Kangaroo pie among the 976 entries for British Pie Awards

A Kangaroo, Ale and Tasmanian Pepperberry Pie is one of the more unusual entries among the 976 which will be judged in this year’s British Pie Awards in Melton this week.
A kangaroo pie, one of the more unusual entries in this week's British Pie Awards in Melton EMN-220703-092738001A kangaroo pie, one of the more unusual entries in this week's British Pie Awards in Melton EMN-220703-092738001
A kangaroo pie, one of the more unusual entries in this week's British Pie Awards in Melton EMN-220703-092738001

Among the others include Spiced Miso Beef Short-Ribs and Sour Cherries Pie, Crab Potato and Chives Pasty, Christmas Dinner Pie (complete with turkey, stuffing and all the trimmings), Creamy Cashew, Pea and Mushroom Pie and finally for the dessert lovers out there, a pie called Rhubarb and Custard ‘Barbara’.

St Mary’s Church will once again be the venue where a record 151 pie-connoisseurs, including representative of retailers like Harrods and Tesco, baking professionals, butchers, food writers and other pie lovers, will be tasked with judging the 23 classes and deciding the overall Supreme Champion on Wednesday.

Trophies will be presented at a special dinner at the church on Friday - we will publish all the results later in the week.

In recent years, the awards have seen a huge rise in the number of entries to the Vegan Pie class, with this category being the most entered in 2021 and a vegan pie winning Supreme Champion in 2019.

A ‘Meat and Potato’ pie took the crown as Supreme Champion in 2021 and with a higher number of entries from butchers this year, the Steak Pie Class has been pushed to the top of the entries leader board for the 2022 awards.

Chairman Matthew O’Callaghan said; “It’s great to have the Awards back in British Pie Week.

“There’s a real buzz about the Awards this year and competition is going to be pretty intense for those silver cups, which go to the winners of each of the 23 classes, and of course for the Supreme Champion.”

The ongoing love for the British pie is reflected in the annual £1 billion spend on the category.

Dating back to at least the 14th Century in the UK, the pie was mentioned by Chaucer in 1381 and featured in the first cook book written in English for the cooks of King Richard II.

In those days, they were known as ‘coffyns’ because of their shape.

If the Lord of the Manor had venison for his meal, his underlings had the entrails of the deer cooked in a pie.

These entrails are known as ‘unbles’ hence the expression ‘To Eat Umble Pie’.

The awards are organised by the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association and include Stephen Hallam and Mark Beeston as co-organisers.

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