Science & Technology

At Harry's Bar in Wigan, preparations are under way for the World Pie Eating Championship on December 15, 2005.

The science of Pie

For the uninitiated, such a contest conjures up images of lardy blokes randomly shoving any old pies down their throats in a messy pie fest. Think again. 

According to Tony Callaghan of Harry's Bar, the pies have to be produced to strict guidelines - and only the world's top pie-makers need apply for the honour of making the Championship pies. This is where the science of pie comes in.

"I've taken expert advice from our chefs. We need world-class hand-made pies, consistent in size and texture.

The cooked dimensions need to ensure a diameter of 12cm and a depth of 3.5cm inches, and a pie wall angle from base to top of between zero and 15 degrees."

Venue: Harry's Bar in the Clarence Hotel

Spongification - or facial spillage?

"These pies have to be top quality," says Tony.  "we don't want the cream cracker factor resulted in a dry mouth and therefore what we would term a 'swallow-stall', nor do we want a filling that is over-absorbent and therefore provokes spongification in competitors' bellies thereby delivering premature digestive over-capacity.

"A pie that is too crumbly will produce a contest that could result in facial spillage and thereby short-weight consumption - and loss of credibility in the eyes of the world's gastronomes.

"A pie with too runny a filling might well result in some fast eating times but would not be representative of the quality of pie expected of the world's top pie-makers."

World class

So will a Wigan pie-maker rise to the challenge? And what shame would it bring on the town if an 'outsider' won the tender to make the Championship pies?

"We are confident a pie-maker from Wigan will provide and deliver pies to the appropriate standards and specifications, however in the interests of promoting regional good will we may possibly consider pies from outside of Wigan."

Entries are invited from all over the world, although early indications are that the most distantly-based competitor will be from Ashton-in-Makerfield.

"If the Americans can stage a world championship with baseball teams only from America, then we can do this with pies in Wigan and still maintain our world championship classification."