Pub Chef, Carol Haime, has become the first woman to win the prestigious Pub Pie Champion title, the climax to Jus-Rol’s highly anticipated British Pie Week (5th to 11th March), which was supported by a high profile television and Facebook campaign.
H&CNews congratulates Carol and all the finalists on their success in this prestigious and competitive event, and is delighted that their successes once again demonstrate the high quality of British pies and pie-making. They should now seek further honours in the British Pie Awards!
Now in its fifth year, the Pub Pie Champion competition is a celebration of licensed trade pie-making skills. Carol’s innovative culinary creation, the ‘Wheatley House Pheasant Pie, with baby parsnips, juniper and a poppy seed and rock salt crust’, wowed the panel of industry experts.
The panel chose the pie from almost 120 recipes submitted by pub chefs from across Britain. Carol added a new dimension to pie-making by using innovative ingredients such as gin soaked juniper berries, along with flavoured pastry – and her novel approach paid off!
The judges included long standing panellist Martin Bates – the CEO of the Craft Guild of Chefs – last year’s Pub Pie Champion, Craig Henessey, and Jus-Rol’s Foodservice Sales Manager, John McKears.
All praised the excellent flavours of her dish, remarking that the poppy and sea salt pastry was “really special” and the combination of local pheasant and juniper berries made it “a delight for the taste buds”.
Carol runs The Sandrock pub in Farnham, Surrey, with her partner David Walton, and wins a £500 cash prize, a personalised chef’s jacket, the coveted British Pie Week trophy, and the national and trade press coverage which has proven to provide new sales momentum for winning pubs in previous years.
The Fab Five
Congratulations to the four other finalists: William Winteringham of The Derwent Arms with his Pork, Wild Mushroom and Wholegrain Mustard Pie;David Wardleworth from The Traders Arms and his Horn to Heel Pie; William Walne from the Derby Arms and the Woodplumpton Pie and Karen Berg, Heron Inn with her Rhubarb and Custard Pie. The Church House pub, in Newport, Gwent won the “People’s Choice” award with their ‘Braised Oxtail & Wild Mushroom Pie’, created by Head Chef, Steve White.
All the finalists receive a free annual membership to the Craft Guild of Chefs.
Perfection in a Pie
John McKears, Foodservice Sales Manager from Jus-Rol, said: “I would like to congratulate Carol and her Wheatley House Pheasant Pie – it was perfection in a pie and it really epitomises our British heritage. I would also like to thank all the chefs who entered this year’s competition; it was our biggest and most competitive yet, with 4 months of tough competition which resulted in Carol being crowned a very deserving winner.”
“Every year, I am truly impressed by the innovation and quality of recipes on offer, and the passion displayed by chefs for pies. Jus-Rol is proud to be able to showcase the best in British talent through a food festival such as British Pie Week, and the unprecedented response we’ve had this year – almost double from 2011 – proves that the pie is very much alive and well.”
Pub Pie Champions
Now in its fifth year Jus-Rol’s British Pie Week (5th-11th March 2012), is the annual celebration of pies.
As part of the celebrations, pub chefs are given the chance to be crowned Pub Pie Champion. To enter pub chefs simply need to visit www.britishpieweek.co.uk and fill in the form including their best pie recipe (following the recipe criteria) and 50 words explaining why they should be crowned Pub Pie Champion.
Judging Process
Paper Judging: All recipe submissions are reviewed and evaluated by a Jus-Rol judging panel, as well as an independent party, all of whom have a great deal of experience in the foodservice industry. They choose the Top 5 recipes that meet the criteria listed below.
Tasting: The Top 5 recipes are prepared by an independent experienced home economist according to the recipes submitted by the chefs and then reviewed by the British Pie Week judging panel. Each recipe receives a score of 0 to 100 based on the following criteria.
- Originality
- Regionality
- Simplicity
- Use of Jus-Rol pastry
- Appeal
- 50 words explaining why entrant’s recipe should win
Consumer votes for the ‘People’s Choice’ Award account for a maximum of 10 points towards the ‘Great British Pie Week Pub Pie Champion 2012’ prize.
The People’s Choice Award is a special prize for the pub that rallies the most consumer votes for their pie. This year’s winner was The Church House in Gwent with their Braised Oxtail & Wild Mushroom Pie recipe. Consumers are made aware of this competition via posters/tent cards put up by their pubs and also through word of mouth and to contribute, they can vote for their favourite pub on www.britishpieweek.co.uk.
Jus-Rol ranks participating pubs in order of most number of votes won and awards the top voted pub.
For more information on British Pie Week visit www.britishpieweek.co.uk
For more information on Jus-Rol Professional call 0800 626 893 or visit www.jusrolprofessional.co.uk
Visit http://www.britishpieawards.co.uk/ for entry categories and details.
