Sharing the Love: How to make Lorne sausage

Sharing the Love: How to make Lorne sausage

This link is a podcast and photos of Terry McKee from Island Bay Butchery talking about making a traditional Scottish sausage - Lorne sausage. It is simple and easy to make.

Check this out here.

I attended a sausage making class with Terry McKee last year, he is a master of the fine art of making a quality snarler. A home sausage maker can pick up lots of tips from listening to his experienced  and knowledgeable voice.

Homemade Sausage Class

Homemade Sausage Class

I attended a sausage making class over the long weekend – it seemed an appropriate way to mark the Queen’s birthday. As you know I dabble in the mercurial art of putting together a great tasting snarler, so I went to see if could pick up some more tips. The class was taught at the Weltec School of Hospitality by Terry McKee from Island Bay Butchery. He also had a sidekick to assist him - Don Andrews, who owns Island Bay Butchery. Together they offered pearls of wisdom about the making of sausages. They also talked about the scientific component of the art, the chemistry that occurs between various meats, fats and spices and I learnt a few new things.

 

 

After a sausage making demo and talk from Terry we were given 1kg of minced meat, 60% beef and 40% pork, which we were instructed to add our desired spices and flavours to. I added salt, ground cumin, smoked paprika, mace, ground black pepper, white pepper and nutmeg to my minced meat. Once this was done it was stuffing time.

 

 

Here’s the finished product. I cooked these sausages for tea the next day with mashed potato, peas and broccoli. The sausage was pleasant to eat, but not great, I have made better snarlers. However the satisfaction of continuing to experiment and learn about making my own was well worth it.

 

 

Today in the Life lift out that accompanies the Dominion Post, there is story about Terry who ran the class. Island Bay Butchery continues to make by hand a wide array of quality sausages, and I would recommend that if you are in the shop to purchase you favourite banger, also buy one of their black puddings. It’s an underrated sausage that tastes great. Here is a link to the story.

Havana Restaurant and Bar

Havana Restaurant and Bar

Many years ago my wife studied for a Master’s degree. As part of the degree those undertaking the course had to form a study group. She was part of a group of three. Last night that study group, along with partners, got together at the Havana Bar in Wigan St, Te Aro. This is a funky bar and restaurant with a Cuban and Spanish influence. After a few drinks we moved into the restaurant and had a meal. The restaurant serves tapas.

The study group was very productive - by the end of the two year programme, four extra children were part of the wider whanau group. We of course did more than our share by having twins. The other two members only had one child each. When my wife graduated she took the boys along to the ceremony. They were ten days old. We have a great photo of her in full academic regalia holding the baby boys. They look so tiny! The boys are now 15 years old and, needless to say, considerably bigger.

Tapas style food is a great way to sample a wide variety of platters. On the menu two items in particular caught my eye, housemade chorizo albondigas with pickled white cabbage and grilled bread, along with, sage black pudding with smoked piquillo pepper and pickled cauliflower sauce. As the platters arrived we tucked into the food. We talked, laughed, and told stories…. some of them were even true. There was a very convivial atmosphere.

The chorizo dish has different flavours that complemented each other. The chorizo is a skinless variety with smokiness and heat that comes through as you eat it. It is not excessively hot, and on my heat scale I would describe it as the mild end of medium. It is served with a tomato based sauce which has elements of sweetness, along with a little bit of heat. The pickled cabbage has a bitterness that complements both the sweeter flavours in the meat and sauce. This was a very nice dish.

 

 

The black pudding is baked and has a crusty outer shell, when this is pierced the interior of the black pudding is softer and crumbles as you eat it. The contrast in textures works well. The smooth interior combined with the crusty exterior creates a very nice contrast of textures in the mouth. The black pudding has a very small amount of heat, the smoked piquillo peppers that accompanied the dish added sweet and smoked flavours to the dish. The sourness of the pickled cauliflower sauce meant that dish had a wide variety of flavours to combine and accompany each other. Another very nice dish to eat.

