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THE MERYL STREEP OF PIEMEN
Pieman Simon Haigh of Bolster Moor Farm Shop, Huddersfield, has been dubbed the 'Meryl Streep of the pie world' after the farm won all four categories of Meat Trade Journal’s National Pie competition in Harrogate. The farm won the best pork pie, savoury pie, steak and kidney pie and pasty. Handing out the awards, ex-Eastenders and Extras star Shaun Williamson described Simon as the 'Meryl Streep of the pie world'. Judges were particularly impressed with the winning savoury pie, a Jubilee Pie created by Luke Haigh, which has a pork and chicken filling, with a ‘Union Jack’ flag topping of blueberries.
Plus: Real Ale Trail, which starts on July 21 and ends on August 12. Taking part are: Herberts Bar, Rhubarb, Rat and Ratchet, Shoulder of Mutton (Lockwood), Stevo's Bar, The County, The Grove, The Head of Steam, The Kings Head, The Sportsman, The Star, The Vulcan and Zephyr.
Another enjoyable weekend at the festival and Taste Trail - a little more room at the festival this year helped browsing. Bradley's burgers and Yummy Yorkshire's parkin ice cream were the highlights for me, while Argento shone in the Taste Trail.
Pork Pie Appreciation Society Pie Competition results
1 Hinchliffe's, Netherton, Hudds
2 Bolster Farm, Golcar, Hudds
3 Lund, Keighley
A titanic tussle between Huddersfield's two premier farm shops and pie and sausagemeisters at the Old Bridge Inn, Ripponden, was shaded by Hinchliffe's.
Leeds butchers triumphed at the 2011 Great Yorkshire Pork Pie, Sausage & Products Competition, the the UK’s biggest and best-known regional meat trades contest.
Steve Martin, of Bentleys Butchers, Robin Lane, Pudsey, retained the pork pie supreme championship, while Paul Flintoft Butchers, of High Street, Kippax, was supreme sausage champion.
Steve Martin, who has been running the business for 20 years, said: “The pie is made using a secret recipe, which has been passed down over the years and tweaked by myself.”
Both the reserve supreme pork pie and sausage titles fell to a first-time competition entrant, Bolster Moor Farm Shop at Golcar in Huddersfield, launched in 2009 and owned by second cousins Simon Haigh and Andrew Whitwam.
The business clinched these honours with its first prize large pork (stand) pies and thin pork sausages, also winning first and second prizes in the speciality sausage class.
Bolster Moor Farm Shop butcher and owner's son Luke Haigh commented: “We're delighted to have brought home so many trophies for our sausages and large pork pies. A lot goes into perfecting our products to ensure they're champion quality. On a personal note, as the up & coming next generation of our farm shop business, it's great to be recognised in this way.”
Netherton Butchers at Hinchliffe Farm Shop, Huddersfield, won the black pudding championship and WR Wright & Sons Trophy, also finishing runner-up in both the large pork pie and thick pork sausage classes.
Gledhills Butchers, of Stanley, Wakefield, won the beef burger championship and WR Wright & Sons Shield, also becoming runner-up in the black pudding class.
Kendall’s Farm Butchers, of Pateley Bridge and Harrogate, won the speciality cold eating pie class with its pork, black pudding and apple pie, receiving the John Spencer Memorial Trophy.
The 23rd annual competition was organised by the Confederation of Yorkshire Butchers Councils and held at Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford. It attracted 300 entries from butchers across the county.
Among those highly commended as finalists at the 2011 competition were:
Small pork pie – Keith Dyson, Almondbury
Thin pork sausage – Villa Farm Shop, Huddersfield
Thick pork sausage – Bolster Moor Farm Shop, Golcar
Speciality sausage – Netherton Butchers at Hinchliffe Farm Shop, Huddersfield
IT'S SAUSAGES!
Nov 11: Bolster Moor Farm shop, near Slades Road, Golcar, Huddersfield, has received a sausage award from Noddy Holder.
Their traditional pork sausages were judged the best in Yorkshire in a competition to mark British Sausage Week and 'sausage ambassador' Noddy Holder presented the farm with a gold disc. (Pic from farm's Twitter site).
