Harrington's Pork and Fennel

Harrington’s Pork and Fennel

I was at New World in Thorndon this morning and thought I would make shepherd’s pie for dinner. However you do need a little aperitif so I brought a tray of Harrington’s Pork and Fennel sausages. These are made in Miramar on the other side of Wellington. They are a small chunky sausage to view, regular in diameter but shorter in length. They looked good. The package said they were made from fresh NZ pork, white wine, fennel seeds, pepper and few preservatives.

 

 

When I buy pork at the supermarket I always check to ensure that it is NZ pork. If you go to the Pork Industries website you can see that NZ imports pork from a wide number of countries. While the largest country of origin is the USA, 23% of the pork comes from Finland. I found this a little odd, pigs running around in the snow and saunas? Or more probably factory farmed? I would encourage readers to buy NZ pork, and to support the local industry and our farmers.

Anyway, back to the sausages. They were cooked in a pan while the shepherd’s pie was in the oven. They cooked nicely and were pleasant on the palate. The fennel seeds have been ground so there are not whole seeds in the sausage. On the continuum of pork and fennel sausages these have a slight hint of fennel as opposed to being strongly fennel flavoured. I have reviewed the Island Bay Butchery, link, and Harmony, link, pork and fennel sausages. I would describe these are being on par with, or maybe a bit less fennel flavour than the Harmony sausages. They are a meaty sausage that is dense and enjoyable to chew.

 

 

The kids and my wife both enjoyed the sausages and said they were nice. I enjoyed these and would buy them again.

Cost per kilo: $18.99

Oui Oui Saucisse along with Oink Oink and Fennel

Oui Oui Saucisse along with Oink Oink and Fennel

 

With French like this; yes, yes sausage, I could become a translator. Through the marvels of the NZ education system, and one year’s study of third form French I could remember oui oui, the saucisse came from a translation service on the web.

Our family is on holiday at Pohara in Golden Bay, in the north of the South Island. The weather is good although rain is forecast. Tonight we barbecued. The sausages on the menu where a French Sausage: Toulouse and Harmony pork and fennel. Both sausages were purchased from Moore Wilsons in Wellington.

French Sausage: Toulouse

This is handmade by Salumeria Fontana Ltd in Wellsford in Auckland. It won the Cuisine Magazine Artisan Award in 2009. These sausages are gluten and wheat free and use no preservatives. The six sausages in the pack weighed 300 grams, around 50 grams per sausage.

Check out their website http://www.salumeriafontana.co.nz/Sausages.htm  

These sausages were nice to eat. They are a small sausage in both diameter and length, they are finely ground. The meat used is pork sourced from Murrellen pork in Ashburton. The sausage casing is a fine thin product, and is open at each end. The meat remained in the casing during cooking; there was not an issue with any of the meat trying to ooze out the ends. The flavour of these sausages are a gentle meaty taste, I assume garlic, wine, and pepper were used to enhance the flavour. The family liked these. I would purchase these again.

 

Harmony Pork and Fennel

Compared to the sausages they were served with, these are fat sausages and make for a hearty meal. These sausages are a ground to a medium constancy. They could be called pork with a hint of fennel. You can see the fennel seeds that are used as part of the receipe, however the fennel taste is faint and subtle. The meaty pork taste is the dominant flavour. My wife and son prefer the Island Bay pork and fennel (refer to posting Satiated at Christmas 26 December 2012) where the fennel flavour is more pronounced. My other son and daughter prefer the Harmony. Isn’t it great that we live in family were divergent views are held, and conversation at the dinner table relates to the relative merits of respective sausages. I am neutral and will eat both.

 

Cost per kilo: $16.95

This evening meal included fresh potatoes, grilled field mushrooms with haloumi, coleslaw, and a tomato and feta salad. I enjoy summer eating.  

Wild Pork Sauages with Leek and Potato Pie

Wild Pork Sausages and Leek and Potato Pie

Tonight for dinner I cooked Harmony Foods Wild Boar Sausages. These were purchased from Moore Wilsons. They won a Gold Award at the NZ Sausage Awards in 2010.

 

The label on the packaging says: Razor Back NZ Wild Boar. Bred in the open pastures of NZ. Razor Back NZ Wild Boar is the real taste experience. Razor Back NZ wild Boar is best savoured with friends and a full bodied red wine.

Call me picky, but my experience of wild pigs is scrub and bush. I realise the pigs do go down to the river flats to feed, however open pastures is more of a marketing phrase than reality. Or are these wild (?) boar kept in pastures? However this is not the key point.

These are very good pork sausages. They are coarse and meaty. There is a hint of fennel to add to the flavour. You can see the odd fennel seed in the meat. There is also some bacon as part of the meat. They are very good eating.

I really enjoy a cold sausage the following day. These will make great eating cold.  

The kids liked the sausages, one was very keen, the other two moderately keen.

Cost per kilo: $20.95

 

I served the sausages with a new recipe I had not made before, Gooey Leek, Potato and Vintage Cheddar Pie. This came from a cook book I got for my birthday; Pie by Dean Brettschneider. The pie I made used Edam cheese as opposed to vintage cheddar. This went down well with the family. The leeks and potatoes are mixed with a sauce of mustard, egg, sour cream and cheese. It is a gooey pie. And gooey is good.

 

 

The pie held together well, it was very nice to eat. I will make this again. Also in the book is a Sausage, Sun-dried Tomato and Potato Tart. This recipe is a bit more complicated and would take longer to cook, watch for a new posting when this gets cooked.