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The upper crust of the pastry world has once again turned out for the British Pie Awards - but change is afoot, according to the event's organisers.

More than 800 entries have been submitted across 23 categories, with butchers and bakers returning in force for this year's contest.

Organisers say gluten-free bakes are much more common, with the vegan category the most popular with 72 entries.

In 2019, a vegan pie also rose to the top in the competition, held at the home of the pork pie - Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire.

The winners will be announced on Friday.

Host Matthew O'Callaghan - who is also chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association - said gluten-free creations were faring well against traditional favourite fillings.

With 150 judges back at the contest's traditional home of St Mary's Church, he said the challenges of staging the awards in the pandemic were tough to overcome.

"Obviously we didn't know if it was going to be Covid or not, we've spaced the tables out, we've taken a number of safety measures so as to limit the impact of Covid," he said.

"Pie-makers have gone under, sadly.

"There are others who are short-staffed, others who are working their socks off because the hospitality sector is open.

"The whole thing has been twice as difficult as before, but it's happening - the pies are back."

Lid, bottom and sides

The British Pie Awards was first established in 2009, and Mr O'Callaghan said the keen competition had kept pasty and pie-makers at the top of their culinary game and expanded options to customers across the UK.

"Thanks to the awards, you can now get a decent gluten-free pie," he said.

"In fact they've actually slipped some of their pies into other classes, and people don't notice it's gluten-free."

Mr O'Callaghan said organisers were looking at expanding their range of categories, including the possibility of a halal class.

Despite progressions in pastry and a fuller range of fillings, he says certain aspects will remain the same.

"A pie has to be totally encased in pastry - lid, bottom and sides," he said.

"I hate going into a pub and being served a pie and effectively it is a biscuit with nothing on the bottom, in a foil.

"No, that's not a pie, that's a casserole with a biscuit on top."

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