Kirk Hunter

Chief executive, Scottish Association of Master Bakers

Scottish bakers have been reaching for the blood pressure tablets lately. The reason? An ill-tempered outburst by Sunday Times food journalist Allan Brown (28 March) against Scotland’s much-loved Scotch Pie.

Brown doesn’t care that bakers have worked hard over many years to raise standards under the wing of the Scotch Pie Club. He doesn’t care that the pie remains hugely popular with consumers, that it is tasty, easy on the purse, nutritious and accessible to all. None of this matters, as Brown is a worried man. The Scotch Pie is getting above its station, he believes. The pie is being acclaimed by the gourmet classes and that must be stopped.

"The Scotch Pie is dog food en croute," thunders Brown. He explains that the taste for a Scotch Pie is explicable: "They are cheap thrills for the self-medicating classes who don’t know any better."

And what has provoked all this venom? Simply, that in this year’s Great British Menu competition on the BBC, representing the finest of the country’s cuisine, Scotland will be represented by you’ve guessed it the Scotch Pie. Tony Singh of Edinburgh restaurant Oloroso and Michael Smith of the Three Chimneys on Skye will be presenting their separate takes on the Scotch Pie. Well done to them and good luck to the pie.

In the spirit of generosity typical of all bakers, chairman of the Scotch Pie Club, Alan Stuart of R T Stuart has invited Brown to take the road to Methil to experience the pie at first hand. I look forward confidently to Brown’s conversion to the cause.

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