Patrick Lam from Patrick's Pies in Bethlehem. Photo / NZME.
Patrick Lam from Patrick's Pies in Bethlehem. Photo / NZME.
Ahead of July's Bakels Supreme Pie Awards, Elisabeth Easther set off on her very own Great NZ Pie Trail and found out there's more to these humble treats than meats the eye.
The pie is the stalwart of New Zealand's culinary culture so, it's no surprise there's some serious competition among bakers to have their pies recognised as the finest in the land. At last year's annual Supreme Pie Awards there were more than 600 entries.
I was delighted when the Bakels people suggested a road trip to savour a smattering of pies from previous winners so I could lift the lid on the secrets of a seriously good pie.
Banana Pepper Cafe, Waihi
Bernie and Alan Woodford with their gold-winning caramelised rhubarb and apple pies. Photo / Supplied
The bustling Banana Pepper Cafe is fetchingly fitted out with formica tables and quirky decor, the cabinets groaning with cakes and sandwiches, biscuits and slices, but it's their pies that they've recently become famous for. Last year, Alan Woodford's caramelised rhubarb and apple pie won gold in the Cafe Boutique section. I'm not surprised. "My entry was a last-minute thing," he says. "I decided to make something new for the cabinet and it all went wrong. I was a little distracted and I never meant to caramelise the rhubarb but that was the mistake that won the day."
Aside from the pastry, Alan reckons it's the quality of the rhubarb that makes his pies so special. "And I'm not telling anyone where I get my rhubarb from, that's a trade secret ... but I now have my own patch at the rhubarb grower's place." Alan, who's been baking his whole life, says the key to being a great baker is to "never sell anything you wouldn't eat yourself".
Banana Pepper Cafe: 72 Seddon St, Waihi
Patrick's Pies, Bethlehem
Patrick Lam has been baking since 1997. He's a man on top of his craft: an entire wall is covered in awards and certificates to prove it (including four supreme pie wins).
"I'm not a qualified baker, I learnt by doing. My pies aren't much different to other people's pies, they're just better." His tip for top pies is "all about the pastry and we make all our fillings from scratch".
With 29 different flavours on the pie menu, we couldn't try them all. It was hard to pick a winner but in the end our award went to sweet lamb curry, which is also Patrick's favourite.
But Patrick has not had an easy path to pie stardom.
"When I was four my family left Cambodia for a refugee camp in Vietnam. As a child, I had no schooling and I didn't think I had a future. We stayed there for 14 years, till I was 18. Then after 8 years in Australia we came to New Zealand where I started a lunch bar."
During competition week, the bakers from Patrick's other pie shops come to Bethlehem to work together, sometimes for up to 24 hours at a stretch.
"We work so hard, playing with the flavour relationships. Not many people want to be bakers, because it's such hard work."
Patrick Lam from Patrick's Pies in Bethlehem. Photo / NZME.
Patrick's Pies: 19 Bethlehem Rd, Bethlehem
One Tree Bakery, Mt Maunganui
Bunchoeun Keo started baking in 2002, winning his first gold in the 2010 pie awards for steak and cheese.
"We arrived in New Zealand in 2000 and we know nothing about baking so we learn on the job and the customers tell us what we do right - and what we don't do so well. The secret is the filling. Last year I practised for nearly three months. Luckily I love making pie."
Try his Kiwi breakfast (bacon, egg, tomato, mushroom and cheese), or last year's gold winner, chicken and vegetable, or the crazily named double bag (sausage meat, potato, bacon and cheese).
The hard work pays off with the pie award wins, giving the business a boost of about 10-20 per cent.
Bunchoeun Keo from One Tree Bakery has won gold for his steak and cheese pie. Photo / Supplied
In an unassuming little shopping strip beside a takeaway bar and a dairy, you'll find Better Quality Pies. On Saturday afternoons the shop bustles with families fresh from the sports field, keen to refuel. Tai Khau visited New Zealand from Cambodia for a family reunion and has now been in Rotorua for nearly 15 years, making pies (and earning gold medals for his troubles). His chicken and vegetable, creamy mushroom, chicken and bacon and butter chicken are all standouts.
"We make good pastry and use good ingredients. I have seven bakers here and we practise for about two weeks. We're trying a new flavour at the moment - it's not very secret but we need to get the flavour right before we talk about it, and we'll get our regular customers to try it too." You can bet there'll be no shortage of takers for the testing committee.
Better Quality Pies owner Tai Kahu and manager Michelle Eruini-Bennett with their award-winning pies. Photo / Ben Fraser
Better Quality Pies: 2 Tawera St, Rotorua
Paetiki Bakery, Taupo
Entering Taupo's Paetiki Bakery is like walking into the sun, it's so yellow, clean and lit up with more cakes and sandwiches than you can shake a stick at. There, Lam Ho and wife Avina work long hours with Lam sleeping just two to three hours a day, seven days a week - but all that toil has paid off, with a run of gold and silver medals since 2008. Last year they won two golds for their steak and cheese and silver for creamy bacon mushroom.
It is here I learn that Lam's brothers-in-law are Patrick (from Bethlehem) and Tai (in Rotorua) and it dawns on me that three of the regular winners are relatives - and yes, there is some friendly rivalry.
"Sometimes we share what we're doing, sometimes we don't. Before the competition, a week or two before, I start to test my flavours and then I just work to perfect them. There's a lot of practising."
As I was leaving the bakery a young man came up to me and handed me my phone, which I'd neglected to take from the table, and said, "best pies in the whole North Island here".
Lam Ho and his wife Avina from Paetiki Bakery have had a run of medals. Photo / Supplied
Paetiki Bakery: 30 Spa Rd, Taupo
Elisabeth Easther was the guest of Bakels New Zealand Pie Awards.