The results of the Pork Pie Appreciation Society's 2011 Competition
1st Netherton Butchers, Huddersfield.
2nd Bolster Moor Farm Shop,Golcar
3rd Benson Mellor, Newark
4th Gledhills Butchers Wakefield
HAPPY BIRTHDAY COFFEE EVOLUTION
Nov 10: I've been meaning to highlight one of the best coffee shops in the country - Coffee Evolution in Huddersfield - and now I've got the perfect excuse. It's celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.
With so many chain coffee shops around, and many of them trying to pass themselves off as homely places, celebrating 10 years is a real achievement for an independent.
Coffee Evolution has a great feel about it. Its main shop in Church Street is light, thanks to its huge windows, and neatly laid out so all the seating is around the walls and windows - giving a quite different feel to chain shops. It doesn't have the rushed atmosphere of a chain either - it's a place to kick back and read the papers which are supplied in store.
The coffee is spot on - not too bitter or stewed (Hello Starbucks) and not served in buckets if you want a large one (Hello Starbucks again). There's a great selection of delicious bagels and homemade biscuits. The service is friendly and assured.
Coffee Evolution also has another branch in Greenhead Road.
Nov 10: I've been meaning to highlight one of the best coffee shops in the country - Coffee Evolution in Huddersfield - and now I've got the perfect excuse. It's celebrating its 10th anniversary this month.
With so many chain coffee shops around, and many of them trying to pass themselves off as homely places, celebrating 10 years is a real achievement for an independent.
Coffee Evolution has a great feel about it. Its main shop in Church Street is light, thanks to its huge windows, and neatly laid out so all the seating is around the walls and windows - giving a quite different feel to chain shops. It doesn't have the rushed atmosphere of a chain either - it's a place to kick back and read the papers which are supplied in store.
The coffee is spot on - not too bitter or stewed (Hello Starbucks) and not served in buckets if you want a large one (Hello Starbucks again). There's a great selection of delicious bagels and homemade biscuits. The service is friendly and assured.
Coffee Evolution also has another branch in Greenhead Road.
To find out about the 10th anniversary celebrations, see here
END OF THE YARN FOR WEAVERS SHED
Apr 10: Huddersfield's best restaurant (probably) is closing.
Weavers Shed owner Stephen Jackson is selling the Golcar eaterie. Last orders on May 1.
The 40-year-old told the Examiner: "After 17 years the lack of free evenings has finally taken its toll. You won’t find many chefs of my age working all the shifts. Gordon Ramsey certainly doesn’t – he just dabbles.
“I start work at 10am and finish around 11pm with a few hours off in between."
He's planning to open 'an upmarket cafe' in Marsden, Slaithwaite or Huddersfield town centre.
I'll never forget the meal I had there. The restaurant is a converted 18th century woollen mill which looks like an old vicarage. It's immaculate inside and the food is fabulous. I can still remember a butternut squash soup, which was the colour of old gold, thick enough to stand your spoon in, and so sweet and delicious.
PORK PIE APPRECIATION SOCIETY COMPETITION 2010
Apr 10: Hinchliffe’s Farm Shop, in Netherton, Huddersfield has triumphed again at the annual Pork Pie Appreciation Society awards in Ripponden. It's the sixth win for the shop.
Fifty hopefuls from around the UK took part and a team of 12 judges marked each pie for construction, appearance and taste.
Society secretary Peter Charnley said: "The pie's got to be fresh crusty and crisp pastry. The meat has got to be spicy, very tasty and the pie should be well-filled."
Runner-up was Wilson's of Crossgates, Leeds. Third was Bentley's of Pudsey and fourth was Peter Middlemiss of Otley.
WORLD CUP OF PIES 2009Nov 09: It's the Great Yorkshire Pork Pie, Sausage and Products Competition again, regarded by regular winner Hofmann of Wakefield as the world cup of pies.
The supreme champion sausage title this year went to Hofmann's, which won the thick sausage class and was also runner-up in three other classes – thin pork sausage and speciality sausage (pork and leek), and large pork (stand) pie.
