Phantom Gourmet: Pork Pies & More At Thwaites Market In Methuen

METHUEN - They say if you love what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life. For the Thwaites family, loving who you do it with is just as important. Their family market has been at the corner of Oakland and Railroad in Methuen for 90 years.

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Thwaites is a throwback market started generations ago by Hannah Thwaites. Close to a century later, it is now run by her great, great granddaughter Abby, who has been a fixture in the shop since she was a kid. So after working in finance for a bit, she decided to return to her roots and run the family business with a team of relatives that spans three generations. There's Abby's dad, Ken, her mom Cindy, and grandmother Barbara.

The specialty of the house is their English Pork Pie, made inside Thwaites teeny, tiny kitchen.

"The pork pie is the best thing that we have here. It is simply the best, between the crust from the dough, the juices inside of it, the seasoning. The pork itself is ground fresh every single day, so you know you're getting a fresh piece of filling every time you bite into a pie," explained Abby. "People from England come here and say that our pies are better than the ones at home. That means something. That's a big deal right there."

Since the pies are so awesome, they figured why stop at one. So there's everything from the basic but tasty Chicken Pie, to the over-the-top Mac and Cheese Pie.

"It's homemade mac and cheese with a thick, cheesy sauce, and on top of there we put Ritz crackers. When you bite in, you just get the Ritz cracker, the crust, and then the gooeyness of the cheese, with the macaroni," Abby said.

There are pies stuffed with chili, and spicy buffalo chicken, loaded up with broccoli and cheese, or one based on a Caprese salad, called The Tomato Job.

"We have fresh mozzarella, chopped tomato, ground basil, a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper, and we put it into a pie," Abby described. "My dad couldn't say 'Caprese', so instead he named it the Tomato Job and we took it from there."

The British delicacies at Thwaites go way beyond pies, with house made bangers, and the sinful Scotch Egg.

"It's a hard-boiled egg, wrapped in pork sausage meat, rolled in bread crumbs, and baked in the oven," explained Abby. "Having all of that in your hand, in your mouth, at the same time, it's the most amazing thing. It's delicious."

While carrying on a family tradition may seem like a lot of pressure, to Abby, doing something she loves every day, with the people she loves, is as easy as pie.

"It is the most amazing feeling, knowing that I am going to keep this going; that we're going to have customers keep this going; that their grandparents and great-grandparents were here when my great-grandfather, when my grandmother were here. It's probably the most important feeling to me."

You can find Thwaites at 36 Railroad Street in Methuen, and online at thwaitesmarket.com.

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