Serving up a dinky-di favourite, Hudaks Bakery and Coward’s Cakes will enter this month’s Great Aussie Meat Pie Competition.

Now in its 21st year, the competition separates the true stars and the wannabes, with a panel of 15 judges sampling 1200 entries to find the best pie-maker in Australia.

Coward’s Cakes bakery manager Dean Picken said his entries – a plain meat pie and a gourmet chunky steak and gravy pie – would be transported to Melbourne next week.

“They’ll be packed in a box with ice – like an Esky – and couriered down the morning of the competition,” he said.

“Everyone has to transport them, even the people in Melbourn, so the distance doesn’t really put us at any disadvantage and the pies are expected to arrive chilled anyway.

“We send them enough so they can cut some cold and heat some of the others up.”

The event will be in Melbourne from September 13 to 16 as part of Fine Food Australia – the largest retail, food and hospitality industry event in Australia.

While Mr Picken said Coward’s Cakes had not entered the competition for a few years, Hudaks Bakery tried its luck two years ago.

For more of this story, purchase your copy of Tuesday’s Sunraysia Daily 07/09/2010.