Voakes, of Whixley Grange, Whixley - between York and Harrogate - was crowned supreme pie champion for the second year running. It also won the large pie and small pie classes.
The reserve supreme champion sausage and winner of the thin pork sausage was Paul Flintoft Butchers, of High Street, Kippax, Leeds.
Champion black pudding maker was H Weatherhead & Sons Butchers, of Pateley Bridge.
The beefburger title was awarded to J B Wilkinson & Sons, for its hoisin burger. Wilkinson’s has shops in Otley, Rawdon, Yeadon, Bramhope, Ilkley, Wetherby and Knaresborough.
Parkin Butchers, which has shops in Epworth, Doncaster, and Crowle, won the speciality sausage class with its tomato and basil sausage.
Woods Butchers, of Carcroft, Doncaster, won the speciality pie class for the second year running with its pork and leek cold eating pie.
Some 300 entries from butchers right across the county were received for the 21st annual contest, organised by The Confederation of Yorkshire Butchers Councils and held in Bradford.
FULL RESULTS
PIES
SUPREME PORK PIE CHAMPION (Ted Jones Supreme Pie Trophy and 1,000 carrier bags): Voakes Pies, Whixley.
RESERVE SUPREME CHAMPION (Willis Hall Cup): Voakes Pies.
Large pork pie:
1 and the Norman Binks Cup – Voakes Pies
2 H Hofmann & Sons
3 Allums Butchers, Altoft, Normanton.
Highly Commended: Johnsons of Thirsk, Wilsons, Allums of Altoft, Gledhills of Wakefield, Woods.
Small pork pie:
1 and the Interbake Shield – Voakes Pies
2 Shaun Fairweather Butchers, Mirfield, Dewsbury
3 Ingfield Farm Shop, Southowram, Halifax.
Highly Commended: Hofmann's, Bentley's of Pudsey, Wortley Farm Shop, Woods, JA Mountfield & Son of Bubwith, Wilsons of Crossgates.
Speciality cold eating pie:
1 and the John Spencer Memorial Trophy – Woods Butchers of Carcroft
2 Voakes Pies
3 Johnsons Butchers, Thirsk.
Highly Commended: Weegmanns of Otley, Middlemiss of Otley, Kendalls of Pateley Bridge, Weatherheads of Pateley Bridge.
SAUSAGES
SUPREME SAUSAGE CHAMPION (ACP Shield and Lucas Ingredients products):
H Hofmann & Sons Butchers, Wakefield.
RESERVE SUPREME CHAMPION SAUSAGE (The Devro Quaich - a cup I think):
Paul Flintoft Butchers, Kippax Leeds.
Thin pork sausage:
1 and the Oris Shield, plus products from WR Wright & Son – Paul Flintoft
2 H Hofmann & Sons
3 Ellisons Butchers, Cullingworth.
Highly Commended: Keelham Hall Farm Shop, Roberts of Oakwood, Weegmanns, Colin Robinson of Grassington.
Thick pork sausage
1 and the Ripon Select Foods Shield – H Hofmann & Sons
2 Keelham Hall Farm Shop, Thornton, Bradford
3 JB Wilkinson & Sons, Rawdon.
Highly Commended: Beavers of Masham, Ellisons, Ken Balsdon of Summerbridge, Middlemiss.
Speciality sausage:
1 and the Gordon Rhodes Shield – Parkin Butchers, Epworth, Doncaster
2 H Hofmann & Sons
3 Sutcliffes Butchers, Skipton.
Highly Commended: Kendalls, Roy Dykes of Keighley, Paul Flintoft, Andrews of Wetherby, Keelham Hall Farm Shop.
BLACK PUDDING
1 and the Towers Thompson Trophy, plus donation of Kingdom Striploins from Towers Thompson - H Weatherhead & Sons Butchers, Pateley Bridge
2 Arthur Haigh, Dalton, Thirsk
3 Woods Butchers.
BEEFBURGER
1 and WR Wright & Sons Shield - JB Wilkinson & Sons, Rawdon
2 Wortley Farm Shop, Wortley, Sheffield
3 Weegmanns Butchers, Otley.
Highly Commended: Parkin of Epworth, Roy Dykes, Kendalls, JB Wilkinson & Sons, Oxleys of Leeds.