 

 

Another tapas plate I particularly enjoyed was the crushed gourmet potatoes with slow cooked leaks and roasted garlic. If you are at Havana, make sure you include this dish too.

We were still in the restaurant as they began to clean the kitchen. It is open to the dining area and you could see the hive of activity as the kitchen staff finished off their day. I went and talked to the maître d. He told me the person that I should be talking to was Mark, the head chef. We have a very cordial chat about the sausage tapas. He makes the chorizo with pork he sources from Island Bay Butchery. This is free range pork from Canterbury. He uses 50% pork shoulder, ground finely, and 50% pork belly, a medium grind. Added to the meat is dried oregano, white wine, flaky sea salt, smoked and sweet paprika, along with lots of garlic. The chorizo is cured for five days. The black pudding is Island Bay Butchery’s gold medal winner, see link. Sage is used extensively in this dish. With the small kitchen space the opportunities to get into major sausage making are limited, however what Mark produces out the confines of Havana’s kitchen is to be admired. He also asked who I thought made the best sausages in Wellington. Regular readers of the blog will know how I replied - Park Avenue Quality Meats in Avalon.

If you are looking for a venue to spend time with people you want to drink, eat and laugh with then I would recommend that you check out Havana. Cuba without the airfare.

Black Pudding from Island Bay Butchery

Black Pudding from Island Bay Butchery

I went to Island Bay and thought I would pop into the butchers and pick up some their award winning black pudding. This won gold at the 2013 Devro New Zealand Sausage Awards. I was a judge of this section. There were some great black puddings at the awards. The judging is done blind so the judges do not know who made the product they are sampling.

Island Bay Butchery make this in a round and it also available in a tube. I brought a tube of black pudding. The primary factor in this decision was weight - there is more in the tube than the round. Slices can be cut from the tube and eaten progressively. As you can see, I got this home and cooked up a few slices.

 

 

The black pudding looks good when you cut it. You can see the lumps of barley and oatmeal - I assume that some of the white material you can also see are lumps of fat. There is a finely ground component to the pudding too. The aroma is nice and stimulates the taste buds.

 

 

The black pudding not only looks good but tastes good too. There is a hint of heat on the palate. My taste buds say pepper, but I could be wrong. It is a nice taste. For breakfast the following day I had six slices, a very enjoyable way to start the day.

 

 

I did get a couple of stringy pieces in my slices, these got caught between the teeth. Not really sure what this might have been.

I do not buy black pudding regularly. This was a good snack and I would buy it again. Sausage Boy was ambivalent while my wife thought the black pudding from Churchill’s Butchers in Kerikeri, see link, was a superior product. I preferred the Island Bay black pudding.

Cost of a tube: $17.95   

Sausage selection for Christmas dinner.

Sausage selection for Christmas dinner.

Christmas is a time for whanau. This year our family is hosting Christmas lunch at our place. It will be the usual barbecue based meal with a wide assortment of foods that will be enjoyed by all the whanau. You probably won’t be surprised that for many years I have been the provider of sausages.

Some of my family are not keen on the spicier variety of sausages, in spite of my best efforts over a number of years to educate them on the finer points of sausage cuisine. So this year’s selection tries to cater to all tastes.

I have chosen Island Bay Butcher’s chicken sausages, as these are a genuine crowd pleaser. As Sausage Boy’s sister said, "Everyone likes chicken sausages and Island Bay makes the best." I have also selected Butifarra from Mariano’s Spanish Goods in Christchurch, link. The highlight for me will be chorizo coriollo from Park Avenue Quality Meats, link.

So I am looking forward to an enjoyable Christmas Day. Hopefully the weather will be good, the barbecue will be fired up and everybody will have a good time, at your house as well as mine.

