Editorial: Potato top reigns supreme

The Hawke's Bay potato top pie has been hailed as the best in the land.

It's a chilly but prudent time of the year to herald New Zealand's best pie.

After all, hundreds of cold, hungry and impatient Kiwis burnt their laughing gear yesterday on our favourite savoury - hundreds more will do it again today. For this mouthful of crusty goodness we've always been willing to mix pleasure with pain.

Last night, the title of the country's alpha-pie was bestowed on a Hawke's Bay entry that outshone 5000 of its contemporaries.

The humble potato top from New World Greenmeadows was judged the best of the best at a gala dinner for the 19th annual Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards.

What a tough gig. Thing is, for this writer, and for most Kiwis, all pies are supreme. Yet this exemplary number was obviously of another order.

The potato top exemplifies Kiwis' fascination with starch. Throw some mixed meat into a doughy cup and you already have perfection; layer that with creamy mashed spud and you've ascended to starch heaven.

Naturally the potato component may have just been the ace up the baker's sleeve. Why?

Well, according to top New Zealand chef and the awards' celebrity judge Martin Bosley, the potato element transported him back to his grandmother's famous shepherd's pie. In the pantheon of great pies, nostalgia separates the best from the rest.

Congratulations to New World Greenmeadows boss Iain Beaton and the pie's baker, Shane Forster. No doubt your potato tops will be flying out the door.

To the 4999 gallant savories that missed out at last night's pie Oscars, rest easy, you're all heroes in my book.