The Cambodian migrants who run Country Cob Bakery at Kyneton in regional Victoria have now won Australia’s Best Pie Award twice in a row.
This year the Khun family’s caramelised pork and pepper pie took out the honour, but it’s a contribution from Cambodian traditional cuisine that makes the pie so distinct.
Indeed, it’s the Cambodian dish ‘Kho Sach Chrouk’, itself a delicious creation of peppery, caramelised pork that the family has tweaked to suit Aussie tastes in the pie.
Kho Sach Chrouk (translating to 'Caramelised Pork and Eggs with Pepper') is a common dish in Cambodia, with pork marinated in sugar and spices, then slow-cooked for one to two hours.
One of the two brothers running Country Cob Bakery, Ryan Khun, says the idea to incorporate a traditional recipe into an Aussie classic came from his mum, as so many good ideas do.
Ryan Khun from Country Cob Bakery is holding the best pie awards Source: Client Image
“It’s my mum’s idea,” he says. “She said that we all love to eat Kho Sach Chrouk, why don’t we try to create a new flavour pie out of that?”
The idea got the support from the whole family and they turned to developing the dish.
Using caramelised pork as the pie’s base, the Khun’s turned it toward flavours Australian customers might be more familiar with, by changing out some ingredients.
Along with blending these two cuisines, the team got their Australian staff to taste-test the new pie to make sure it hit the right note on Aussie palates.
All of that doesn’t make it any simpler to cook than original Kho Sach Chrouk though, as Ryan explains how much care goes into the creation of their perfect pie.
“The new caramelised pork and pepper pie is very hard to cook and time consuming,” he says. “The pork needs to be cooked for three to four hours until it tender enough to be the filling.”
As for how his bakery managed to win the Best Pie Award two years running, Ryan says the most important thing is originality. Country Cob Bakery has needed to create something new every year they enter the competition, as the judges will not give the medal to the same pie, with the same flavor year after year.
Source: Client Image
With a need to come up with new ideas and new flavours, Ryan says his team is already in the progress of creating a new pie for next year’s competition.
