Pie high hopes for national honours [... by Cambodian-Kiwi baker Tony Sea]

Pie-eyed: Tony Sea had never had a pie until he move to New Zealand, but he's a sucker for them now. (BRUCE MERCER/ Waikato Times)

Tony Sea had never tasted a pie before moving to Hamilton, but he's a sucker for them now.

21/07/2011
JONATHAN CARSON
Waikato Times

Relevant offersTony Sea had never even tasted a pie before he moved to Hamilton 13 years ago – they didn't exist in his native Cambodia.

But now the 35-year-old Goldstar bakery owner makes them for a living and is one of a record number of Waikato entrants in the 15th Bakels New Zealand Supreme Pie awards.

Waikato has one of the highest number of entries this year, with 42 bakeries entering 470 pies – from a record-breaking total of 380 bakeries and 4400 pies nationwide.

Mr Sea is entered in nine of the 11 categories, and says his specialty is his apple, mixed berry and custard pie, which received a highly commended honour last year.

Judging for the competition started today in Auckland and Mr Sea is hoping for a silver or gold award.

His very first pie was baked for him by his grandma, in Hamilton, in 1998, but he didn't like the taste. It was very different to the food he was used to in Cambodia.

But since taking over the bakery three years ago, he has become quite partial to a good pie, and now bakes more than 280 a day.

Another Waikato award hopeful, Oxford Pies, is aiming to take out the commercial wholesale category with their classic mince and cheese pie, which picked up a gold award in 2009.

General manager Amy Newell says it is the "Kiwi favourite".

"It's a good Kiwi staple.

"It's what everyone knows, it's what people come back for."

She said the pie had become entrenched in New Zealand culture and no secret ingredients were added to Oxford's competition recipe.

"We use the same pies that we serve out every year.

"We don't believe in doing any special batches or anything like that, we just basically grab exactly what you would buy from the dairy or a service station."

Chief judge and the owner of Maketu Pies, Grant Wilson, said judging a pie was an intricate, day-long process.

A self-confessed pie lover, Mr Wilson said presentation was key, and only pies that passed the initial screening would be taste-tested.

He said each judge would taste between 30 to 40 pies in a day and admitted that sometimes it was tempting to have a bit more than a bite. "Much to the detriment of my health."

Last year a bacon and egg pie from Goldstar Patrick's Pies in Rotorua took out the supreme award.

Forty-five awards are up for grabs, with winners announced on Tuesday. Jonathan Carson is a Wintec journalism student.