A list of Britain's favourite pies was always going to spark a bit of debate, with many people having particularly strong views on this topic. A new list however has left pie lovers positively baffled, with some arguing that the winner is really more of a dessert than a classic pie.
The list, compiled by online travel guide Taste Atlas, puts the sweet and creamy banoffee pie at the very top of the pile, just above steak pie.
Needless to say, there's since been a bit of an uproar, with a number of pie lovers unable to believe the pudding had been placed above savoury classics such as shepherd's pie (third place), steak and ale pie (fourth place), and even the iconic pasty (seventh place).
Some have even blasted the divisive list as "criminal", while others were left aghast that home comfort favourite cottage pie didn't even make the top ten.
One person fumed: "Apple pie maybe but who on earth has banoffee pie top? I think I've eaten it once in my life."
Another raged: "How can banoffee be number one in a list that is basically meat pies? Not even the same category, this is blasphemy."
A third added: "Not sure I've ever been more offended than seeing a banoffee pie at the top of a best pies list. Shepherd at three is pretty wrong too."
A number of people also had no idea at all that banoffee pie even originated in Britain, assuming it to be an American invention. As a matter of fact, the dish was first rustled up in East Sussex back in the 1970s and was the brainchild of chefs Nigel Mackenzie and Ian Dowding, of The Hungry Monk restaurant.
According to the Taste Atlas website: "It became extremely popular when the customers started to check regularly if the dessert was still on the menu.
"Today, banoffee pie is so popular throughout the world that it even has its own place in the dictionary, denoting 'a tart or pie made with cream, bananas, and toffee', while the recipe for the pie can often be found on tins of Nestlé's condensed milk."
Mirror readers vote for their favourite pie
We thought it'd be fun to ask which pie is YOUR number one - and you didn't let us down!
Mirror readers voted the classic steak and ale top-of-the-crusts with 61 votes, closely followed by the simple steak pie at 51 votes.
Interestingly, 39 of you voted for 'other', namechecking such delights as chicken and mushroom and the more out-there spinach and ricotta filo pie.
The chasing pack of pastries also included cheese and onion, shepherd's, pork and banoffee.
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