Barvarian Sausages from Island Bay

Bavarian Sausages from Island Bay

These sausages won a silver medal in the Pre Cooked Barbecue section at the recent Devro NZ Sausage awards, see report. They are made by Island Bay Butchery. I did not judge this section of the competition, so I was interested to see how they tasted.

I cooked these on a Friday night recently. Friday nights at our place are often a "fend for yourself" dinner. I tend to get home from work, have low motivation for cooking, and don’t feel inclined to the "hunter-gather" routine searching out food for the whanau in the local community. As we don’t eat pets, and barbecuing the neighbour’s cat or dog doesn’t do a lot for neighbourly relations, the term "hunter-gather" in our household is a euphemism for takeaways. The Northland shops over the years have changed from a couple dairies, post office, hairdresser, chemist, butcher and green grocer to being a strip of takeaway joints comprising three pizza places, fish and chips, burgers and, the latest innovation, an Indian curry cafe. If the "hunter-gather" option is not pursued, it is often fend for yourself in the kitchen. The food on Friday night generally ranges from sausages, tins of baked beans, eggs, to the odd sandwich.

So what were the Bavarian sausages like? They were good. They are precooked so only need heating through. The butcher told me they are made from free range pork, that is finely ground. They have a hint of caraway seed and cayenne pepper. I should emphasis these are just a hint of flavour - very slight. This a sausage aimed at the NZ barbecue market so the predominant flavour is meat. The whole whanau liked the sausages. My sister even popped in and sampled one, and she was keen on it too. I did get a whole caraway seed, after the rest of the mouthful had disappeared down the gullet. I crunched it between the teeth and I got that intense burst of caraway flavour, the only one of the meal.

I would buy these sausages again, however the preferred sausage is the gold medal winner. You can see a review of the gold medal winner in this category here.
 

Cost per kilo: $19.95
 

However I still judge all plain meat sausages against the Dutch Braadworst made by Park Avenue Quality Meats. This sausage is superior in both taste and price. Although it is not a pre cooked sausage.  See review.

Champagne, Veal and Truffle Sausages

Champagne, Veal and Truffle Sausages

I picked these up from Island Bay Butchery. They are a different sausage. If you have read the posting about Island Bay’s veal sausage, see link, you will know that I do not claim to be an experienced veal eater. While I enjoy champagne and would claim to have some expertise in this field, I know very little about truffles and the associated flavours. So what were the sausages like? The answer is very good, a different taste and aroma, but one I would happily eat again.

The sausages had what I could only describe as a distinctive aroma, but one where I could not identify what I was smelling. This was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, it was a smell new to my olfactory senses. I will assume this was the truffle. The sausages cooked well, a bit of fat, but not too much. A nice aroma came of as they cooked.

 

This fine to medium ground sausage was darker than the other veal sausage from Island Bay, and it tasted good. The flavour I assume is dominated, but not overpowered by the truffle, the meat flavour is good. They were well received by the whanau. My wife really liked them, one son liked them a lot, the other son and daughter were not so keen. As a result of this we have decided to have something a little exotic on the menu for our annual whanau Christmas barbecue. I will be going back to Island Bay Butchers to order more. These are not your everyday sausage, they may even be unique, however they are well worth trying out and expanding your sausage eating horizons.

Cost per kilo: $28.95

 

And great to see that Island Bay Butchery won medals in the NZ sausage competition for their Bavarian sausage and the black pudding. I judged the black pudding section of this competition. Watch out for a review of both sausages, coming to a blog soon.

 

It is not all beer and sausages - Part Three

It is not all beer and sausages – Part Three

This weekend I was off to the highlight of the harrier season, the NZ Road Relays. This was held on the Sign of the Takahe to Akaroa route, 76km of varied terrain, run by a team of eight. This course is rightly regarded as the best relay course in NZ. Some teams turn up to win or medal. Our team sorted out our goals before the race - to have a good time and enjoy ourselves. I offered to bring sausages to feed the team.

