A roving pie taster has put the spotlight on some of the best pies in the Northern Midlands and created the kind of publicity that money can’t buy. Since 2019 Shaun ‘Pyney’ Pyne has travelled the country reviewing the “good ol’ pie” and he’s picked up more than 28,000 followers on Facebook and created a media frenzy wherever he lands.
“I’m on a mission to find the perfect pie in some of Australia’s best bakeries, and support small businesses along the way,” he said. “This journey will take some time, but I’m determined to visit every bakery pie outlet across this great country.”
Pyney’s current Tassie pie adventure began on September 18 and finishes on November 29, after travelling all over the state. He said a good pie should meet his five categories of value for money, meat ratio, flavour, temperature and pastry, and not need sauce.
Eariler this month brought him through the Northern Midlands and included three pie tasting venues: Rustic Bakehouse, at Cressy, and Village Bakery and Bakery 31, at Ross. He apologised to staff at Rustic Bakehouse for landing there right in the middle of their busy lunch period, but the video footage that ended up on Southern Cross television showed nothing but smiles. “The pies and wood-fired oven were epic,” he said. It was the wood-fired oven at Ross Village Bakery that also got him excited and there was nothing but praise for the pies – official reviews will be posted soon.
At Bakery 31 he put aside his aversion to seafood to taste its nationally famous scallop pie. Bakery owner Kylie Ashman said that the scallops, more than 3000kg per year, come from Tony Garth, at Margate, and that the pies were baked on site by Raymond Webb and Jeana Evans. The scallop pies are exported all over Australia and delivered to the door. “The mild curry sauce doesn’t overpower the seafood and the addition of a secret ingredient makes it different to any other,” she said with pride.
Raised in the rural Queensland town of Charleville, Pyney wants to encourage more people to explore and support regional Australia. While Pyney has an established five-category scoring system with a score of 10 for each category, he said the final result should not matter.
“It’s about letting travellers know that when you’re in town, pop in say g’day, and talk to the locals.”