Our friends at the Bay of Plenty Times taste test the NZ supreme pie award winner - a roast pork and creamy mushroom pie.
Patrick Lam of Gold Star Bakery on Old Taupo Rd in Rotorua and Patrick's Pies Café and Bakery in Tauranga won with his Roast Pork and Creamy Mushroom pie in the Gourmet Meat category.
The awards were announced at a 1950s themed gala dinner in Auckland tonight.Other winners from the region included Lee Ing from Fast and Fresh Bakery in Taupō, taking gold in the Mince and Gravy section, and a highly commended for a steak, bacon & cheese pie in the Gourmet Meat section.
Patrick Lam supreme winning Roast Pork and Creamy Mushroom pie. Photo/Supplied
Geemun Chao from Baker Bobs Bakery Cafe in Tauranga took out gold in the Mince and Cheese section while Kerry Orchard from Tauranga's Gourmet Foods Ltd won bronze in the Commercial/Wholesale category.
Lam received a cheque for $7500 and the coveted New Zealand Bakels Supreme Award trophy as well as $1000 for each of the three gold awards he won in the bacon and egg, gourmet meat, and chicken and vegetable sections.
NZ Bakels managing director Brent Kersel said this really was pie-making history.
"It's a huge achievement. In the 22 years of The Bakels New Zealand Pie Awards Patrick has won the most Supreme Awards and he deserves every single one of them.
"As the 2018 Supreme Pie Award winner, there's a lot that I can say about Patrick. Dedication, consistency, passion. He has come back year after year and he just keeps on getting better and better.
"He doesn't do it just to win the awards. If you go into his business you'll see the amount of people who come into his shop for the quality of his pies," Kersel said.
Patrick Lam supreme winning Roast Pork and Creamy Mushroom pie. Photo/Supplied
Lam's supreme pie went up against 5491 other pies at judging in Auckland on July 26
and had to beat 275 other gourmet meat category entries.
Once the gold awards in the 12 categories are decided, all but the Café Boutique category go on to the final judging round.
Five of the best pie judges in New Zealand, including this year's celebrity chef judge, Ben Bayly, then judge them from scratch to choose the Supreme Award winner.
"When we opened the boxes for judging we knew straight away that we had a challenge ahead of us this year to choose a winner, Kersel said.
"Particularly in the gold award winners, but even leading up to that stage, we noticed the level to which the pies were finished; the quality and consistency; the glaze on the pies and detail that was put into them. I don't think I've ever seen it to that level before.
Kersel said this year the judges could see everyone trying to do that little bit extra to win the competition.
"There was even a number of different pies that had little pastry animals on them like reindeer and pigs. The finishing was so much higher than I've seen in the past. When you looked at the pies you could see the high level of consistency through all the categories."
Taste testing the best pie in New Zealand
Bay of Plenty Times reporters Kiri Gillespie, Peter Williams, and John Cousins put this year's pie awards supreme winner to the taste test. Photo / George Novak
Bay of Plenty Times reporters took the opportunity to taste the winning pie earlier today to see just how good the best pie in New Zealand really is, writes Kiri Gillespie.
There's usually no shortage of reporters wanting to taste food, and sure enough, we got three willing - John Cousins, Peter Williams and myself.
Our colleague who went to Patrick's Pies Cafe in Bethlehem to collect them had to wait for a new batch to be baked because the store had already sold out -- and the news hadn't even been announced yet.
Soon enough, the soft, savoury smell of pie pastry wafted through the newsroom and flakes of golden pastry soon fell onto plates as the three of us began the serious job of finding out why this pie was such a winner.
Immediately, the dense filling of tender roast pork encased by creamy mushrooms, cheese and a smattering of caramelised onions within pastry showed this pie meant business. The filling was generous hunks of meat and slices of mushrooms winking at you. (Did I mention I really like mushrooms?)
Then you notice the flavour. Firstly, the tender pork complemented by a strong creamy mushroom taste. After a few seconds, you notice the sweetness of caramelised onions knitting the pie's flavour together right there on your palate.
This is, in my view, a pie to take your time with and really enjoy. (Did I mention I really like pies?)
Cousins said the pie had great consistency, genuinely large chunks of meat "and I thought it was a good combination of flavours".
"It's definitely not a scoffing pie; it's a gourmet pie," he said.
Cousins said the pie, albeit a savoury pie, had a sweet undertone.
Williams remarked on the light pastry and generous filling. He also said the pie had a good flavour
We rated the pie a solid 9.5, 9 and 9.5 out of 10.
We probably ate the pie in just as many seconds. It was delicious.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS: MINCE & GRAVY: Gold Award : Lee Ing - Fast & Fresh Bakery Taupō Silver Award: Bunarith Sao- Dairy Flat Bakery Ltd - Dairy Flat Bronze Award: Patrick Lam- Patrick Pies Cafe and Bakery- Tauranga Highly Commended: Shuly Ngann -Le Royal Bakery- Auckland