It would be fair to say that the mighty M50 (men over 50) from Scottish Harriers would not put fear into the opposition with our running prowess. I ran the lap from hill top to Duvauchelle, which concludes with a long 5km of steep downhill. It hammers the legs and feet and I was knackered when I reached the finish. My legs and feet were sore and at the end of my stretch my team mates asked me how many toenails I had lost. I said my feet were sore and took off my shoes. In the supportive way we worked together, they said, ‘There’s no blood in your shoes, stop moaning and get into the van."

At the finish the announcer said, "Here come Scottish’s M50A team, the first finishers in the M50 grade….." What is omitted is, "from the 8.30am start." Most of the M50 teams started at 9.15am.

 We did not come last, and we were not close to the medals. However I can confidently say that we had the best selection of beer and sausages in our van. The teams had to carry a baton over the course - our team abandoned the baton supplied by the organisers and replaced it with a kabonosy.

I cooked the sausages the day before our race. Not knowing my team members preference for sausages I brought a variety - kabonosy from Park Ave Quality Meats, (See review), pork and fennel from Island bay Butchery, (see review) and Cumberland from Cameron Harrison Butchers. From left to right, kabonosy, Cumberland, Sremska and pork and fennel. 

Comments from the learned, if tired, runners in the van: these are good, a very nice flavour, smell good and not too over powering. This was the kabonosy. One team member, in a moment of madness, even offered to run another lap if I could find him another sausage to munch on.
 

The sausages were appreciated and went down well after each team member completed their lap. The Cumberland were appreciated for the meaty taste, the pork and fennel for their flavour. The consensus was the most preferred sausage of the day was the kabonosy. I shared the sremska (see review) on the way back to Christchurch, but this did not have too many takers. I gave these out in smaller morsels. It is a spicier sausage and received comments about the strong taste.

Of course a refreshing drink was needed to rehydrate and in the van a selection of beers were present, Macs Pale Ale, Tsingtao and a Bismark Brown Ale made by Hancock and Co. This is a malty, hoppy, slightly bitter brown ale, best drunk cold, rather than after being in the van for many hours. However as a post race refresher it meets the mark.

So the team had a very enjoyable jaunt from Christchurch to Akaroa. There were a lot of laughs, ribbing, jokes and irreverent comments about our respective running ability, while racing against other teams of a similar pace. There was a great spirit of camaraderie, enhanced by the snacking on sausages and beer.

We will all be back next year for what will undoubtedly be another highly unsuccessful attempt at a NZ title, but with high anticipation that the day will one an pleasurable one.

For links to other parts of this series.

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

Veal Bratwurst

Veal Bratwurst

When I was at Island Bay Butchery recently I picked up some veal bratwurst. Veal is not a meat that I generally eat. To be honest I cannot remember when I last ate veal, or if I have eaten veal in the last few decades, it is not something that is part of our household’s diet. So any comments about the veal flavour need to read with this in mind.

 

 

These sausages were cooked up and the kids wanted to sample them. I ate one and then had another later on, and when I looked back to the plate there was about a quarter of a sausage left. Clearly the sausages where enjoyed by the whanau.

The butcher said they are good as a breakfast sausage. Well the problem was I cooked them later in the day so there were none left for dinner, let alone having some left to consume for breakfast.

 

These are very pleasant sausages that are different in flavour to nearly all the sausages I have reviewed on this blog. I assume the flavour of the veal is revealed in the taste of the sausage. It is very nice, delicate and tantalising on the palate. They are a finely ground sausage.

These are a very nice sausage that I would buy again. They are different to your average pork or beef banger, subtle to taste and not on the spicy spectrum. The kids liked them, always a good sign.

Cost per kilo: $17.95

 

And the camera is inconsistent, I have images of the cooked suasages, the blog tells me there is an error in uploading. Errrrr!

