Roller Les says ‘aye’ to a pie – again!
Bay City Rollers’ front man Les McKeown has confirmed that he will be a judge at the 16th World Scotch Pie Championships which takes place at Dunfermline’s Carnegie Conference Centre next week .
Les, the voice of the 70’s supergroup with hits such as Bye Bye Baby, Shang A Lang and Give A Little Love, said: “I am known for my love of a great pie and I always stock up when I am on home ground. Touring non stop around the world with the band means we need to keep our strength up so we always say ‘aye’ to a pie!
“Being invited back to judge the best of the best though is a huge honour, I am already in preparation and plan to eat nothing for 24 hours before the big day so I can enjoy every bite of Scotland’s best and this year I know exactly what I am looking for.”
Last year’s winner, Stephen McAllister from The Kandy Bar of Saltcoats, said: “I was delighted when we were announced as the winner and to have been able to call our Scotch Pies the world champion as judged by a panel of experts has made a huge and positive impact on our business in the last year. The award was proof that The Kandy Bar team are the best in the land and we have gone from strength to strength.”
The competition is supported by Scottish Bakers and the Scottish Federation of Meat Traders. Both trade associations actively support and promote bakers and butchers in Scotland by encouraging and sharing best practice.
Alan Clarke, chief executive of Scottish Bakers, is delighted with the support that the Bay City Rollers are giving to the competition. He said: “They are an iconic Scottish Band and the Scotch Pie is an iconic Scottish product, we are delighted to announce that Les will join our group of professional judges again this year to select the best pies in the land.”
In addition to Scotch pies, bakers and butchers are invited to enter their best sausage rolls, bridies, specialty savouries, Scottish football pie, apple pie or savoury.
Butchers and bakers across Scotland will have the opportunity to become recognised as producing the highest quality products around the globe with awards given to those producing the best products in each category. The winner of the Scotch Pie category will be declared World Champion.
The competition, which has run for 16 years, aims to highlight that bakers and butchers create high quality artisan pastry products. Recognising the ‘great and the good’ in this way rewards excellence and raises the bar in the industry.
The competition, which takes place on Tuesday, is sponsored by wholesaler to the food industry, Bako Northern and Scotland. http://www.bakoscotland.co.uk/
