Inayah Begum, aged 7, from Stanley Grove Primary School in Longsight has been selected by an expert panel of judges to represent Manchester in the final stage of a national cooking competition.
Created by Vale of Mowbray – The Peculiar and Preposterous Pie Competition, whereby children across the UK have stepped up to the challenge to create the most weird and wonderful pie.
Vale of Mowbray is an award-winning family-owned pie maker based in North Yorkshire that has been baking pork pies for over 90 years.
The brand now bakes a staggering 80 million pies every year and is on the hunt for the next big innovation in pies that will take the country by storm.
Inayah is one of three children shortlisted in the age 5-8 years category and in with a chance of being crowned winner of The Peculiar and Preposterous Pie Competition, which saw children get creative in submitting the design of their trailblazing pie.
Inayah said, “I am nervous and happy that I am in the final. I would like to win and if I did, I would take some pies home and share it with my family and share some in school. I put Halal chicken in my pie because I can’t eat pork. I included garlic to make the pie taste better and gravy so it isn’t dry. I want to thank all the community for voting for me too.”
Inayah’s creative pie recipe took all the tasty ingredients in a roast dinner and brought them together inside delicious pastry, including halal chicken, carrots, peas, garlic, gravy and mashed potato, finished off with the addition of cheese.
Inayah’s quirky creation named ‘Roast Dinner Pie’ has made the final following selection by an impressive judging line-up of food experts including Michelin-starred chef Michael Wignall, Yorkshire raised chef Doug Crampton, chef consultant Stephanie Moon, as well as food writer Elaine Lemm, voted one of the top 50 food writers in the UK, and Mirela Caba, NPD Innovation Manager at Vale of Mowbray.
The public vote is now open! It is down to members of the public to decide the winning peculiar and preposterous pie. To show their support and vote for their favourite pie design, people can go to the official voting page, which is online here. Voting closes at midnight on 17th May.
At this final stage, a winner will be selected from each age category; 5-8 years, 9-12 years and 13-16 years. First place in each will get their very own pie creation officially produced by Vale of Mowbray in an exclusive batch to share with family, friends and their school. As well as each winner receiving an exciting bundle of prizes to help fuel their creativity and cooking ambitions.
Each of the winning pie creators will be able to enjoy a prize package including £120 worth of products from iconic home brands OXO and Russell Hobbs, a hamper of Vale of Mowbray goodies, along with a virtual pie making masterclass for their school.
Guest Judge, Chef Stephanie Moon, said, “It’s been thrilling to judge this super competition and see the creative suggestions, some of them you could almost taste they sound that good! It’s really lovely to see children engage in food development and I think we have some up and coming next-generation chefs out there.”
Mirela Caba, NPD Innovation Manager at Vale of Mowbray, comments, “We wanted this competition to allow young creators and ambitious cooks to run wild with their imagination and push culinary boundaries to create a pie that nobody has seen before. Whether it be using new flavour combinations or adding in a unique ingredient, the quality of the peculiar and preposterous pie designs have been very impressive.
We wish all of the finalists good luck for the final stage of the competition and do their region proud. We are excited to see which scrumptious pies take first place, so that we can create them right here at Vale of Mowbray!”
