Patrick Lam of Patrick’s Pies Café and Bakery in Tauranga has won his sixth Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Award with a Roast Pork and Creamy Mushroom pie in the Gourmet Meat category. 
Lam wins a cheque for $7,500 and the coveted New Zealand Bakels Supreme Award Trophy as well as $1000 for each of the three Gold Awards he has won.
The Award was announced in Auckland on July 31 at a 1950s themed gala dinner attended by bakers from all over New Zealand keen to find out who among them would win the top accolade.
NZ Bakels Managing Director Brent Kersel says: “This really is pie-making history. It’s a huge achievement. In the 22 years of The Bakels New Zealand Pie Awards Patrick has won the most Supreme Awards and he deserves every single one of them.”
“As the 2018 Supreme Pie Award winner, there’s a lot that I can say about Patrick: dedication, consistency, passion. He has come back year after year and he just keeps on getting better and better.
“He doesn’t do it just to win the awards. If you go into his business you’ll see the amount of people who come into his shop for the quality of his pies.”
Patrick’s Supreme pie this year went up against 5491 other pies at judging in Auckland on July 26. It had to beat 275 other Gourmet Meat category entries through rigorous quality control tests before even being tasted.
Once the Gold Awards in the 12 categories are decided, all but the Café Boutique category go on to the final judging round.
Five of the best pie judges in New Zealand, including this year’s celebrity chef judge, Ben Bayly then judge them from scratch to choose the Supreme Award winner. Supreme winning odds 1 to 5490!
Going the extra mile
Kersel says: “When we opened the boxes for judging we knew straight away that we had a challenge ahead of us this year to choose a winner.”
“Particularly in the Gold Award winners, but even leading up to that stage, we noticed the level to which the pies were finished; the quality and consistency; the glaze on the pies and detail that was put into them. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it to that level before.
“This year we could see everyone trying to do that little bit extra to win the competition. There was even a number of different pies that had little pastry animals on them like reindeer and pigs. The finishing was so much higher than I’ve seen in the past. When you looked at the pies you could see the high level of consistency through all the categories. It was incredible to see how good they were, and for the baking industry it shows that competitions like the Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards have a place in continually stimulating the quality of pies in New Zealand; a goal that we set in 1996 when we launched the Pie Awards.”
The Medal Winners in the 2018 New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards included Dad’s Pies in Silverdale, Couplands Bakeries in Christchurch, Gourmet Foods in Tauranga and New World Kapiti.
For more information and a full list of winners visit http://www.nzbakels.co.nz/pie_awards.cfm
