The Australian meat pie descends from medieval European “coffins”: bland pastry parcels meant to preserve the food they contained (and not originally meant to be eaten). After British settlement, the meat pie became one of Australia’s first fast foods. Wandering vendors sold them on 19th-century streets: they’d stab pastry tops with their thumbs and fill the resulting holes with “gravy” (glorified salty water), according to Jan O’Connell, author of Thankfully, the meat pie has evolved in more hygienic ways. Food Standards Australia New Zealand has strict rules
