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A vegan pie won the 2019 British Pie Awards for the first time in the Awards’ 11-year history, and according to Michelin-starred chef Richard Corrigan it is “a disgrace”, a sign that “millennials have taken over”.
Speaking to the Telegraph, chef Corrigan of Bentley's Oyster Bar and Grill, London, expressed his distaste for the alternative choice by the expert pie-tasters of the competition, one that picks the best pie in Britain and held annually at the home of the pork pie in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.
A curried sweet potato and butternut squash vegan pie was crowned the Supreme Champion 2019.
A post shared by The School of Artisan Food (@schoolofartisanfood) on Mar 6, 2019 at 6:24am PST
The chef famous for having cooked for Her Majesty the Queen on two occasions, said: “Please, please I’m going to cry.”
“A vegan pie? Give me a break.
“The oldest culinary art form left in the world and the vegans have taken it away. It’s a disgrace.
“The millennials have taken over. It’s not a pie competition. It’s a pie in the sky competition.
“We should all just retire now.”
The curried sweet potato and butternut squash pie was submitted by Jon Thorner’s, a butcher based in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, founded in 1979 and making pies since 2015. It was one of almost 900 pie entries for the annual best pie title, and was praised by the critics as being “outstanding” and “well-balanced”.
The chairman of the awards Matthew O'Callaghan said: "This year's Supreme Champion was outstanding and well deserving of the accolade… This pie isn't just for vegans, it's a pie for everybody.”
O'Callaghan also commented that the vegan pie was a sign that veganism was becoming mainstream, and looking at the latest statistics, he might just be right: more than half of new product launches in 2017 in the UK were vegan; not to mention the Impossible Burger 2.0 taking the spotlight at CES 2019, a bleeding, faux beef that is used also by David Chang at his restaurant Momofuku Nishi.
In the meantime, Corrigan has been busy responding to vegan activists online.
A pie of course . pic.twitter.com/DM3ze2DZnA
— Richard Corrigan (@CorrigansFood) March 11, 2019
Have seen a side of the vegan anger this weekend that would make gordon Ramsay look like a teddy bear . https://t.co/kbVYDIt8EY
— Richard Corrigan (@CorrigansFood) March 10, 2019
