Home baking judges tell all

Nothing escapes the sharp eyes of Fay Taylor and Margaret Magon, experienced bakers and judges at the Taieri A and P Show.

The two women are old friends and were rivals in baking competitions back in the 1950s and '60s.

On Friday afternoon, they were peering and sniffing at the biscuits and cakes, breaking or cutting them to examine the texture, and occasionally tasting them.

These pikelets are too thick, those too soft and spongy, and that not cooked properly.

They admire some made with free-range eggs - you can tell by the colour, as free-range eggs have yellower yolks, Mrs Magon says.

Then they move on to Anzac biscuits - these are lumpy and hard to break, those snap nicely.

Then there are gingernuts, shortbread, Belgian biscuits, Afghans, chocolate cakes, gingerbreads, fruitcakes and loaves of different kinds.

It was Friday, judging day at the Taieri A and P show.

Outside, riders and horses are going through their paces, but inside the hall, shelves of baking, vegetables, flowers, fruit wines and crafts of all sorts were laid out with little groups of people inspecting, prodding, tasting and recording the results.

Although standards do not seem to be falling, there are not as many baking entries these days, says Mrs Taylor, who, like Mrs Magon, won many prizes in the past.

She still remembers the thrill of winning the light fruitcake section one year.

When they were younger, they, like other housewives, would bake every week and fill all their tins, she says.

People do not bake so much now, partly because of the cost of butter, eggs and sugar, and partly because we're more health conscious, she says.

A few tips for competition baking from the women who know: Mrs Taylor: If you are interested in baking, have a go as it's lots of fun.

Use good, tried recipes.

If it doesn't turn out too well, don't take it along to the show.

Mrs Magon, however, says her mother-in-law used to say take it anyway, as it might be the best of the bunch.

It's often the way that when you are baking for a special occasion it doesn't turn out as well as your regular baking.

• On Sunday, six legs of lamb, finalists in the Paddock to Plate competition, were judged. They had been selected from about 30 entries by Silver Fern Farms' new scanning technology which identifies the quality of the meat.

The legs were then butchered by Lyndon Gold, of Outram Butchery, simply cooked on a barbecue by Caleb Appleton, from Plato, and judged by Nigel Broad, of Plato, Mark Lane, formerly of High Tide and now at Otago Polytech, and myself.

You might think there would be little difference, but certainly the texture and flavour of the different animals varied remarkably, from gently stringy to silky to almost bouncy, and from mild to well flavoured.

I asked Marty Deans, manager at Berwick Station near Pukerangi, who won both the third and first prizes, about the secret of raising tender, flavourful lamb.

Was it the feed in the paddock, the way it was killed? No, it all comes down to genetics, he says.

His lambs were Romney with some Texel, which made the difference.

• For the first year, a handful of locals were presenting their products at the Taste Otago Tent: Pasta d'Oro, Kutash garlic, McDuff's beer and Annie Winmill with Pick and Shovel and Dry Gully wines.

There is certainly room for this event to expand.

It might also help the dismal array of food available.

Battered hot dogs, doughnuts and waffles might be traditional at A and P shows but there was little for lunch apart from Unique Hangis from Queenstown, which sold out early on, and Mosgiel Station Cafe's ham sandwiches.

• Neville Kenealy, of NZ Manuka Egg Co, was selling his smoked eggs for the first time.

Based near Lawrence, he cold-smokes free-range eggs with manuka for six hours.

Eggs naturally absorb flavours.

The eggs are still raw and they add a light smoky flavour to omelettes, quiches and other savoury egg dishes.

He believes they are the only smoked eggs in New Zealand and possibly the world.