11:41AM, Sat Mar 24, 2012

Professional Chefs And Amateur Cooks Compete In Charity Pie Challenge

By India Adams Location: Newcastle

Video: Chef David Kennedy shows how to make the perfect pie

Professional chefs and amateur cooks will go head-to-head in a culinary competition in aid of Britain’s wounded servicemen and women.

Some of the North East’s top chefs will line up alongside the region’s home cooks for a savoury pie challenge to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity.

The competition has been organised by David Kennedy, fellow chef Simon Walsh from Close House and Ken Holland of North Country Growers.

The Savoury Pie Challenge is being hosted by David Kennedy at his Food Social restaurant at The Biscuit Factory commercial art gallery in Newcastle.

It is hoped the one-off contest will raise more than £5,000 for Help for Heroes.

David Kennedy says the pie challenge “promises to be a great day; the culinary event of the year.

“It’s a chance for professional local chefs and amateur cooks alike to pit themselves against each other while raising money for a great cause.”

Help for Heroes is a charity close to David’s heart. His brother Michael, 47, has just come out of the RAF Regiment, the air force’s ground fighting unit, where he helped prepare service personnel for duty in Afghanistan.

David, whose father and grandmother also served in the RAF, said: “Michael has friends who have been severely injured and some who unfortunately never came home alive.

“Through Michael I know how tough it is for the wounded to not only come to terms with their injuries but adapt to their circumstances.

“Help for Heroes is a vital lifeline in the rehabilitation of our brave servicemen and women, and I would love to raise at least £5,000 for them.

“We already have a stellar line-up of professional chefs who have come on board to support this event and I know that everyone is working feverishly to come up with the perfect winning pie recipe.”

Entries for the competition are now closed. The event itself will be held from 3pm on March 25, 2010, at David Kennedy’s Food Social @ The Biscuit Factory, 16 Stoddart Street, Shieldfield, Newcastle, NE2 1AN.

For more information, visit www.foodsocial.co.uk or call (0191) 260 5411.