As nice as pies
WHEN you confuse the Master of a hunt with a celebrity judge from Masterchef and wonder why an exultation on pies and hunting is met with confusion, you can only be in one place: Melton Mowbray. The Leicestershire town, in the heart of hunt country, is home to the most British of pies, the famous Melton Mowbray pork pie, and the British Pie Awards – a festival of toothsome, gravy-bound, pork-filled, game-crammed pastry worship.
The high priest of the pies is Matthew O’callaghan who founded the British Pie Awards in 2009. “There were awards for wine, cheese and similar but a lack of recognition for pies, so I had the idea to start the awards to encourage better standards, smaller piemakers and innovation,” says O’callaghan, who chairs the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie association. “The UK spends £1 billion per year on pies, the pie is a cultural item of cuisine and with the British Pie Awards we recognise the very best pies across every category.”
These categories consist of: the fabled (the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie class is marked by a reverential hush); the fancy (2016 saw a Regal Pie class to celebrate HM The Queen’s 90th birthday); and the fieldy (the Speciality Meat Pie was sponsored by Taste of Game).
With more than 20 classes, an army of pie buffs is required to judge the entries. Each class has a lead judge who is a pie expert, some welltrained assistants and a smattering of keen amateurs. This year, I received the call-up and found myself donning an official apron and standing solemnly in St Mary’s Church, Melton Mowbray, for the ritual blessing of the pies.
Pies are judged to strict criteria and the pheasant, rabbit, venison, game and occasional goat pie that were dissected, discussed and devoured in the speciality meat class were marked on appearance, baking, pastry and filling. Guidelines sent out to all judges ensured that fairness and consistency was achieved.
A top-notch game pie won the class, followed by a highly commended venison pie and another game pie. It was encouraging to see such an appetite for the food of the field. The overall winner caused some controversy: a beef skirt and vegetable pasty, the first time a pie by another name has taken the top spot. “If it’s encased in pastry, it’s a pie.” The judge’s decision was final.
The annual awards for the perfect in pastry are a chance to eat, judge
and be merry, discovers first-time judge Alexandra Henton