An Illawarra bakery has taken home a swag of awards at the Australia's Best Pie competition.
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Gerringong Bakery picked up silver and bronze across categories including the classic plain mince beef pie, flavoured beef pie, vegetarian pie and poultry pie.
The bakery's signature pie, burgundy beef, spec and mushroom, brought home a bronze award in the mushroom pie category.
The awards haul for the bakery backs up a successful 2021, where it was awarded six medals across four categories.
The secret to the business's success, said owner and chef Grant Jamieson, was starting from scratch and being patient.
"We use slow food cooking methods, so we don't use pre-mixes or anything like that," he said.
Already, word of the success has leaked out, and speaking to Mr Jamieson on the afternoon of the Monday of the Queen's Birthday long weekend, the baker has been behind the counter since 5.30am and customers kept coming in.
The steady stream of foot traffic was a welcome sight after a tough two years for the hospitality industry.
Mr Jamieson bought the long-standing bakery in November 2018 and has run it through bushfires and two years of COVID restrictions.
Not that any of the disruptions have kept the baker from experimenting with new flavours and recipes. Winning pies this year included an Indian-spiced sweet potato and lentil, Thai green curry chicken and a lamb shoulder, pea and potato version.
"We're constantly changing, we keep introducing new products," Mr Jamieson said.
Next up is a snapper pie.
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