Excellent beefsteak pie

Like many home cooks today, I had never cooked with suet (a type of beef fat) until I made this recipe. But suet is making a comeback, and it can be sourced from most quality butchers if you give them a day or two’s notice. Experts agree it is worth the effort because neither butter nor lard works quite the same way in pastry. Apparently they have different melting points, which changes the texture and lightness of the end result, not to mention the flavour.

Both the filling and the