Savoury Pastry Awards – 3 November 2016

The Scottish Craft Butcher Awards are recognised within the sector as the most important and prestigious rewards for our piemakers.

Those who win prizes can be justifiably proud of their achievements because they have come out on top when compared to all their piers.

292 entries were received at the Dewars Centre in Perth and 32,judges munched their way through them in just under three hours.

We are very often asked who are the judges and how do you become a judge. This year as well as our celebrity judge, Judith Ralston from BBC Scotland, we had five chefs and catering managers, two food writers, one food stylist, two retired and one active butcher, two food technologists, two from sponsors, one food blogger, one home economist, but the others were made up of a cross section of people interested in food. Ultimately the consumer is the final judge and we are always careful to ensure that all opinions are considered at our judging days.

The winners in the Chicken and Speciality Steak Pies categories were established on the day but the top six from the other four categories will now be mystery shopped and brought together at a second and final stage judging to ensure the quality purchased over the counter is the same as entered in competition.

Mystery shopping will take our shoppers from Solway Firth to Moray Firth, from Firth of Forth to Firth of Clyde. Results will in announced in January.

BBC Scotland 's Andrew Anderson interviewed entrant Tom Courts from Burntisland and SFMTA Chief Exec Douglas Scott.