Pure Beef Sausage

Pure Beef Sausages

I was at the Island Bay Butchers earlier this week and purchased this new product. Took them home and cooked them for tea. They were served with oven roasted cauliflower, leeks and blue cheese. We also had baby peas.

 

 

As the butcher said, it is all beef banger, including the casing. It is also gluten free. But the big question is - what does it taste like? It is good, very dense and gives the mandibles a good work out. It is a pleasant meaty sausage that lets the meat give the flavour. In comparison to other meat sausages I have reviewed this is ok, without being great. I would buy this sausage again.

 

The other dishes that accompanied the sausages were a roasted leek and cauliflower with blue cheese. This is a very pleasant dish which all the family really enjoys. See the link for the recipe. This was also served with some baby peas, courtesy of Mr Wattie. What would a family do without Mr Wattie?

Cost per kilo: $17.95

Island Bay Butchery launches web site

The Island Bay Butchery has a new, and thier first web site.  Now I claim to know a bit about the sausages produced in Wellington. However when you read the extensive list of awards won by this butcher, you know they are a quality shop.

In the various guises of the NZ Sausage Awards they have won five highly commended awards, ten bronze awards, eight silver and three gold, including the Supreme Award in 2012.  Over the period 2001-2012 this is a total of 26 awards, pretty impressive eh. My postings of 7 May 2013 and 24 November 2012 refer to the 2012 Supreme Award.

If you are keen on sausages go check out the shop. A word of warning - it is best to go early in the day. At the end of the day the sausage cabinet can look bare. The reason - they have sold heaps of sausages. Just as the early bird gets the worm, the early sausage buyer has the widest choice.

And if you can’t check out the shop, visit the website,

http://www.islandbaybutchery.co.nz/welcome-to-island-bay-butchery-wellington/

As for me I am going to put in an order for some champagne, veal and truffle sausages. They only make them every so often and you can order them via the site.

Venison Herb and Garlic

Venison Herb and Garlic

I was at the Island Bay Butchery recently and was keen to purchase the continental garlic sausages but unfortunately they had sold out. This is small sausage which is obviously popular - See review 9 September 2012.

So instead I brought some venison herb and garlic sausages. These are a good sausage. I asked what herbs they use in the sausage and the response I got from the butcher was that it was a "trade secret". These sausages do have a garlic flavour and taste of some herbs but I can't identify exactly what they are. The venison taste is not really overt, rather its more of a subtle taste. Some venison sausages have a really strong gamey taste, but these sausages are not like this. The sausages are a medium ground sausage. I will definately buy these again.

Cost per kilo: $19.95

 

 

 

New Zealand's Champion Sausage

New Zealand’s Champion Sausage

This is the cup awarded to the winner of New Zealand's  Champion Sausage.

 

 

Fantastic result for the Island Bay Butchery who won New Zealand’s supreme sausage award for their smoked kielbasa last year. You can find a review of this sausage on my post of 24 November 2012.

Last week when I visited I took this photo of their sausage cabinet. They said it was not looking good as too many sausages had already sold. They said it looks at its best early in the morning. The problem they have is they sell too many sausages. Congratulations to the Island Bay Butchery shop for being a great source of sausages.

 

 

If you want to see more, here is a clip I found from TVNZ’s Breakfast Show about Island Bay Butchery.

http://tvnz.co.nz/breakfast-news/growing-business-island-bay-butchery-video-4785190

Sausage Selection on a Six Day Tramp

Sausages selection on a six day tramp

My sons and I headed for the hills and went tramping in Nelson Lakes. This New Zealand National Park is a fantastic place to enjoy the majestic grandeur of mountains and the beauty of being in a wilderness environment.

Taking enough provisions for two hungry boys and myself for six days meant the packs were heavy. The usual tramping and sausage diet was to the fore (refer to post of 11 Nov 2012). This involved a ration of four sausages per day per person. The boys selected Island Bay pork and fennel (reviewed 26 Dec 2012), and Park Avenue kabonosy (reviewed 12 Aug 2012); while I chose the Park Avenue kolbaz (reviewed 11 Nov 2012). Twenty-four sausages each, a total of seventy-two sausages were packed, which were all cooked before we left for the tramp.

