A Bacon & Egg pie has won over the hearts of judges at the 20th Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards Patrick Lam of Patrick’s Pie Group Gold Star Bakery, Tauranga has taken home the much sought-after Supreme Pie Award, beating 539 other competitors. There were over 5,000 entries from all corners of New Zealand.
The prestigious Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards were presented at a fabulous ‘The Pies of the Round Table’ medieval themed gala dinner at Auckland’s SkyCity Convention Centre. The event was opened with a speech from Prime Minister, John Key and TV personality Jeremy Corbett was MC for the night. There were 49 awards presented to well-deserving bakers with $20,000 worth of cash prizes. The baker of the Supreme Pie walked away with the coveted Supreme Pie trophy and $7,500 cash, while Gold award winners received $1000 cash.
Top chef and NZ Bakels Supreme Pie Awards celebrity judge Mark Southon said he is staggered at how passionate Kiwis are about their pies. Originally from the UK, Southon is impressed with the skills and innovative fillings bakers have brought to the table. The categories for the competition ranged from sweet to savoury, like mince and cheese and steak and gravy to gourmet meat and cafe boutique.
“We saw some interesting skills and flavours, such as Alpaca and kimchi. There were Kiwi heritage pies like creamed paua, smoked fish and the addition of kumara to some pies. One of my personal favourites was a take on the British pork pie from the South Island, and a smoked fish pie that was in the style of a pithivier (a round, enclosed pie usually made by baking two disks of puff pastry, with filling stuffed in between),” says Southon.
A panel of 21 judges spent over 10 hours judging 5,284 pies, which were blind coded in 12 categories. Southon says, “It was a very hard task to judge all the pies as the standard was exceptionally high. Lucky there was a team of very experienced judges all from different backgrounds within the industry of pie making and selling to help. The judging process was very impressive, stringent, and obviously tried and true with over 20 years’ experience.
The Gold Award winners are:
Mince and Gravy – Mab Chheur of Angkor Wat Kiwi Bakery & Café, Napier
Steak (Diced) and Gravy – Michael Kuoy of Counties Bakeries, Pukekohe
Chicken and Vegetable – Savanchamroeun Ly of Savans Bakery, Warkworth
Gourmet Fruit – Bunnarith Sao of Dairy Flat Bakery, Auckland
Gourmet Meat – Roger Cathro of Pak ‘n Save, Petone, Wellington
Vegetarian – Jason Danielson of The Bakery Wholesale, Wanaka
Bacon and Egg – Patrick Lam of Patrick’s Pie Group Gold Star Bakery, Tauranga
Mince and Cheese – Buntheng Wong of Panmure Bakehouse, Auckland
Steak and Cheese – Geemun Chao of Baker Bobs Bakery & Café, Greerton, Tauranga
Potato Top Pie – Roger Cathro of Pak n Save, Petone, Wellington
Commercial Wholesale Mince and Cheese – Terry McMahon of Couplands Bakeries, Hornby, Christchurch
Café Boutique – Brad Dalton of Ginger Dynamite, Motueka
