The story
The pie floater, a meat pie sitting upside down in thick pea soup with a squirt of tomato sauce, is Adelaide's street-food icon. Pie carts worked the city's streets from the 1870s, and by the 1880s more than a dozen stood along King William Street and North Terrace, feeding late-night crowds. South Australian records credit the floater's rise in the 1890s to Ern 'Shorty' Bradley of Port Pirie, though his old employer, Jim Gibbs of Adelaide, is another candidate. Its roots probably lie in English pea soup with meat. The carts dwindled to a handful, but the National Trust named the floater a South Australian heritage icon in 2003.
Rival claims
Port Pirie baker Ern 'Shorty' Bradley is credited with popularising it in the 1890s; his former employer Jim Gibbs of Adelaide is the other candidate.
Also known as floater, Adelaide pie floater.
On the Meridish menu
Pie floater was the soup course on menu No. 11 on October 11, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
A meat pie floating upside down in thick green pea soup, squirted with tomato sauce. Late-night pie carts in this southern city made it a local legend.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pie_floater
- experienceadelaide.com.au/blog/the-pie-floater-adelaides-most-famous-culinary-contribution
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
