South Island baker wins NZ Supreme Pie maker status

Southern pie lovers rejoice! The South Island has claimed its first ever Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Award and the second only Supreme female baker to scoop up the top award.

North Canterbury baker, Arlyn Thompson from Rangiora Bakery has achieved what many South Island bakers have been dreaming of in the 26 years of the competition. She is bringing home the biggest award in the baking industry with her Gourmet Meat category entry – Slow Cooked Sumatra Style Beef.

In the Supreme judging round there were many impressed expressions on the judges’ faces, and this was clearly a tight final until the last pie, the Gourmet Meat entry, went through for tasting.

“Nice” summed it up as renowned Auckland Chef judge Sid Sahrawat finished his sample.  “So beautiful to eat. The flavours are so well balanced and the pastry and tender meat are a perfect comfort combination. On a cold winter’s night, that’s the pie you want to eat.”

Daughter Zoya Sahrawat, the celebrity judge representing Generation Alpha, simply raised her eyebrows and smiled as she savoured the last pie taste and the room fell silent with pleasure and contemplation.

Gourmet Meat Category

But little did they know that their scoring points would result in arguably biggest result this competition has ever had…a first Supreme win for the South Island.

NZ Bakels managing director Brent Kersel says: “This year we saw a lot more bakers giving the Gourmet Meat category a go with entry numbers making this the third largest category to be judged.

“Right from the very first round of the Gourmet Meat judging, there were some really stand-out pies coming through with exceptional pastry making it a challenge to score on and then an abundance of flavour innovation.

“We had smoked trevally with peas, carrots, beans and corn; Mexican venison; beef brisket with beer, cheese and jalapeno; spicy prawn; beef moussaka and even an old-fashioned mutton pie. So much variety and we know pie fans want that variety from time to time. But when it comes to steak and cheese and mince cheese, they really are our ‘iconic’ pies, and being the two top entry categories shows how they are still the staple of bakeries, especially when the pastry has beautiful layering and a rich, moist and well-balanced filling. For me, you can’t beat a mince and cheese pie.”

Brent says each year there seems to be a pie that causes ‘Chinese whispers’ in the judging kitchen. This year the ‘Winter Pudding’ Café Boutique pie – a perfect cube of sweet short pastry encasing a sticky date pudding, took the honour of the most talked about before claiming the Gold award in the Café Boutique category. 

Baked by Kerry Wellman of Leeves at Portstone in Woolston, Christchurch, it took out the second South Island Gold award, while Jason Danielson of Kaipai Bakery in Wanaka grabbed the third Gold with his Commercial/Wholesale mince and cheese entry.

“Year on year, this competition is getting harder to win and with it our reputation as a pie nation with the best places in the world for pies, the credit goes back to our hard-working, dedicated bakers. We congratulate every one of them who have won an award, and to those that are yet to win an award, keep going. You just never know what the future holds,” says Brent.

Here is the full list of the 2024 Bakels NZ Pie Award winners: