A recipe which has been passed on for years and carries its own price tag has proved to be the winning mixture as butchers, Jacksons of Ruswarp, were crowned winners of a national pork pie competition.
They won a three star gold award for a traditional flat pork pie at the finals of Dalziel’s annual Battle of the Butchers competition.
Jacksons was also awarded a top score for its pork and apple pies.
To get to the finals, a couple of months ago, Jacksons had to put its pies to a panel of judges in Coventry, along with hundreds of other entrants from across the country, and were shortlisted into the final three for their category.
On Sunday morning, they then had to bake another pie and take it to the finals of the competition, being held in Harrogate, for another taste test – and won.
“The judge said it was the best pie he had had”, beamed joint-owner Luke Elwood. “We knew the standard of our pies was high but it comes down to the day”.
Kyle Clacherty, who took over the business with Luke from previous owner Al Jackson, added: “We are confident in the product and like to think we have a good pie.
“On the Pork Pie Appreciation Society, our stuff seems to get a lot of traction and good comments and that feedback has shaped what we do.”
The pie recipe has been passed down through Jacksons line of owners and is the same today as it was when the butchers was owned by Ellie Hutton many years ago.
Luke explained: “The pie recipe is Ellie’s grandmother’s recipe and we still use it now. We have made a few little tweaks to get the pastry and the jelly right and changed the tins, but not changed the recipe.
“When Al bought the business some 30 years ago, he bought the recipe and paid thousands for it.”
Jacksons of Ruswarp sells around 300 pork pies a day and over the Christmas period will make and sell 6,000 pork pies in three days.