PIES AT THE GROVE - I'LL NEVER LEAVE
May 09: The trouble with most pub snacks is that they're not substantial enough. You need a little more on a session - a ham roll, a chip barm or a pie. The Grove, in Huddersfield, has started selling pies, J Lord Pies (sadly not made by the Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord: "Would you like a 10-minute baroque organ solo with that pie sir?")
The Grove is famed for its snacks, as well its beers - high-end crisps (sea salt don't you know), crickets and Welsh jerky (not an annoying bloke from Abergavenny).
But now they've got pies and very good pies too. First of all the meat's not salty, there's no jelly but the meat's moist and has a nice peppery taste and the pastry's light and crunchy.
J Lord and Son, to give them their full name, are a father and son team from Bradford who started the firm six years ago and are perhaps best known in Huddersfield for their Pie Shed in the market. Dad John is in his sixties and joined the trade when he was 15, although he has done other things since, and the firm prides itself on quality local ingredients.
J Lord and Son website
PORK PIE APPRECIATION SOCIETY PIE OF THE YEAR 2009
April 09: Runner-up last year, Hinchliffe's of Netherton, Huddersfield, finished top this year thanks to celebrity judge Pete Waterman (X Factor a few years ago, pork pie judge now - the only way is up).
Hinchliffe's is a fine place - top-quality meat and veg and bottles of real ale are on sale, while outside there are rabbits and llamas to look at (not to eat I should stress). Personally, I prefer Jones of Huddersfield's pies. He was only a finalist this year.
This is the society's 17th annual contest at the Old Bridge Inn in Ripponden. It's open to all pie-makers, although Yorkshire butchers always dominate.
Results:
1 Hinchliffe's Farm Shop, Netherton, Huddersfield.
2 Brosters Farm Shop, Lindley, Huddersfield.
3 Bentleys of Pudsey.
4 Wilsons of Leeds.
Other finalists in no particular order:
Peter Middlemiss, Otley (great butcher); Andrew Jones, Huddersfield; E&R Grange, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield; Ingfield Farm Shop, Southowram, Halifax; Mellors Farm Butchers, Newark.
GREAT YORKSHIRE PORK PIE, SAUSAGE AND PRODUCTS COMPETITION 2008
Oct 08: Voakes Pies of Whixley near York were the big winners this year taking the small pie and overall pie awards. They make 'em from pigs on their farm. The firm also finished second in the speciality pie class with a pork, chicken and sage & onion combination, and third in the large pork pie class.
The best sausage in Yorkshire is from Ellisons Butchers, of Cullingworth, near Bradford, their thin pork sausage won that class and the supreme championship.
The best black pudding comes from Kendalls Butchers, in Pateley Bridge.
FULL RESULTS (300 entries, competition held in Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford):
SUPREME PORK PIE CHAMPION, awarded the new Ted Jones Supreme Pie Trophy and 1,000 carrier bags from William Jones Packaging: Voakes Pies, Whixley.
RESERVE SUPREME CHAMPION, awarded the Willis Hall Cup: Bentleys Butchers, Pudsey.
SUPREME SAUSAGE CHAMPION, awarded the ACP Shield and Lucas Ingredients products: Ellisons Butchers, Cullingworth.
RESERVE SUPREME CHAMPION, awarded the Devro Quaich (a cup I think): Farmer Copley Farm Shop, Purston, Pontefract.
PORK PIE CLASSES
Large pork pie: and the Norman Binks Cup: Bentleys Butchers, Pudsey
2 Woods Butchers, Carcroft, Doncaster
3 Voakes Pies, Whixley.
Small pork pie: and the Interbake Shield plus £100 in gift vouchers: Voakes Pies, Whixley
2 P&I Hopkins Butchers, Birkenshaw, Bradford
3 Gledhills Butchers, Stanley, Wakefield.
Speciality cold eating pie: and the John Spencer Memorial Trophy: Woods Butchers, Carcroft, Doncaster
