The Supreme Champion of the 2022 British Pie Awards has been crowned. This year, a vegetarian and gluten-free pie from Bristol-based Pieminister has won the title, beating stiff competition from some of the most creative pie-making minds in Britain.
Pieminister beat 35 other contenders in the free-from category, with a record-breaking 976 pie entries overall, with its Gluten Free Mooless Pie, a vegetarian jackfruit ‘steak’, gluten-free craft ale and black pepper pie, to be crowned the best Free-From pie in the nation. Competition in other categories included a Christmas Dinner Pie, a Crab Potato and Chives Pasty, and a whacky Kangaroo and Tasmanian Pepperberry Pie.
This is the first ever win for the Free-From category in the British Pie Awards. This landmark pie highlights the shift bakers and butchers alike are making within the pie industry, to develop recipes suitable for everyone, with all dietary requirements. Pieminister creates three gluten-free pie options; the Gluten-Free Mooless Moo (this year’s Supreme Champion), Gluten-Free Moo, a British beef steak and gluten-free craft ale pie and Gluten-Free Ranger, a free-range chicken and ham pie with leek and thyme.
The world-famous awards, hosted in Britain’s pork-pie capital Melton Mowbray, received a record number of 976 entries this year. A range of pies, from the exotic to the traditional, all fought it out to be crowned the best pie in Britain.
Matthew O’Callaghan, Chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association and host of the British Pie Awards, said: “This was a superb pie, it looked good, had a nice even golden bake. The pastry was crunchy complimented by the moist filling which had ‘bite’ and the balance of flavours in the pie was just right. Up to now, Gluten Free Pies were always compared unfavourably with other pies. With this pie, Gluten Free Pies are now equal to any other pie. Being Vegetarian and Gluten Free, Pieminister’s ‘Mooless Pie’ is an ‘Everybody’s Pie’, be they vegetarian or meat eater, gluten tolerant or intolerant. Serve this at a meal and almost everyone’s a winner! Congratulations Pieminister!”
The Gluten Free Mooless Pie, a vegetarian jackfruit ‘steak’, gluten-free craft ale and black pepper pie, from Pieminister takes over the title of Supreme Champion from Bowring Butchers, who beat out competition across 23 categories in the previous awards with a traditional British Meat and Potato pie to be crowned ‘pie of pies’ at last year’s event.
Along with a trophy and the coveted title of Supreme Champion of 2022, Pieminister has won an expenses paid trip to a future British Fair in Japan courtesy of the generosity of the Hankyu Department Store. One of the judges at the awards is the Japanese Chef and Writer Yukari Elliott who is currently editing a book on British Pies for the Japanese market.