A potato top pie has been crowned the winner at NZ’s Supreme Pie Awards in Auckland last night.
The swirled potato top creation with a centre core of fondant-style cooked potatoes finished in au gratin layers was created by Samraksmey (Sam) So, owner of Rosedale Bakery & Café on Auckland’s North Shore.
So said he developed the recipe after seeing a dish of French-style layered potatoes in a magazine.
Speaking to Breakfast, So said the win was “unexpected” and “amazing”.
“I feel excited,” he said.
He said last year his potato top pie came highly commended, and the team spent the entire year perfecting the recipe for this year’s awards.
“We take the time to fry the potatoes and then we put them on a tray with butter, garlic and rosemary and we bake them off. We cut them with a round cutter after baking and put them in the pie and bake again, and they look like a crispy outside.”
The pie had been flying out the door this morning, in the wake of last night’s win.
Rosedale Bakery & Café owner Samraksmey So told Breakfast the win was “unexpected” and “amazing”. (Source: Breakfast)
So, who owns two bakeries in Albany, Auckland, bought his first bakery in 2019 and started really making a name for himself when he won a silver award for his mince and cheese entry in the 2023 Bakels NZ Pie Awards.
It was his golden pastry sausage roll though that secured his baking credibility when he won the Bakels Legendary Sausage Roll competition in the same year.
Celebrity chef judge Nici Wickes said New Zealand bakers were great at making pies.
“We saw so many pies today and really all of them were fantastic. It was very hard to choose. You cut them open dead down the centre, open them up and it was unbelievably fantastic to see the different fillings people have gone for, how innovative they’ve been,” she said.
The Café Boutique gold winner, a rhubarb and raspberry sweet pie earned an “unbelievably delicious” credit from Wickes too.
Ian Moore, who has been a judge for many years and is now the chief judge, summed up the competition saying: “The standard was amazing again as usual”.
“The final range is fantastic across the board and it just comes down to a half point here and a half point there. And once again those final flavours and the range had a significant difference in all of them because of their different categories. It was an amazing day and once again a great standard.”
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Gold winners:
Bacon & Egg – Sean Vo, Levain Artisan Bakery, Blockhouse Bay Auckland
Mince & Gravy – Sopheap Long, Euro Patisserie, Torbay, Auckland
Mince & Cheese – Michael Gray, Nada Bakery, Wellington
Potato Top – Samraksmey (Sam) So, Rosedale Bakery & Café, Albany, Auckland
Steak & Gravy – Sok Heang Nguon, Taste Bakery and Roast, Henderson, Auckland
Steak & Cheese – Sok Keo, Milldale Bakery, Wainui, Auckland
Chicken & Vegetable – Mengheng (Jason) Hay, Richoux Patisserie, Ellerslie, Auckland
Gourmet Meat – Buntha Meng, Wild Grain Bakery, Silverdale, Auckland
Vegetarian – Sopheap Long, Euro Patisserie, Torbay, Auckland
Café Boutique – Ellie Linton-Brown, Main Street Café, Huntly
Commercial/Wholesale – Dad’s Pies, Silverdale, Auckland.
