Football club apple pie wins Supreme Champion at British Pie Awards
A sweet Bramley apple pie baked by chefs at a seaside football club has been crowned the best pie in Britain.
For the second time in its six-year history, the British Pie Awards has named a Morecambe Football Club pie the best pie in Britain. Head Chef Graham Aimson and Assistant Pastry Chef Katherine Simpson (pictured above) have scooped the Supreme Champion award for their traditional Bramley apple pie (also pictured). It's the first time a sweet pie has ever won the accolade.
Mr Aimson, who also won the Football Pie Class Champion award for his chicken and leek pie this year, said of the achievement: "I am absolutely ecstatic with the class champion wins for our pies today, but to be named overall Supreme Champion again is just amazing. We are incredibly proud of the quality of our pies and work hard to make sure that what comes out of our kitchen tastes great and is of the best quality.”
The catering team at the League Two club also won the Supreme Champion title at the 2011 awards for their savoury chicken, ham and leek pie.
Morecambe FC Chairman Peter McGuigan told his local newspaper that he too was over the moon: “We were all totally blown away when we won the main award in 2011. Everyone who visits the Globe Arena knows how good our pies are so for Graham and the team to be honoured in this way again is an absolutely superb achievement.”
A pie-eating marathon
The pie-judging event took place at St Mary’s Church in Melton Mowbray, home of the famous PGI pork pie, and just over 800 pies were tested overall. There were 19 categories in total, from speciality pie to football pie and vegetarian pie, and the panel of 110 expert judges included food critic Charles Campion, and television chefs Rachel Green and Andy Bates. They were looking for filling, texture, taste and appearance.
A gold, silver and bronze medal was awarded for every category, with Walker & Son taking all three medals for the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie class. The best vegetarian pie was ‘vegetarian haggis pie’ made by Boghall Butchers; the best pub pie was ‘Lancashire cheese and onion’ made by the Great North Pie Company; and the best fish pie was a smoked salmon and broccoli number made by Something Nice. You can see a full list of all the winners here.
Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association chairman Matthew O'Callaghan said: "The competition was tougher than ever this year which makes Morecambe FC’s achievement all the more impressive. Congratulations to all our winners and thank you to all who entered this year's awards – together we have shown there is nothing humble about the British pie!"
In the mood for pie?
Fancy making your own pie now? For inspiration check out our top 10 hearty pie recipes, top five veggie pie recipes, and our Great British pie recipes. Have you another shop-bought pie to recommend? Or do you think your home-made pie could be a worthy winner at next year’s British Pie Awards? Talk to us in the Comments box below.
Image taken from the British Pie Awards site
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