CONVENTIONAL RETAILERS

1 SPAR What the judges said:

The judges thought Spar’s pies had a good colour and were neat, uniform and consistent in appearance. Overall, they were happy with the result, and commended the pastry which they described as “thin”, “well baked”, “crispy” and “good”. While they liked the taste of the filling, which one judge said was zesty, for the most part they felt the pies could do with slightly more of the good stuff. R45.99 for six

2 PICK N PAY What the judges said:

The panel thought Pick n Pay’s pies presented well and looked evenly baked. One judge felt the bottom pastry was slightly underbaked but overall they felt the pastry work was good: thin and crispy with a nice, soft crumble. The filling was commendable with descriptions like “slightly dry but fruity”, “well-balanced” and “nice and spicy”. R43.99 for six

3 WOOLWORTHS What the judges said:

On looks alone, Woolworths’ pies did very well. They had an even, “perfect” look. The pastry, however, was overworked and dry and words like “bready” were used to describe the texture. The ratio of filling to pastry was also out, with the judges saying there was too much pastry. They also thought the filling lacked sufficient flavour. One judge said it was a pie that was clearly commercially made. R54.99 for six

4 CHECKERS What the judges said:

Visually, the bake of the pie and lid of the pastry appeared to be uneven, a quality that translated into the taste of the pastry, which was too thin, soft and undercooked. The judges felt the filling was raisin-heavy, somewhat acidic and lacked a “traditional” taste. R44.99 for six

5 FOOD LOVER’S MARKET What the judges said:

These pies both appeared and turned out to be underbaked. One judge thought it looked handmade as the top was slightly too big. The pastry also lacked a butter-like flavour and was bland. “Not juicy” were words used by one judge to describe both the pastry and the filling. The consensus was that while the filling was sufficient in quantity, it was dry. In summary, one panellist said: “This pie is the reason people don’t like mince pies.” R44.99 for six