Tauranga pie maker Patrick Lam is today thanking his customers for encouraging him to enter the New Zealand pie awards – helping him scoop this year's supreme pie award.

It's not the first award Patrick has won for a pie from his Bethlehem Town Centre bakery, Goldstar Patrick's Pies Bakery & Cafe.
Patrick won an award in 2003 for his mince and cheese pie and again, in 2004, he won the supreme pie award for his gourmet creamy bacon, mushroom and cheese pie.
This year's win was for the same creamy bacon, mushroom and cheese pie recipe.
'We hadn't entered the competition since we won the award for that pie in 2004. But customers kept coming in and telling us it was the best pie so we entered again,” says Patrick.
He did not expect to win an award for the same pie recipe so it came as a surprise to discover he had - from this year's Bakel's New Zealand Supreme Pie Awards 2009.
'It was great. It came as a big surprise. I didn't even think we would win an award,” says Patrick.
He says the key to making the perfect pie is getting the pastry 'just right and infusing the filling with lots of flavour.”