2 Voakes Pies, Whixley
3 Weegmanns Butchers, Otley.
SAUSAGE CLASSES
Thin pork sausage: and the Oris Shield, plus products from W.R. Wright & Son: Ellisons Butchers, Cullingworth
2 Keelham Farm Shop, Thornton, Bradford
3 Paul Flintoft Butchers, Kippax, Leeds.
Thick pork sausage: and the Ripon Select Foods Shield: Paul Flintoft Butchers, Kippax, Leeds
2 Newby Hall Farm Shop, Boroughbridge
3 Bentleys Butchers, Pudsey.
Speciality sausage: and the Gordon Rhodes Shield: Farmer Copley Farm Shop, Purston, Pontefract (free range pork with ginger, chilli and lime, yum!)
2 Keelham Hall Farm Shop, Thornton, Bradford
3 Sutcliffes Butchers, Skipton.
BLACK PUDDING
1 Kendalls Butchers, Pateley Bridge
2 Woods Butchers, Carcroft, Doncaster
3 Weegmanns Butchers, Otley
BEEFBURGER
1 Sutcliffes Butchers, Skipton
2 Sharlands Butchers, Paddock, Huddersfield
3 Weegmanns Butchers, Otley.
UK PORK PIE CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 RESULTS
(alias Master Pork Pie Maker Competition)
1 ALLUMS BUTCHERS, WAKEFIELD
2 HINCHLIFFES' FARM SHOP, NETHERTON, HUDDS.
3 BROSTER'S FARM SHOP, LINDLEY, HUDDS.
4 MICHAEL THEWILISS, GOLCAR, HUDDS.
47 entrants. Held at Old Bridge Hotel, Ripponden
GREAT YORKSHIRE PORK PIE, SAUSAGE AND PRODUCTS COMPETITION 2007
Nov 07: This is regarded as the World Cup of pies, probably because it's in Yorkshire but also because it's the biggest regional event of its kind with 300 butchers submitting their bangers and growlers for the judges in Bradford.
The supreme pie and supreme sausage awards are the top awards.
Supreme pie award went to Hinchliffes Farm Shop, of Sunny Side Farm, Netherton, near Huddersfield. A family butchers who've been in existence since the 1920s who attract national interest with the quality of their food (mentioned in The Times) and who are former supreme sausage award winners in this competition.
The supreme sausage championship winners are Kevin Jubb Butchers, of Little Lane, Ilkley.
The best black pudding in Yorkshire came from Arthur Haigh Butchers of Dalton Airfield Industrial Estate, in Thirsk.
Best beefburger from Sutcliffes Butchers, of Skipton.
FULL RESULTS:
SUPREME PORK PIE CHAMPION, awarded the Bob Thirsk Rose Bowl and 1,000 carrier bags (!) from William Jones Packaging – Hinchliffes Farm Shop, Netherton.
RESERVE SUPREME CHAMPION, awarded the Willis Hall Cup (of Billy Liar fame) – Woods Butchers, of Carcroft, Doncaster.
SUPREME SAUSAGE CHAMPION, awarded the ACP Packaging Shield and Lucas Ingredients products – Kevin Jubb Butchers, Ilkley.
RESERVE SUPREME CHAMPION, awarded the Devro Quaich – Elite Meats, Harrogate.
PORK PIE CLASSES
Large pork pie: 1 and the Norman Binks Cup – Hinchliffes Farm Shop, 2 Woods Butchers, 3 P&I Hopkins, Birkenshaw, Bradford.
Small pork pie: 1 and the Interbake Shield – Woods Butchers, 2 H Weatherhead & Sons, Pateley Bridge, 3 George Middlemiss & Son, Otley.
Speciality cold eating pie: 1 and the John Spencer Memorial Trophy – Woods Butchers, 2 Brosters Farm Shop, Lindley Moor, Huddersfield, 3 H Weatherhead & Sons.
SAUSAGE CLASSES
Thin pork sausage: 1 and the Oris Shield, plus products from WR Wright & Son – Kevin Jubb Butchers, Ilkley, 2 Keelham Farm Shop, Thonton, Bradford, 3 John Oxley Butchers, Leeds
Thick pork sausage: 1 and the Ripon Select Foods Shield – Elite Meats, 2 Hinchliffes Farm Shop, 3 Paul Flintoft, Kippax, Leeds.
