It’s official – the best pies in Britain hail from Derbyshire!
Leabrooks' butcher Owen Taylor wins top accolades at national craft butchery awards
Leabrooks butcher, Owen Taylor & Sons, has scooped national awards for its Steak & Ale and Pork Pies.
Both pies won their respective categories (Best Steak Pie and Best Pork Pie) at this year’s Smithfield Awards, organised by the Q Guild of Butchers and widely recognised as the meat trade’s most high profile and challenging product evaluation.
Owen Taylor’s Steak & Ale Pie then went on to be named the overall winner and clinch the Smithfield Coronation Award, which was judged by renowned British Chef Jeremy Lee, Sheila Dillon from Radio 4’s The Food Programme and Telegraph food writer Xanthe Clay.
The Leabrooks butcher also picked up the award for best Pork Pie with its Centenary Pie and was awarded Gold status for a further seven products – more than any other UK Q Guild butcher – for its Country Sausage, Smoked Home Cured Streaky Bacon, 8oz Ribeye Steak, Smokehouse Burger, Herby Sausage, Greek Passion Lamb Rump and Stuffed Pheasant Breast.
The Smithfield Awards have run for more than 30 years, recognising and rewarding the UK’s finest craft butchery products including Traditional Pork Sausage, Best Steak Pie, Best Burgers, Gluten-Free Product, Best Bacon, BBQ Product and Black Pudding. Products are awarded a Bronze, Silver or Gold award by a panel of independent industry judges, with all Gold products in each category then pitched against each for the category champion Diamond Award. This year to celebrate the upcoming King’s Coronation, the overall winning product – Owen Taylor & Sons’s Steak & Ale Pie - was presented with the Smithfield Coronation Award.
Describing Owen Taylor’s winning Steak & Ale Pie, Jeremy Lee said: “It was a very worthy winner. It’s a cracking looking pie, beautifully coloured with delicious pastry which was crisp but not dry. It’s hard to get steak right in a pie but they have managed it.”
Owen Taylor’s Centenary Pie which won the Pork Pie category and received a coveted Diamond Award is a terrific combination of traditional pork pie filling topped with a flavoursome balance of chicken, sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo, all encased in a time-tested pastry and was created to celebrate the butchers centenary year, serving up quality meat to its customers for 100 years.
Richard Taylor of Owen Taylor & Sons said: “I feel absolutely ecstatic. We’ve been to this awards several times, and received a few diamond awards but to come today and win two diamond awards and the Smithfield Coronation Award is an absolutely remarkable achievement. And it’s not just for me, we celebrate 100 years in business this year, but for the staff, back at Leabrooks, who work very hard to ensure everything is spot on. It’s testament to their hard work that we’re here today.”
Gordon Wallace, Q Guild Manager said: “The standard of entries this year was as high as ever so being crowned the overall winner for their Steak & Ale pie alongside a category winning Diamond Award for their Pork Pie and seven additional Golds is a phenomenal achievement. We were delighted to present Richard and the team with their awards which not only endorses the quality of their products but helps to raise standards and drive innovation across the craft butchery industry.”
Leading catering butcher Owen Taylor & Sons have been butchers since 1922 and are proud to supply both retail and catering customers across the East Midlands. Owen Taylor is a family owned business which strives to provide their valued customers with the finest quality produce, locally sourced, wherever possible. https://www.owentaylor.co.uk