Chicken, carrot and bacon pie wins British Pie Awards 2013

Andrew Webb went to Melton Mowbray, home of the famous pork pie, for the 5th British Pie Awards. And, once again, he ate rather a lot of pies.

Regular readers of this site will know I’ve a bit of previous when it comes to the British Pie Awards. It's fast becoming a highlight of the foodie calendar, and this year was no exception: 978 entries in 20 different classes. So there we were, a church full of devoted pie aficionados, all examining, sniffing and tasting to find the best pie in Britain.

Pork pies

After earning my pie wings in previous years with such categories as ‘Best Football Pie’ and ‘Cold, Meat, Other’, I finally got to judge the pork pie category. A well-made pork pie is a thing of beauty: soft crumbly pastry, cool clear jelly, and a peppery porky filling... it's a rhapsody in three substances and I love ’em. That love was somewhat tested by sampling 18 of them though. Proof, if it were needed, that you can have too much of a good thing.

The best pie in Britain is…

There’s a full list of winners on the British Pie Awards website. But the pie crowned Supreme Champion was a chicken, chantenay carrot and bacon pie from The Pie Kitchen in Bury St Edmunds. Carol Phillips [pictured in the photo above] collected the trophy from Chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, Matthew O'Callaghan.