How do you judge Britain's best pies?

Sweet or savoury, butcher or baker, steak and ale or Moroccan goat?

These are among the questions facing 168 judges assembling for the 17th British Pie Awards, which start in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, on Wednesday.

Prizes for pies in 26 categories will be decided by the time the event, held in the town's historic St Mary's Church, concludes on Friday.

But with 900 entries in this year's competition, what exactly will the judges want to see?

The definition of a pie, according to Matthew O'Callaghan, chairman of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association (MMPPA), which runs the awards, is "a filling totally enclosed with pastry, irrespective of whether the pie has a sweet or savoury filling or is destined to be eaten hot or cold".

"Tarts, open or lattice-topped pies and fillings in a dish covered with pastry are not proper pies, even if they are attractive to look at and delicious to eat," he added.

The judging criteria is set by the MMPPA.

Each pie starts with 100 points, and points are then deducted under each of the following four criteria for any faults: Appearance, baking, pastry and filling.

• An uncut pie should look nice and attractive, and, if glazed, should be even and perfect
• The baking element of either a cut or uncut pie should have a perfect even bake - no soggy bottoms or burned pastry
• The top, sides and base of the pastry should all have even thickness. It should be tasty and well-seasoned, not greasy or too dry and crumbly and in harmony with the filling
• The filling itself should fill the pie nicely - not over or underfilled. It should be balanced, and all the ingredients should be identifiable

This year's judges come from all around the world, including Japan and the US, and from all walks of life.

They include insurance broker Tim Coleman, who has been judging the pie awards for 12 years.

He is now a senior judge and said he had three main criteria when judging a pie.

"First and foremost, it's got to look good. If it doesn't look good, you're not going to win," he said.

"Secondly, it's the evenness of the pastry and thirdly, it's the taste of the pastry.

"The first taste we have of a pie is the pastry, not the filling. The filling can be beautiful beyond that pastry, but if they don't have that little bit of detail in the pastry, it can let the pie down."

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