Apprentice Pie Maker Awards runner-up TayHak Hour, left, with 'Pie King' Patrick Lam and first-place winner Srun Keo. Photo / Supplied
Apprentice Pie Maker Awards runner-up TayHak Hour, left, with 'Pie King' Patrick Lam and first-place winner Srun Keo. Photo / Supplied
Two beginner bakers perfecting their pastry skills under the tutelage of a champion Tauranga pie-maker have taken out the top spots in national awards.
Srun Kéo won first place and TayHak Hour took out second at the Apprentice Pie Maker Awards last week in Auckland, a Bakels press releasesaid.
Apprentices studying for their NZ Certificate in Trade Baking qualified to enter the competition, where they could test their skills against their peers by making two pies – a mince and cheese and a gourmet meat.
For Kéo’s gourmet pie, he created a concoction of chicken, leek, garlic sauce and cheese filling that won the seal of approval from his boss, and stood out to the competition judges for its blend of international flavours.
Srun Kéo, right, with Patrick Lam from Tauranga's Patrick’s Pies Goldstar Bakery. Photo / Supplied
Kéo said in the statement he was “so happy” with his win.
“This is my first time at entering and I was so nervous.”'
Kéo, whose wife also worked in Lam’s bakery, hoped his skills would help reunite his family.
The couple had been worked to establish themselves in New Zealand so they could gain permanent residency and bring their son, who was living with family in Cambodia, to join them in their new homeland.
Lam - who came to New Zealand from Cambodia as a refugee in the 1990s - said he met up with Kéo’s family, who he knew, on a trip back to Cambodia. Lam offered Kéo a job as a baking assistant, which he took up three years ago.
He started his apprenticeship last year, alongside Hour, who is also from Cambodia.
Both men came to New Zealand with bakery experience and were keen to start apprenticeships shortly after they arrived, but had to wait until their visas could be extended an extra three years to give them time to complete the apprenticeship programme.
For Hour, choosing which pie to enter in the competition proved almost too difficult; it took 30 minutes to select the one from four he had baked.
Lam encouraged him to just pick one and go for it.
The judges called his gourmet meat entry of duck in green curry with vegetables a perfect combination.
Lam said he was familiar with the dilemma of “which pie to choose” after eight Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards wins.
Jessica Lam, Darren Lam, Lay Phan Ho, Patrick Lam and Lawrence Lam from Patrick’s Pies Gold Star Bakery celebrate their supreme win at the 25th Bakels NZ Supreme Pie Awards in 2023. Photos / Supplied
He was eyeing up his chances of winning “lucky number nine” this year.
Entries are open until June 26 for any baker brave enough to take on the Pie King, with winners announced at an event on July 29.
