Crust almighty! Meet the national pie tester out to create bonkers bakes

Meet Scotland’s real-life Desperate Dan who has been “sweating gravy” in his quest to create the perfect pie.

Stuart McNeill proved he’s not all puff and no stuffing by being named the UK’s first supermarket pie tester last week after a countrywide search by grocery chain Aldi – and he has some wacky (some might even call them pie in the sky) concepts for the ideal bake.

The 35-year-old proved a choux-in for the job, beating 100 other hopefuls to take the coveted title after wowing judges in a contest during National Pie Week.

© Aldi / Sandy Young

McNeill, a high school woodwork teacher from Falkirk, impressed with his passionate and creative entry, which included a hand-drawn concept for a SpecialPIE, complete with its own “middle aisle”.

Just like his famous comic strip hero Dan, he can’t get enough of his favourite food – meat pies.

And now he has grand designs on several revolutionary bakes, including the “double-decker”– a vertically stacked pie like a Big Mac but with the fillings separated by layers of pastry rather than a bun.

He is also working on a prototype for a Sunday roast pie, encased in Yorkshire Pudding.

“I have yet another in the pipeline called the Figure Of Eight, which is basically two different flavoured small pies that are fused together,” he said.

Speaking about his win, McNeill said: “As soon as the competition was announced, I had six different friends send me the link encouraging me to apply.

“Even the kids at school were telling me to go for it. They thought the idea of their teacher becoming a professional pie tester was brilliant.”

The competition was designed to find one lucky Scot to taste and review a new range of Aldi pies.

As one of his first tasks, McNeill was sent a case of 72 varieties to try out. “Even Desperate Dan would struggle with that,” he said. “I was sweating gravy for a week afterwards.”

© Aldi / Sandy Young

McNeil credits his love of pies to years of following his beloved Falkirk Football Club. He said: “A WhatsApp group I have with my mates is meant to be about football, but nine times out of 10, we’re discussing who had the best pie at the match.”

Stuart was presented with his official Pie Tester trophy ahead of Falkirk’s final home game of the season.

His five-month-old son Ben even joined a pre-game pie party and was crowned “Assistant Pie Tester” for the day.

McNeill said: “If being made Aldi’s first ever pie tester wasn’t enough, Falkirk beat Hamilton and secured promotion to the Premiership League that day – it really was one for the books.

“Now I’m just excited to get stuck in and be reviewing all the different flavours. It’s an honour to help represent Scotland’s proud pie tradition.”

As Aldi’s chief pie tester, Stuart will now critique pies based on crust quality, filling consistency, and flavour balance. His reviews will help guide fellow customers when choosing from the range and shape future pie offerings.

McNeill said it was his unique “SpecialPIES” concept that clinched it with supermarket bosses.

“They are like normal pies, but have a middle aisle of their own, formed of a dividing wall of pastry which allows for a unique pie combo-flavour,” he explained, adding: “The people at Aldi love my ideas but said that unfortunately they would be a ‘logistical nightmare’ to produce.”

Graham Nicolson, group buying director at Aldi Scotland, said the company was thrilled to have found someone who takes the nation’s favourite dish “as seriously as we do”.

He said: “We were blown away by the standard of entries but Stuart’s passion and tasting insights, including his ‘SpecialPIE’ concept, proved he has the perfect mix of creativity and crust credentials for the task at hand.”