Friday 24 January 2014

British Pie Awards 2014 – We’ll see you there!

british pie awards
L-R: Mark Beeston, Matthew O’Callaghan & Stephen Hallam of Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association organisers of the British Pie Awards launch the 2014 Awards.
Roll up! Roll up! Entries are now open for the British Pie Awards 2014!

Yes, that’s right. The British Pie Awards – who famously coined the definition of a pie as being ‘‘a filling totally and wholly encased in pastry” – are now open for entries. And rumour has it that they’re hoping for the grand (thanks) total of 1000 pie entries. Hey, what’s more, Pierate are thrilled to be a judge at this year’s event!

Last year’s pie extravaganza – which Pierateers RAS and SJL both volunteered at  - attracted a stunning 983 entries. Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association (MMPPA) will be hoping to smash that record again at the event on Wednesday 30th April 2014 in St Mary’s Church, Melton Mowbray (although apparently the provisional limit is 1,000 pies due to “the logistics of tasting that many pies in one day”…). This really is the festival of pie, if ever there was one.

There will be 19 different categories (we didn’t even know that was possible) this year, including a specialty class of “Pie fit for a hero” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of WW1. The specialty class is in recognition of the great food produced by the chefs and caterers associated with the British Armed Forces - who the Awards are also encouraging to enter this category this year. According to the British Pie Awards website, entries into this category don't need to be commercially available - so the pie's the limit with innovation!

Matthew O’Callaghan, Chairman of the MMPPA said in press release that “The British Pie Awards allows pie makers of all sizes from all parts of the industry to demonstrate the quality of their produce.  It is a fantastic celebration of British tradition and a great way to protect our pie heritage.”

We couldn’t agree more, Matthew.

And let’s not forget that last year’s Supreme Pie Champion of 2013, The Pie Kitchen, was reviewed recently on Pierate. Representing The Pie Kitchen, Sally Lewis said in a press release for the Awards that “We have been really astounded at the impact winning this award has made to our business.  Not only do more people recognise our brand they are more inclined to try our pies when they see we have achieved this Award.  I would really encourage everyone in the industry to get involved.  It is a great way to be recognised as well as a lot of fun.”

Check out the second-to-bottom judge on their list! We’ll see you there!

The important details:
Full details of all of this year’s classes and the entry form are available on line at www.britishpieawards.co.uk or by contacting Emma Sparks via email emma.sparks@mmppa.co.uk.  For all the latest updates please follow us on Twitter @britishpies and Facebook www.facebook.com/britishpieawards

Entry deadline for 2014 is Friday 11th April 2014

Just in case you were still in any doubt about whether to attend, here's a video we made of the event last year, including the epic pie hymn!



1 comment:

  1. Hi
    British Pie Awards is very famous in this country and people are like it very much same like it as armed forces day 2014.
    Armed Forces Day

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for getting in touch with the Pierateers!