Edinburgh butcher wins best Scotch pie in Scotland award

The butcher who first introduced Edinburgh customers to the delights of the tasty Scotch pie nearly 60 years ago has been judged to make the best pies in Scotland.

Sandy Crombie from Edinburgh. Picture: TSPL

Crombies of Broughton Street has scooped the coveted Diamond Award in the Scottish Craft Butchers Savoury Pastry Products Awards 2018 - the highest possible recognition from the industry evaluator.

And delighted owner Sandy Crombie said he was “absolutely elated” that the pie he pioneered in the capital in the early 1960s was now the nation’s favourite.

“When I first joined my father’s butchers firm in 1956 the Scotch pie was frowned upon in Edinburgh - it was seen as too down-market for the customers of the day,” explained the 77-year-old.

“In the west, however, the Scotch pie was proving a real favourite, so myself and a colleague visited fellow butchers Chapmans of Wishaw and asked for their recipe.”

Crombies adapted the Scotch pie to their own recipe and, after encouraging locals to taste the results, the meaty favourite of west Scotland began to take off among Edinburgh customers.

“Crombies Scotch pies are still fairly true to that original recipe,” said Sandy. “We are one of very few butchers in Scotland who still make our Scotch pies with only lamb” Sandy, however, keeps the exact recipe a closely guarded secret.