2018 Craft Butcher Hand Held Steak Pie Awards

The best Hand Held Steak Pies in Scotland for 2018 are made in Perth.
Category sponsored by TPS Scotland

The meaty favourites have scooped a coveted Diamond Award in the Scottish Craft Butchers Savoury Pastry Products Awards 2018 for family butcher D. G. Lindsay & Son - the highest possible recognition from the industry evaluator.

Delighted owner Beaton Lindsay said he was “over the moon” to be judged so highly by the industry and his peers. “It is absolutely fantastic to win a Diamond Award,” he said. “This is what we all aspire to - this is as good as it gets for a butcher’s product.”

Being judged to have the best handheld steak pies in Scotland will turn the public focus on the North Methven Street butchers business which has been in the Lindsay family for over 120 years. And Beaton is thrilled that what has grown to become their best- selling meat pastry is now a national winner.

“Our standard-sized steak pies and the handheld version have always been popular with our customers,” he explained, “but a national industry endorsement at the highest level possible will undoubtedly increase demand for the little pies.”

52 Steak Pies entered the product evaluation held at Dewars Centre, Perth on 1 November. After mystery shopping the main contenders and the second stage judging at Heaven Scent in Milnathort, the judges awarded: 1 Diamond, 12 Gold, 26 Silver.

Beaton Lindsay`s great-grandfather started the butchers in Perth, in the late 1800s - far removed from the previous nineteenth century family chemists business in India.

“We’re still mixing ingredients to make people feel good,” he joked. “We just use the finest quality meats instead of medicines.”

Now one of Perth’s oldest established businesses still in the same family, D. G. Lindsay & Son still uses recipes devised in the business’s early days.

“Admittedly, we have tweaked and adapted them to reflect changing tastes and style,” said Beaton, “but our handheld steak pies still hold true to the original ethos.

“There’s no great secret to creating a national winner,” he added. “I think it’s important not to overcomplicate things and to ensure you use prime quality beef, create a tasty gravy and know when the seasoning is just right.”

And Beaton was quick to share the limelight with his nine strong team and his mother, father, wife and two daughters who all play a part in the business’s success.

“Graham Robertson is our man in the kitchen and any Diamonds coming are way owe a lot to him.”

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