It's Pie Anxiety
Sun Herald
Sunday January 17, 1999
INVENTOR Bill Colefax has dared to tamper with the great Aussie meat pie.
He has come up with a device that injects tomato sauce into the pie. And the invention is set to cause the biggest battle of the patriots since it was suggested the flag be changed.
It began 16 years ago when Mr Colefax, a 72-year-old former baker from Castle Hill, decided the time-honoured practice of slurping sauce over the top of the pie was passe.
"I thought to myself, this is the most antiquated way of doing anything I've ever seen," he said. "And my wife said: `Oh, God, not another thought'."
Among Mr Colefax's previous inventions were flyscreens that people could build themselves, no-drip wine pourers and automatically pasted toothbrushes.
After about 30 prototypes his persistence has paid off, with the PiePlus System accepted last week by one of Australia's biggest bakeries, Michel's Patisserie.
His business partner, Joe Nagy, a former bank executive and author, says it is one of the biggest inventions of the 20th century.
"More than three billion pies are sold a year here," he said.
Mr Colefax said: "It's so simple it's ridiculous. Usually they say inventors are dumb and lazy, and that's about right.
"Things get to me and I say, `There's got to be a better way'."
Michel's general manager Joe Rechichi said: "We trialled it in the high volume lunchtime crowds in Burwood and Marrickville and guys in suits and women loved it.
"You've got to be open-minded in this industry. It's good in terms of the wastage factor, it's cleaner and it's a great gimmick."
SAUCE OF CONCERN
League coach Tommy Raudonikis: "I love meat pies. I put the sauce on top."
Actor Michael Caton: "I take the top off, fill it with peas then hit it with Holbrook's Worcestershire."
Swimmer Matthew Dunn: "If the sauce is in a sachet, I put it on top. If it's in a squirter, a bit in the middle and a little bit on top."
Harry's Cafe de Wheels owner Michael Hanna: "I prefer sauce in the middle but our pies don't need sauce, they're good enough. At Harry's, we punch a hole in the top and squeeze the sauce "Most people seem to prefer it on top."
Ita Buttrose: "On top. It tastes better that way." You don't want to disturb the pie. And then the trick is to eat it without getting it all over you. You mean they're giving the great Aussie dish a fix? Oh no! It wouldn't be the same."
© 1999 Sun Herald