CLACHNACUDDIN WIN BRITISH COMPETITION

When a competition to coincide
with St Georges Day was staged in Melton Mowbray, the home of pies, the English
discovered that when you lift the lid on the highlanders match day pie they can
rise to compete at a national level.

Makers of the Clachnacuddin pie,
MacDougall and Hastie butchers in Inverness entered the pie in the Football Club class at the British Pie Awards where they faced opposition from SPL,
Premiership and Championship sides.

The competition was judged by
Louis Massarella, Features Editor of 4-4-2 Magazine and Eric Phipps, a retired
Lincolnshire butcher who is well known to Guild of Q members nationwide. Louis
and Eric couldn't separate Ipswich Town and Reading when it came to runner up
and with no penalty shoot outs allowed, the two Championship sides shared second
place.

No doubt however when it came to
deciding the best – the judges plumped for the Steak n Gravy Clach pie that is
served up at Grant Street Park in the city's Merkinch area.

Partner David MacDougall, 44,
said: “We're delighted. We were up against some big guns and have been
making pies for such a short time.” Along with Stephen Hastie, the business
has traded in the city's Victorian Market for 15 years but were able to make
pies only after moving into bigger premises 18 months ago.

David added: “When we heard we
had won, the customers in the shop all cheered. It was a good feeling.”

Clach means the stone of the tub,
referring to a city landmark but for the next year as British Champions it is
going to be synonymous with pies.