British Pork Pie Competition Adds Vegan Category

The 11th annual food competition British Pie Awards will add several new categories this year, including the Vegan Pie Class. The competition will take place during the first week of March in Melton Mowbray, an English town known for its pork pies. “Over the past 11 years, we’ve judged over 8,000 pies, with the help of 150 pie connoisseurs and culinary experts. Each pie is judged on presentation, consistency, and, of course, flavor—it’s a very serious, albeit delicious, undertaking,” British Pie Awards host Matthew O’Callahan, who is also the chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, told Bakery Info. “Every year we’re blown away by the creativity and quality that goes into reinventing, or perfecting, a national favorite.” With the addition of the Vegan Pie Class, O’Callahan said this year will be “equally exciting, if not more so.” The competition is currently taking entrants until February 5 and all participants must submit a commercially available pie that’s fully encased in pastry dough and fits within one of the competition’s 23 categories. British baking competitions are loosening their rules in order to appeal to the country’s growing vegan population, including popular show The Great British Bake Off which debuted its first vegan week last year.