If the crown fits, wear it

Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards six times winner (2018), Patrick Lam, dreams of one day telling his grandchildren that he was once the Pie King of New Zealand.

Well, he still is!

Congratulations will be ringing out across his kingdom today as we celebrate Patrick Lam as this year’s Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards winner.

With this, his seventh win, he is our most awarded baker, clutching his crown in a one-point victory over his opponents with a stunning mince and cheese pie.

The Awards were announced on July 30 in Auckland at a themed gala event set in the jungle as the Search for the Lost City of Pies explored the far reaches of New Zealand to find victorious pies befitting a gold, silver or bronze award in the 11 finalist categories.

On July 25, the judges, including celebrity chef judge Gareth Stewart, began the task at dawn of finding a winner from 5326 pies entered by 553 bakers. It took nearly nine hours.

Patrick Lam’s Mince & Cheese Pie was this year’s Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards winner.

While there have been four previous Mince & Cheese Supreme winners (2001, 2002, 2005 and 2013) since the competition began in 1996, entry numbers in this category have steadily grown as New Zealanders declared it their favourite pie.

To win with a Mince & Cheese pie is phenomenal. Not only do you have to get passed the ‘big boys’, the Commercial Wholesale bakers who can only enter a mince and cheese pie in that category and who comfortably bake tens of thousands of them each week, but you have to get passed nine other categories, many with more opportunity to ‘stand out from the crowd’ such as Gourmet Meat.

It’s a daunting task, a conquest fit for kings and Patrick Lam of Goldstar Patrick’s Pies in Bethlehem and Tauriko in Tauranga, and Rotorua faced the conquest and became the victor.

Bakels NZ managing director Brent Kersel says: “The Supreme pie was absolute perfection. The pastry was golden, with perfect lamination, flaky, and a delight to bite into. The filling though surprised us. It was like the cheese had been swirled through the mince and the way it blended in your mouth as a result was exceptional, delicious.

“Mince and cheese is my favourite pie, and I’d go so far as to say Patrick’s was the best I’ve ever tasted.”

“Year upon year it gets harder to win this competition because the standard of the entries just keeps getting better.

“We saw some very creative pies come through the Café Boutique category including The Flintstone with beef brisket and bone protruding the top pastry.

“A standout for me was the slow-cooked pork belly pie which was cooked in apple cider and pear cider. It looked pretty impressive.

“So it’s interesting that out of all the categories the Mince & Cheese should take Supreme but then it proves that if you get the formula right, the eye-catching golden pastry and the beautifully cooked, well-seasoned filling, then, yes, Mince & Cheese can out-shine the others.  It takes a Pie King to show us that and we congratulate Patrick on his success.”

He’s won the Supreme trophy, two golds and two bronze awards and $9,500 in prize money.

For this charming, humble Pie King though it is all about bringing satisfaction to his customers and recognising the efforts of his bakery team to make that happen.

Read our interview with Pat Lam as seen in Hospitality Business, February 2019:

2019 Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards Winners:

1.      MINCE & GRAVY

2. POTATO TOPPED

3. STEAK & CHEESE

4. CHICKEN & VEGETABLE

5. CAFÉ BOUTIQUE

6. GOURMET MEAT

7. TRUCKIE & TRADIE (STEAK & GRAVY)

8. BACON & EGG

9. MINCE & CHEESE

Blackforest by Ten O’Clock Cookie Bakery Cafe, Masterton

10. GOURMET FRUIT

11. VEGETARIAN

12. COMMERCIAL WHOLESALE – MINCE & CHEESE

SUPREME