Pork pie aristocratic visitors carry lumps of pie with them on horseback". The main distinctive feature of a Melton pie is that it is made with a hand-formed crust. The uncured meat of a Melton pie is grey in colour when cooked; the meat is chopped, rather than minced. As the pies are baked free-standing, the sides bow outwards, rather than being vertical as with mould-baked pies. In light of the premium price of the Melton Mowbray pie, the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association applied for protection under European Protected designation of origin laws as a result of the increasing production of
Melton Mowbray 14 Feoffees, two of which are known as Senior and Junior Townwarden. Nowadays, the position of Townwarden is titular only, i.e. the ‘public face’ of the Town Estate at civic or ceremonial occasions. Melton Mowbray had only 1766 inhabitants in 1801, but in 1831 they had increased to 3327, in 1841 to 3740, in 1851 to 4434, and in 1861 to 4436. The Melton Mowbray official web site's About page lists the current (2009) population of the town as 25,276, and that of Melton Borough as 46,861. Prior to 1960, the Production Engineering Research Association of Great Britain (PERA) came