Sunday 27 September 2015

Harrington's Smoked Chorizo

Harrington's Smoked Chorizo

I was at New World doing a grocery shop recently and the guy from Harrington’s was doing an in-store demo. A variety of Harrington's sausages were available for tasting. I have talked to this guy before and he informed me that Harrington’s are making a new smoked chorizo, which was on display in the ever expanding snarler section of Thorndon New World. 

Harrington's have rebranded the company, now under the logo it says artisan sausages. My definition of artisan is probably different from Harrington's. They do make a very good product, however they are a maker of lots of sausages. I consider that the term artisan means you can see the hand of the maker in the product. So I regard this addition to their logo as a marketing exercise, in much the same way as Lion or DB Breweries saying they are makers of craft beer.
 
 

At home my wife made pizza bases, that were cooked on a pizza stone in the oven. Our pizza had balsamic onions, mushrooms, capsicum, anchovies and the Harrington’s smoked chorizo.
 
 

The chorizo are primarily finely ground meat with a few lumps of a larger grind. They are a mixture of pork and beef. The meat is complemented the acidy of vinegar, while the hotness of paprika adds balance and complexity to the smokiness of flavour. There is an element of smoke but I would have preferred this to be more prominent. The heat from the paprika is on the hotter side, but not overpowering. 

These are a nice sausage that would appeal to the kiwi palate. If you are looking for a chorizo then this could be for you. I will buy these again. 

The boys made a pizza with ham and pineapple - the palates of youth. As parents we have tried to bring our kids up to appreciate a wide range of hopefully quality food, but when given the choice they make a bog standard ham and pineapple pizza. They don’t know what they are missing sometimes!

Sunday 20 September 2015

Rugby World Cup Bangers

Rugby World Cup Bangers

As I prepare to rise at 3.45am tomorrow morning to see the All Blacks play Argentina in the their first pool game of the Rugby World Cup, I may have a banger for breakfast.

Croots Farm Shop in Derbyshire have made a special snarler for the Rugby World Cup. Some of the sales from these sausages will go to the Derbyshire Children's Holiday Centre a charity that provides holidays for disadvantaged children. See this link for information about the sausages.

I have asked if Croots will courier some to NZ. I'm backing the All Blacks to bring home the bacon and the William Webb Ellis Trophy. Will this happen? All I know is that the TV will be watched, and sleep deprivation will exist for the next six weeks. Bring it on!

I watched the South Africa v Japan match this morning, I was delighted to witness the biggest upset in World Cup history, as Japan scored a great and very late try to win on the final whistle, 34-32. On a serious note it is interesting to observe that during a massive refugee crisis, Japan took less than five refugees last year. There are six rugby refugees from New Zealand in the Japanese team, players who would have loved to play for the All Blacks, but settle to play for the Cherry Blossoms, in the fluid world of rugby national allegiances. It would be great if Japan could fit in a few more real refugees too. Who knows what contribution they might make?

Sunday 13 September 2015

Black Pudding - Cameron Harrison

Black Pudding – Cameron Harrison

My wife purchased a Cameron Harrison black pudding for me recently as a treat and brought it home. It sat in the fridge for a few days and I cooked it up while I had a variation on moussaka cooking in the oven for the family dinner.
 
 

There are a mixture of textures in the black pudding, you can see the lumps of maize interspersed with finely ground material. The packing indicates that pork, bacon and pork blood are the three primary ingredients, in that order.

Once the pudding was cooked I cut it into slices. The initial taste was a sweet one, it was soft and malleable in the mouth and it didn’t really taste like a black pudding. There were elements of the pork and bacon and, quite late in the piece, the heat from the pepper and spices kicked in. It was a very pleasant black pudding to eat.

The boys were at home - Sausage Boy only had one piece and wasn’t too fussed about it, but his brother had multiple pieces and commented very positively about the sausage. The purchaser of the sausage never made it home in time to sample a piece, but was still asked to review this posting…... Typical!

I would buy this black pudding again, and next time I might even save some for my wife…..

Cost per kilo: $27.99