Mt Barker Bakery’s beef bourguignon pie judged best in Australia at the Official Great Aussie Pie competition
If you fancy a good pie, head to the Mt Barker Country Bakery where you will find the best in the country — and that’s official.
Their beef bourguignon entry topped the judging in the Official Great Aussie Pie competition and, if meat is not your thing, its roasted cauliflower with black truffle provo cheese sauce was also a winner, taking the vegetarian-vegan section and coming second overall.
Also tasty was their Sri Lankan chilli crab pie, which was runner-up in the seafood gourmet section.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Bakers across Australia sent their pies and sausage rolls to the Fine Food Australia event in Sydney.
In its 36th year, the competition is the country’s longest running and most prestigious annual pie event, and it welcomed more than 1500 entries from more than 200 bakers.
Four days of intense judging resulted in Mt Barker taking gold in the gourmet pie (red meat) section and carrying that triumph through to be the gourmet pie winner overall, pipping their own vegetarian champion into second spot.
Also honoured at the presentations on September 11 was bakery owner Mick Dumbrell, who was inducted into the competition’s hall of fame.
He was delighted to be welcomed into Australia’s most exclusive pie-makers’ club.
“It’s an honour to be there with all the great pie makers of the country,” he said.
“I think there might be two others from WA, so it’s pretty exciting.
“To win is such a big privilege and it is great to be recognised as a producer of great pies.”
He said the key to making a winning pie is great ingredients.
His beef bourguignon pie uses beautiful Galafrey wines as well as beef cheeks which he braises until they are tender and succulent.
The vegetarian winner uses truffles from Manjimup which he permeates into butter and pairs with roasted cauliflower.
“I love roasted cauliflower at home so I just thought, ‘how can I put this in a pie?’” he said.
Mr Dumbrell has been a pie maker since he left school, moving to Mt Barker in 2005 when there was no bakery in the town.
“I said to my wife that this town needs a bakery,” he said.
“She said to go for it, and we opened in December 2006.
“People were lining up outside the door on day one and have been ever since.”
Originally published on PerthNow
