British Pie Awards: 'Why I'm aiming high with my doner kebab pie'

The results of this year's awards are due to be announced

This year's British Pie Awards are under way and with entries including bacon cheeseburger and doner kebab, judges say the contest has never been more varied.

In recent years, the awards have not been without a side helping of debate, after some surprising winners have triumphed.

The awards - which are currently being held in Britain's pork pie capital, Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire - rode the crust of a foodie wave, when a vegan pie triumphed in 2019 while, in 2022 a gluten-free vegetarian pie claimed top spot.

This year, organisers have noticed a trend for a variety of pie they have named "fusion" - pies with fillings that, traditionally, would belong on a whole other menu such as doner kebab and bacon cheeseburger.

With the winners due to be announced later, the BBC spoke to the producers behind them who are hoping for their slice of the action.

Bacon cheeseburger pie

Jay runs a street food company in Birmingham

Jay Jones, 33, is the owner of Pietanic, a street food company based in Birmingham.

"We do music festivals, football matches and other sporting events like Cheltenham and Aintree," he said. "We started doing pop-up street food events nine years ago and it went from there."

He said the business specialises in pies because he believes they are an underrated British food.

"When we started out, there were lots of street food places doing burgers and hot dogs but nobody doing pies," he said. "But the possibilities are endless."

Jay has proved this to be the case with his bacon cheeseburger pie, which is made at his business's prep unit in the city.

Jay also sells his bacon cheeseburger pie in a burger bun

"It's got all of the elements of a bacon cheeseburger in a pie," he said.

"We have mince at the bottom, then smoked bacon, tomatoes, mozzarella, cheddar and a pickle on top. The pastry replaces the bun.

"When you have a bite, you can see the layers.

"We took it to the pie awards for the first time last year and we got into the top three sports pies.

"People say 'What on earth is that?' and then when you explain, they say 'That makes total sense'."

Italian-style meatball pie

Chef Mark Wilkinson made the pie in honour of his son's favourite food

Mark Wilkinson was a chef for 20 years before starting The Treacle Town Pie Company, based in Macclesfield, in 2009.

One of his entries this year is the Italian-style meatball pie.

He created the pie in 2015 following a suggestion from his son, who was seven at the time.

"He said 'Dad - let's make an unusual pie'. I said 'Right - what's your favourite food?' and that was spaghetti and meatballs," he said.

"He's now 16 years old and he still likes the pie.

"When you split it open, you can smell the tomato, the basil, you've got the little beef meatballs.

"When we have it on in the bakery it always sells out, which is fantastic."

The pie contains tomato, basil and beef meatballs

He said he had entered the awards for the first time in 2014 and had got gold for his steak and ale pie.

"We're back this year to give it a go," he said.

"You can put nearly anything that goes together into a pie and it works.

"I'm not a pie person personally - I prefer sausage rolls. But I know how a pie should taste and all the flavour combinations."

Lasagne pie

Alexander Melling's pies honour his parents

Piemaker Alexander Melling has two entries in the contest that honour his family.

Alexander, who runs Baldy's Pies based in Wigan, is entering the Big Jim - a steak and onion pie - in memory of his dad who passed away a few years ago.

Meanwhile, the Nearly As Good As Mama Joan's Lasagne Pie is dedicated to the "rock of the family" - his mum.

He said the pie contains his mum's special tomato sauce with a blanched pasta sheet in the middle.

One of Alexander's pies - The Big Jim - is in memory of his father

It also has a triple truffle cheese béchamel sauce, while the crunchy bits on the top of a lasagne are replicated with shavings of pasta sheet.

Alexander said the Big Jim had won bronze at the awards last year and he is hoping to go even better this year.

"It feels like it's meant to be because it's Dad's birthday this week," he said.

Venison, mushroom and dark chocolate pie

Calum Nall said people had loved the unusual flavours

Calum Nall is a chef at the Anne of Cleves pub in Melton Mowbray, which is located next door to the church that hosts the pie awards.

He said it was his team's first go at entering their Deer in the Black Forest Pie in the awards but he thought it might just be unusual enough to win.

He said the pie's flavours had been inspired by the deer who live in the local countryside and their habitats and includes venison, redcurrants, mushrooms, junipers - and dark chocolate.

"We tried it out at the pub and it worked - everyone loved it," he said.

The pie is like a black forest gateau - with added venison

"It tastes a bit like a black forest gateau, because you've got the berries and the chocolate, but we added venison to turn it into a meat pie rather than a dessert.

"I think a pie can bring a family together. It just makes people happy, cutting in and smelling the flavours."

Doner kebab pie

Doner kebab pies are starting to become a Scottish tradition, William says

William Hall runs W.M. Frasers Butchers in Stranraer, a shop that has been going since 1887.

"It's one of the oldest in Dumfries and Galloway - but I've been in the shop for 14 years," he said.

This year, William will be entering a doner kebab pie into the awards - a delicacy he says that is gaining some traction north of the border.

"Doner kebab pies are starting to become a thing in Scotland - mainly around Glasgow," he said.

"It's a takeaway pie, basically.

"Doner kebabs are one of the things you get as a takeaway when you've been on a night out.

"It's got a Scottish pie shell - quite a crusty, hard pastry - and it's a pie you can eat on the go, either hot or cold, whether it's at a football match or in your lunch break."

He says his team make the pastry and fillings on site.

"It's a doner kebab lamb, mixed with herbs and spices, with a sweet chilli glaze," he added.

"It's proved very popular around here - we have people coming in for them especially and, in one case, they ate it in their car and then came straight back for another one."

Bison chilli con carne pie

Clare was inspired to create the pie by the presence of locally-reared bison

Bison is not the only eye-catching ingredient in Clare Read-O'Donnell's pie.

It also includes coffee, cumin and three layers of different kinds of chilli.

She said: "It's a bison in a spicy bean sauce - the ultimate fast food without all the additives in it."

Clare, who works as a chef, demonstrator and pie expert for Brockleby's Pies, based in Melton, said she had been inspired to create the pie - named the Ruffalo Buffalo - due to the presence of a bison farm in the nearby village of Nether Broughton.

"Bison is a really lean meat, similar to lamb, very healthy with a mild taste," she said.

"It's quite a delicate meat so it's fantastic at taking those kicks of heat we've put through it.

"We're hoping it will go down very well."