Hundreds of meat and vegetarian pies were judged across four days of stiff competition, with winners selected in 10 categories.

The best piemakers from around Australia were named on the final day of Fine Food Australia, as part of the 24th Official Great Aussie Pie Competition.

Top gong in the prestigious Overall Gourmet category went to Ron Bruns from Bremen Patisserie in Umina, New South Wales, for his seafood marinara pie.

Long and Twee Horn from Bread Provisions in Wangara, Western Australia, won the hotly contested Overall Plain Meat Pie award. Fellow WA competitors Clete O’Brien and Sean Carley from Denmark Bakery weren’t far behind, taking home the runner-up award.

The spotlight shone on a wide range of unorthodox pie ingredients, including toffee apple, sarsaparilla, lime and ‘roadkill’. Even meat from native Australian animals were on show, with a crocodile pie, courtesy of Queensland’s Blackbutt Bakery, winning the gourmet game category.

The Blackbutt Bakery team were excited with the win, commenting the exposure was “fantastic for a little, insignificant bakery in the backwoods, in a town not many have heard of”.

Judges marked each pie against a comprehensive criteria, including aroma, colour, texture and stability.

Official Great Aussie Pie Competition manager Danielle Wooldridge said the competition is becoming increasingly popular with pie makers across the country and it is encouraging to see entries from such diverse locations.

“Bakers have once again proven that competing in the Official Great Aussie Pie Competition and winning medals at this highly regarded event can be paramount in the promotion of their pies,” she said.

“The competition has consistently increased its entry levels since conception. This year was no different and we witnessed another record amount of pies entered.”

Even the Gourmet Brekkie Pie category, which was new to the 2013 competition, was well represented.

“We also opened up our apple category to include other fruits and both new categories saw high numbers of entrants. I had spoken to quite a few past entrants about what categories they wanted to see added or changed and, without a doubt, they all said a brekkie pie category,” Danielle said.

“I was certainly surprised by the numbers of entries we had in this category and it’s here to stay for future years.”

The annual competition is open to all pie making professionals and is the original and largest nationally recognised competition for pie making in Australia.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 2013 CATEGORY WINNERS:

Overall gourmet winner
Pie maker: Ron Bruns
Entry: Seafood Marinara
Business: Bremen Patisserie, Umina, NSW

Overall plain meat pie winner
Pie makers: Long and Twee Horne Business: Bread Provisions, Wangara, WA

Overall plain meat pie runner up
Pie makers: Clete O’Brien and Sean Carley
Business: Denmark Bakery, Denmark, WA

Gourmet game category winner
Pie maker: Jim Roberts
Entry: Crocodile Pie
Business: Blackbutt Bakery, Blackbutt, QLD

Gourmet poultry category winner
Pie maker: Dong Vong
Entry: Sweet Thai Chicken
Business: LA Bakehouse Café (High St Pies),
Penrith, NSW

Gourmet vegetarian category winner
Pie maker: Larry Pantaleo
Entry: Ratatouille Gourmet Veg
Business: Pinjarra Bakery and Patisserie, Pinjarra, WA

Gourmet red meat category winner
Pie maker: David Palmer
Entry: Rogan Josh
Business: The Miami Bakehouse, Mandurah, WA

Gourmet gluten-free category winner
Pie maker: (Nic) Savvas Leontiades
Entry: Cheese Cauliflower and Broccoli
Business: Baked in the Peninsula, Sorrento,VIC

Gourmet apple category winner
Pie maker: Andy Lee
Business: Four Seasons Patisserie Bakery,Kelmscott, WA

Gourmet brekkie pie category winner
Pie makers: Geoff and Suzie Chalker
Business: Rolling Pin Pies and Cakes, Ocean Grove, VIC

Cerebos asian gourmet winner
Pie makers: Clete O’Brien and Sean Carley
Entry: Thai Spiced Chicken
Business: Denmark Bakery, Denmark, WA.