaks, pulled pork, schnitzel, smoked pork chops, smoked back ribs, smoked tenderloin, souvlaki, teriyaki pork steaks, thai pork steaks, tourtieres, Ontario lamb, chickens, and bison burgers and steaks. 

This is just one of the many freezers they have at the store

There are also roasted pigtails, "Vittorio's BBQ Sauces, "St. Jacobs Foods" sauerkrauts, "Big Ass Garlic" pickled products, and many condiments from small specialty producers including "Incredible Edible SpreadEm" and "Wildly Delicious".

The Best Little Pork Shoppe has an incredible selection of local meats and basically anything else that you may want for preparing a meal. I bought two packages of smoked back bacon. What a way to end my visit to Stratford.


This being my last post on the Stratford Culinary Tour, I would like to take this opportunity to say thanks to Danielle and Emily at Stratford Tourism Alliance and Suresh from Spotlight Toronto for organizing such an informative, fun, and interactive tour for all of us foodies. I can't speak for anyone else, but I have certainly learned a lot more about the importance of local farming, supporting small businesses and local produce, as well as the culinary heritage of Stratford.


Many individuals were involved to make this tour happen - below is a list of every one involved, as well as everyone we met and the places we visited that day. Thank you all!


Balzacs Coffee - Cathy Segeren
Tel: 519-273-7983
Email: cathy@balzacscoffee.com
Website: www.balzacscoffee.com


Best Little Pork Shoppe - Linda Knechtel
Tel: 519-625-8194
Email: info@porkshoppe.com
Website: www.porkshoppe.com


Chocolate Barr's Candies Inc. - Derek and Jacqueline Barr
Tel: 519-272-2828
Email: info@chocolatebarrs.com
Website: www.chocolatebarrs.com


Derek Barnes
Tel: 519-508-1441
Email: dwbarnes@gmail.com


Monforte Dairy - Ruth Khlassen
Tel: 877-437-5553
Email: ruth@monfortedairy.com
Website: www.monfortedairy.com
Twitter: @MonforteDairy


Perth County Welcome Centre and Artisan Market
Tel: 888-366-0160
Email: visitperth@cyg.net
Website: www.visitperth.ca
Twitter: @visitperth


Perth Pork Products - Fred de Martines
Tel: 519-393-6812
Email: demartines@quadro.net
Website: www.perthporkproducts.com


Rundles Restaurant - Chef Neil Baxter
Tel: 519-271-6442
Website: www.rundlesrestaurant.com


Shakespeare Pies - Susie Wagler
Tel: 519-625-1286
Email: shakespearepies@bellnet.ca


Soiled Reputation - Antony John
Tel: 519-393-6497
Email: johnfam@quadro.net
Website: www.soiledreputation.com
Twitter: @ManicOrganic


Stratford Tea Leaves Tea Tasting Bar - Karen Hartwick
Tel: 519-273-1201
Email: info@stratfordtealeaves.com
Twitter: @teasommelier


Spotlight Toronto - Suresh Doss
Website: www.spotlightoronto.com
Twitter: @spotlightcity

Feel free to browse the following websites for information on Stratford / Perth County:

Savour Stratford Perth County - Savour Stratford Perth County Culinary Week is from Sep 18-26, 2010!

Visit Stratford - Information is available here for various culinary packages.

Visit Perth - General information about Perth County (events, festivals, maps & guides)

Contact:
Stratford Tourism Alliance - Danielle Brodhagen
Tel: 519-271-5140
Website: www.welcometostratford.com
Twitter: @SavourStratford


Last but not least, I had to pleasure to meet a bunch of foodies and food enthusiasts that day. Here are a list of their blog posts about their experience of the Stratford Culinary Tour.


Bev (Flickr)
Bon Eats (Flickr)
Community Foodist
eat.live.travel.write
Lauren (Flickr)
My Daily Bread
Spotlight Toronto
suite101.com
Toronto Tasting Notes
What's On My Plate