The 23rd Great Yorkshire Pork Pie, Sausage & Products Competition takes place this year on 4th November at Bradford’s Cedar Court Hotel.
Organised by the Confederation of Yorkshire Butchers Councils, the competition, supported by a trade fair, again features flagship pork pie and sausage classes, from which supreme champions and reserve supreme champions will be crowned. The supreme champion pie will receive the Ted Jones Trophy, presented by the former butcher and long-standing competition stalwart from Sheffield, while the Towers Thompson Trophy goes to the supreme champion sausage.
Steve Martin of Bentleys Butchers, Pudsey, pork pie supreme champion for the past two years, cannot enter again this year under the rules of the competition and will be invited to judge. However, he is allowed to take part in the sausage classes in a bid to emulate his supreme championship success of 2010. The defending supreme sausage champion is another Leeds butcher, Paul Flintoft of Kippax.
The reserve supreme champion pie will be awarded the Willis Hall Cup – the late Yorkshire playwright was a great supporter of the competition and his widow Valerie hopes to present it in person. The Devro Quaich goes to the reserve supreme champion sausage. Last year, both reserve titles fell to first-time competition entrant Bolster Moor Farm Shop at Golcar in Huddersfield.
The three pork pie classes are for traditional, stand and speciality cold eating pies, and the winners will respectively receive the Norman Binks Cup, the Interbake Shield and the John Spencer Memorial Trophy. Winners of three sausage classes - thin, thick and speciality – will receive the Oris Shield, the Ripon Select Foods Shield and the Gordon Rhodes Shield respectively.
There are also standalone black pudding and beef burger competition classes, both sponsored by long-time competition supporters WR Wright & Sons and won last year by Netherton Butchers at Hinchliffe Farm Shop, Huddersfield, and Gledhills Butchers of Stanley, Wakefield, respectively.
A 'New Kid on the Block' class for the best newcomer to the competition – it was won in 2011 by D J Fenton Butchers, of Tickhill, Doncaster - is again in place to encourage new blood to enter and gain valuable experience in the meat trades competition arena. There is a new sponsor this year in Skipton-based Moule Media, which handles the PR and event management for the competition. They will present a trophy and also provide a PR support package for the victor.
All championship, 1st, 2nd & 3rd placed class winners will receive individual trophies and Yorkshire Rose Award diplomas, with diplomas also presented to each finalist.
Entry forms and programmes are being posted to every butcher across Yorkshire by the National Federation of Meat and Food Traders. There is no limit on the number of entries and the closing date for postal entries is Saturday 27th October.
Confederation of Yorkshire Butchers Councils’ president Andrew Green of Wilsons Butchers, Crossgates, Leeds, will host his annual dinner at Cedar Court Hotel on the eve of the competition. He said: “We hope all regular entrants, along with some new faces, will again take up the gauntlet and enter the county’s premier competition for meat men and women. Leading performers, notably major title winners, report major boosts to their trade following extensive exposure in local, regional and meat trades media.
“The Confederation would also like to thank all trade stands, sponsors, programme advertisers, competition judges, helpers and supporters. Without them and the butchers who enter there would be no Great Yorkshire Competition.”
Copies of the 2012 competition programme and entry form, along with booking forms for the President's Dinner Dance and overnight hotel accommodation, can be downloaded at www.greatyorkscomp.co.uk/
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
