Pho Bok: Pakuranga Bakery manager on the return of the bakery's horse meat pies

Just three months after they were pulled from the pie warmers, Pakuranga Bakery’s horse meat pies are available again and proving just as popular as ever.

The pies, inspired by lo’i hossi, a Tongan horse meat dish, went viral on social media - but the pies were pulled in January as the horse meat hadn't been cleared for human consumption. 

Pakuranga Bakery manager Pho Bok says they've sold hundreds of pies since they returned to the shelves.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Just three months after they were pulled from the pie warmers,
Pucket Hunger Bakeries horse meat pies are available again and
seem to be proving just as popular as ever so.
The pies inspired by lohi hosse, a tongue and horse
meat dish, went viral on social media over some ofer,
but the bakery had to stop selling them in generally
as the lo hay horsey mixture they were using contained

(00:38):
horse meat that hadn't been cleared for human consumption. There
is only one meat processor registered dislaughter and process horse
meat for human consumption in New Zealand and pucketing A
Bakery has got them to supply the pies. Hence, while
they're backing on the line right now, is the owner
of Pocket Hunger Bakery faux Bok really nice to chat

(00:58):
with you.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Faue hey man, thank you for having.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Me nice to chat with you. Can I just start
what is lohy hosse?

Speaker 3 (01:07):
So it's a tonguein dish. That's I don't know how
long they've been needing it, but a very long time
and they're a very popular dish in the Tongan community.
So it's just coconut cream, onions and horse meat sharded
horse meat.

Speaker 4 (01:23):
How does horse meat taste compared to say, beef, Ah.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
Probably the same. It's like if it's unseasoned, it's just meat,
you know, it's the same thing. It's just the way
the season or the the way you like mix it
with other ingredients. But it's just more of like a
rough taste, like yeah, more rough.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
Well, what's the sacred to cooking horse meat? What do
you have to get right to have a tasty, tasty bit.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
Of horse There's not much that goes into it. It's
just a lot of coconut cream. That's that's the main thing.
Coconut cream.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
So if you sold someone and I know you wouldn't
do this, but if you made the same dish but
with beef, would it taste significantly different?

Speaker 3 (02:04):
But I don't know. Maybe I think it's just like
the idea I was just having a horse meat in
the arra.

Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah yeah, And where do you where do you get
your horse meat from?

Speaker 3 (02:13):
We've got so these one registered supply in New Zealand.

Speaker 4 (02:16):
And so now you've started making these these pies again,
how are you selling? How popular are they?

Speaker 3 (02:22):
So in the first day since we launched it on
Friday we re launched on Friday, maybe just about one
hundred throughout the week, one hundred each day throughout the weekend,
and after the news probably we are around two hundred now.

Speaker 4 (02:34):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, So the news was supposed to gestterday on Monday,
and it's today. It's just jumped up to like another hundred,
and I'm expecting it might be a bit more later
on the week.

Speaker 4 (02:44):
Is it mainly fans of the dish or is it
people wanting to try something different that are coming in
and buying your pies?

Speaker 3 (02:51):
Both mature both, I've got a lot of ethnicity to
come and try it.

Speaker 2 (02:57):
How hard is it to source? I mean you're selling,
You're moving a lot of these horse pies. How hard
is it to source the amount of meat your need?

Speaker 3 (03:05):
So the supplier, I believe he's got a lot of
horse meat because I think one cool for horses. It
gives a lot of horse meat because horses the point
the gay Yeah yeah, yeah, no, So I think they've
got plenty to go around at the moment.

Speaker 4 (03:23):
So the horses that are turned into horse meat that
are put into your pies. Are they bred to be
you know, they're they're meat animals. They're not They're not gone.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
The racing animals has got like you know, they've got
all types of steroids and stuff, right, which wouldn't be
like for us to consume.

Speaker 4 (03:41):
You know, that'd be too muscular, wouldn't they. Yeah, yeah,
so yeah, So.

Speaker 3 (03:46):
The surprisers got their license and i've before I started
selling there my chiptith mp I. So MPI officers have
been dealing with and the Auckland City Council and they
gave me the aw the green light to go overhead
with it.

Speaker 4 (04:00):
So if someone wanted to try one of your one
of these horse pies one then you know how you
can't make you must be selling out reacentably early in
the day.

Speaker 3 (04:10):
Are you. Yeah, so maybe like one or two o'clock
we might be selling up. It depends how much we
can make in a day, you know, because sometimes we
can't sell so much. We can't make so much because
we got other things to do, like coked chicken chips. Yeah,
and if there's a line outside, we can't really make
any pies. We just have to serve customers. So we've
been trying to stay back and make as much as possible.

(04:31):
So even two hundred is pushing it. I've been staying
up to seven eight eight pm movie night.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
Do you experience people that are squeamish about it when
you talk about it, because you know, the way I
look at horses is riding them. Yeah, people racing them.
I don't immediately go towards eating them. Yes, So do
you do you experience a bit of that when you
talk about horse meat pies? People going, what are you doing?
You can't be bloody serving up horse?

Speaker 3 (04:58):
Yeah, that's what A lot of a lot of people like,
oh well these two like these people, these those type
of people like you guys, and then these like you know,
the other people that's like, oh, it's really delicious. So
I'm just in the middle, just providing for who wants to.

Speaker 4 (05:13):
You've got no skin in the argument.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
Apart from you know, some some people like it as
a controversial, you know, And I don't blame people who, like,
you know, give me so much ship for it, because
I understand you have their own opinion. But you know,
I can't prouse everyone.

Speaker 4 (05:29):
Is there any other Is there any meats. That about that.
You wouldn't you wouldn't put in a pie.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
Oh, definitely cats and dogs.

Speaker 4 (05:36):
You wouldn't put at a dog.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
I'll definitely get in big trouble for that, even though
I joke about it, but I wouldn't do it.

Speaker 4 (05:45):
I wouldn't be happy if you put my dog in
one of your pies. Not much meat on them either,
Yeah that's true.

Speaker 2 (05:51):
Hey, yeah, really nice to chat with you and in congrats,
you're obviously supplying a market there, so we wish you
all the best. It's an interesting product and we'll see
what the audience think about it.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
What's what's the name of your business and where are.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
You pickering a bakery? If anyone wants to follow us
and Instagram as Bakery Boys or TikTok and we post
all content on there.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Great stuff. Hey Foe, thank you very much for having
to catch up with us. That is Faux Boch, the
owner of Pucketing a Bakery serving these horse pies.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
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