Speciality sausage: 1 and the Gordon Rhodes Shield – Farmer Copley, Purston, Pontefract, 2 Elite Meats, 3 Keelham Hall Farm Shop.
BLACK PUDDING
1 and the Confederation Shield - Arthur Haigh, Dalton, Thirsk, 2 Woods Butchers, Doncaster 3 Drake & Macefield Butchers, Skipton.
BEEFBURGER
1 and WR Wright & Sons Shield, plus product donation by Towers Thompson – Sutcliffes Butchers, Skipton, 2 R Illingworth Butchers, East Keswick, 3 Elite Meats, Harrogate.
Results from the competition website. The event's organised by Confederation of Yorkshire Butchers Councils
ALLERGIC TO TRIPE - AFTER A LIFETIME OF EATING IT
Sept 07: A man who attained TV fame for eating vast quantities of tripe has become allergic to the offal.
Mike Madden, 51, from Honley, Huddersfield, used to eat tripe - animals' stomachs - almost every night. But last week, as he tucked into his favourite dish, he felt a tingling and soreness in his mouth. It passed after a few days, but when he tried to eat tripe again, the problem returned.
A visit to his doctor confirmed that Mike had developed an allergy to the foodstuff.
He said: “I’m devastated. I must have eaten about 1,000lbs of the stuff since I started my exploits and my body’s just rejecting it now.”
Mike used to eat so much tripe that Queensgate Market shop Quality Butchers sponsored him for his various stunts. At every TV show or magazine shoot, he had to eat at least 2lb of tripe – and at £1.50 a pound, it was costing him a packet.
Mike’s passion for tripe has seen him eat the delicacy on The Big Breakfast, appear at the 1996 Comic Relief show with Dame Edna Everage and The Spice Girls and he’s even been on German and American TV screens.
He claims the offal, which he eats raw with vinegar, is low fat and is even great for hangovers.
Mr Madden is also an inventor who's developed a weather hat, a TV aerial hat, a portable bird-feeder and a fish walker
From Huddersfield Examiner
UK PORK PIE CHAMPIONSHIP 2007 RESULTS
1 Wilson's of Crossgates, Leeds
2 Broster's Farm Shop, Outlane, Huddersfield
3 Michael Thewliss, Golcar, Huddersfield
4 Eddie Grange and Son, Slaithwaite, Huddersfield
(53 entrants)
LARD VADERFeb 2007: A Huddersfield lecturer has won a medal for making a sculpture of Darth Vader out of fat.
Gary Schofield, 33 from Holmfirth, was awarded the silver medal in the 'Works in Fat' category at the National Hospitality Show in Birmingham.
Chefs from all over the country competed to create a decorative work in fat with the entries being judged on creativity, workmanship, degree of difficulty and presentation.
It took Gary 24 hours over four days to carve Darth Vader out of a special type of fat which can stay solid for up two years. Lard Vader will now form a buffet centrepiece at Huddersfield Technical College where Gary teaches the Advanced Culinary Diploma.
He has previously won medals for his fat carvings of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings.
Info/pic: Huddersfield Technical College
VEGETARIANS ALLOWED IN PIE EATING CHAMPIONSHIPThe World Pie Eating Championship has dramatically changed its rules this year.
Instead of scoffing as many meat and potato growlers as possible within three minutes, contestants will have to eat one single pie quickly. There will also be a separate competition for vegetarians.
Organisers of the championships, which will be held at Harry's Bar, in Wigan, on December 13, say they have taken a leaf out of the government's healthy eating plan.
Bar owner Tony Callaghan said: "I realise it may be controversial, but this is the way forward for pie-eating at this level.
"We have also bowed to relentless pressure from the Vegetarian Society and agreed to introduce a vegetarian option to the competition, although vegetarian pie-eaters in the competition will be allowed to eat a slightly smaller version because of its rather more glutinous content.
"However, we will not preclude competitors from entering both championships - so there is every possibility we will have a double world champion for the first time ever."
