What does it take to pick award-winning Angus pies?

It’s not often that the public can get a look behind the scenes at the goings-on in an award-winning kitchen.

But at the WeeCOOK Kitchen pie panel event, that’s exactly what we got.

There were delicious pies aplenty, and the best part? We were made to feel that our opinions were important.

Many businesses will frequently trot out the old adage, “the customer is always right”. But this is usually said with a sneer as someone sends back their order due to some ridiculous complaint.

Yet at the WeeCOOK, they very clearly care what their customers think. So much so that they ask them to come along – for free – to give feedback on their pies.

That’s hospitality, we’re in the job of making people happy.”

Hayley Wilkes, owner and head chef at WeeCOOK

“The pie panel is our way of saying thank you to our customers,” explains WeeCOOK head chef and owner Hayley Wilkes.

“It’s something immersive, educational (or insightful), free and fun that we like to give as a gift back to people who support our little business.

Hayley Wilkes spoke passionately about how her pies are handmade with care. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

“It’s good for our staff to get to know our customers and vice versa as we have a genuine interest in our customers and making them happy.

“That’s hospitality, we’re in the job of making people happy.

“We use the pie panels as a means to get some qualitative and quantitative feedback on our pies which also serves as a quality control measure as we’re always looking for ways we can improve or maintain the standards of products we produce.”

Who ate all the pies? Us!

The WeeCOOK Kitchen have won plenty of awards for their pies, and this year they will be entering the British Pie Awards, representing Scotland with a haggis pie.

At the pie panel, we, alongside other customers, were invited to help them decide which version of the pie they are going to enter.

WeeCOOK staff kindly supplied my colleague Poppy Watson with a whole set of vegetarian pies so she didn’t feel left out. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

We were presented two different versions of their well-loved MacChook pie. This pie contains chicken, haggis and a range of other tasty ingredients.

This was particularly apt as the pie panel took place on Burns Night.

It felt great to play at least some part in the decision which could lead the WeeCook to another award.

A tray of Black Pudding, Stilton and Onion Chutney pies ready for serving. These were the pies which brought the first awards for Hayley’s pies, WeeCOOK. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

Taught the art of the pie at the WeeCOOK pie panel

We were encouraged to fill in score sheets honestly. First off, we were taught what to look for when determining the perfection of a pie.

The points categories were broken down into appearance, bake, fill and taste.

We then got the opportunity to make our own pies. This, joked Hayley, was a “trial job interview” and her turn to judge our pies.

This was great fun and everyone got involved in the action.

I opted for a mixture of fillings, including their Caponata Formaggio (veggie sauce), roast chicken pieces, macaroni and cheese.

These wee pies were baked in their oven for around ten minutes. Everyone’s pies looked brilliant, thanks to Hayley’s precise instruction.

Joanna Bremner adds roast chicken to her own pie. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

The night was a celebration and also a look ahead to the opportunities for the year ahead, namely the British Pie Awards this March.

Hayley Wilkes, WeeCOOK owner and head chef, is energetic and inspiring. She instils passion into every one of her pies.

You could sense her genuine excitement as she introduced each speciality pie, sharing the story of each one and every well thought out ingredient that goes into it.

It’s no wonder that these pies are award-winning. It may be cheesy of me to say, but The WeeCOOK Kitchen‘s pies are so delicious because they’re baked with love.

‘This year’s entry will be a joint team and customer effort!’

Speaking to me after the event, Hayley said: “We always go into any competition hopeful as it’s great to get feedback or recognition for our business and our team.

“The British Pie awards are on in March during British pie week. For the last two years we’ve won best fish pie in Britain and two of our apprentices have won young pie maker of the year!

“We have no expectations as the competition is fierce and we’ll up against some of the biggest names in the business.

“We’re proud to represent Scotland when we enter, and will be entering our MacChook Haggis, chicken and bacon pie and we hope the judges in England will like it!

“The pie panel helped us confirm that the quality of the award winning pie is excellent and that the Haggis our customers preferred is the one we will continue to use.

“So this year’s entry will be a joint team and customer effort! Fingers crossed!”