But previous winner Dave Smyth, from Hindley, who won the first contest in 1992 when he ate four pies in three minutes was unhappy, saying: "Pies are supposed to be meat and potato and anything else just isn't normal."
Mr Callaghan said that entries for the contest on December 13 are invited from all over the world but early indications suggest that the competitor travelling the furthest comes from Ashton-in-Makerfield, about five miles away.
The cooked dimensions of the traditional meat and potato pie need to ensure a
diameter of 12cm and a depth of 3.5cm, and a pie wall angle from base to top of
between zero and 15 degrees. The vegetarian option will be 10cm by 3cm.
Info: Wigan Observer/Manchester Evening News. Pie pic: Greenhalgh's from (sorry) Bolton but they do make lovely savouries
THE 2006 GREAT YORKSHIRE PORK PIE, SAUSAGE AND PRODUCTS COMPETITION
'The World Cup of pies'
Best pork pie: H Hofmann & Sons, Wakefield
Runner-up for best pork pie (Willis Hall Cup for pork pie excellence): Wilson’s Butchers, Crossgates, Leeds
Small pork pie: Wilson’s Butchers, Crossgates, Leeds
Supreme champion sausage: George Middlemiss & Son, Otley
Best thin pork sausage: George Middlemiss & Son, Otley
Runner-up for supreme champion sausage: Hinchliffes Farm Shop, Netherton, Huddersfield
Black pudding: Woods, Carcroft, Doncaster
Burger: Kendall’s Butchers, Pateley Bridge
Hofmann's beat 300 butchers to win the title. Butcher Nigel Hofmann told the Wakefield Express: "It's like winning the World Cup. It's a big trophy." The Express says there's been a run on his "growlers" since the result was announced.
Willis Hall, co-author of Billy Liar, was a judge at the first competition in 1988 and as the Yorkshire Evening Post says: "He went onto pass judgment over many more pies before his death 18 months ago." A cup was named in his honour at this year's show in Bradford.
Results from Meatnews.com
DOCK PUDDINGMore than 100 people came from miles around for a taste of Doris Hirst's world championship-winning dock pudding at Cragg Vale, near Hebden Bridge, last month (May 2006).
Dock pudding is a distinctive West Yorkshire dish apparently only found in the Calder Valley and is made from dock leaves, nettles, oatmeal, onions, butter and seasoning. The dock leaves used are a sweet variety and not the ones for dealing with nettles and the pudding is served with bacon and eggs.Locals say the tradition goes back to the poverty-stricken 19th century.
Mytholmroyd Community & Leisure Centre has hosted the World Dock Pudding Championship every year since 1971.
In 2004 it was won by vegetarian chef Jetta from Hebden Bridge. There was a flurry of letters to the Hebden Bridge Times outraged because the dish is not vegetarian - “bacon is an essential ingredient” it was claimed. Jetta wrote back saying that "40% of the population of Hebden Bridge is vegetarian. We must move with the times or the tradition will die".
Traditional Recipe (although world champions always have a secret ingredient):
2 lb fresh, sweet variety dock leaves (polygonum distorta)
2 large onions, or 2 large bunches of spring onions
½ lb nettles
A handful of oatmeal
A knob of butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Wash and clean the dock leaves and remove the stalks
Wash and clean the nettles
Chop the onions
Fry the vegetables in the butter until tender
Add the oatmeal and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring to prevent the mixture from sticking.
Sources: Calderdale Online, BBC, Hebden Bridge Times, Hebweb
UK PORK PIE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS 2006:1 Hinchliffe's Farm Shop, Netherton, Huddersfield
2 George Middlemiss, Otley
3 JP Cryer, Halifax
4 Wilson's of Crossgates, Leeds.
The 14th annual championship was organised by the Pork Pie Appreciation Society and held at the Old Bridge Inn, Ripponden, in March. Sixty pie makers took part.
Other finalists from the Huddersfield area were Andrew Jones, of Brighouse and Marsh, and Michael Thewlis from Golcar.
Hinchliffe's baked this special wedding pie (pictured) for a founder member of the Pork Pie Appreciation Society in Huddersfield last year.
Sources: Huddersfield Examiner/BBC
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