Our trip took us up the Travers Valley, over the Travers Saddle into the Sabine Valley, up the valley to Blue Lake, down the Sabine Valley to Lake Rotoroa and then out to St Arnaud.

 

There is magnificent scenery on this trip and we also saw random sausages – in fact everywhere we went we seemed to see sausages. Here is an image of a kabonosy sighted at the twenty metre high Travers Falls.

 

In the alpine vegetation above Upper Travers Hut I found these alpine pork and fennel examples.

 

Sitting on top of the waratah that marks the top of the Travers Saddle was a kolbaz. The peak of Mt Travers can be seen in the background.

 

While heading up to the Travers Saddle the air was so still that if you howled the sound echoed and resonated in the valley. I was seeking lycanthrope beings. No response was received; however this does not mean they are not present.

I particularly like the many cascading waterfalls that come down from the ridges and into the valley. This image comes from the Sabine Valley below Blue Lake.

 

At Blue Lake the clearest water in the planet exists. This due to the water being filtered by moraine debris that sits above the lake. Lake Constance empties into Blue Lake through this mass of rock. Scientists have established that visibility in the lake can be up to 85 metres. Distilled water has a visibility of 82 metres. This area was going to be left as a wilderness; only the hardy and self-sufficient would make it up to this area. There would be no tracks or huts, but in the late 1960s it was opened up against some opposition. One the primary objectors was obviously a hard man. In 1962 Les Molloy went to Blue Lake in winter when the snow was so deep that his party had to camp and sleep and in the branches of beech trees. He did not want to make the wilderness experience too easy. I am obviously less of an outdoors man than Les, and readily seek and enjoy the comfort of a hut.

                                    

 

 

Guess what? At Blue Lake a kolbaz was sighted. After extensive investigation it has been established that the superhero (or should that be supperhero) Sausage Boy was present. He was holding the sausage. Thanks to Sausage Boy.

 

The trip was a great success fantastic weather, good tramping and glorious sausages.  

 

Satiated at Christmas

Satiated at Christmas

A good day was had by all yesterday. We had lunch at my sister’s home. A glorious Wellington day, the hottest since 1934 according to the paper, it was a humid 29 degrees. A running commentary on the cloud structures over the Orongorongo Ranges and the Wairarapa by brother in law the meteorologist meant any chance of thunder storms would be identified well in advance. The weather was fantastic. The kids ended up having a water fight, a great day to run around outside and get wet. As my boys realised you shouldn’t worry about water pistols or spray guns, the bucket is the most effective method of transferring a bulk amount of water onto a target. One adult was drenched; the rest escaped such a deluge.

 

I barbecued sausages and steak. The steak was sirloin marinated in red wine, fresh ginger and an orange and tarragon mustard. The sausages were Island Bay pork and fennel, and Park Avenue kolbaz.

 

For review of the kolbaz refer to my blog post on the 11 November 2012. I have decided that kolbaz is best eaten cold; I had one sausage for lunch yesterday, and three for breakfast this morning. I have to get up increasingly early to beat my sons to the fridge!

I washed the food down with a beer, Emerson’s Bookbinder. This is a brown ale that is full of a malty flavour and refreshing on a hot day. My father in law, a man in his eighties said it tasted like Tui Beer used to taste like. He grew up in the Wairarapa in the 1930s and 40s. He said Tui used to get better with age. Tui is now a pale insipid beer that I try to avoid.

The Island Bay Butcher’s pork and fennel are a thin sausage, the fennel flavour is mild and compliments the finely ground pork. You can see the green flecks of the fennel interspersed within the meat, if seeds are used they have been finely ground. These were popular with the family and all the sausages were consumed and enjoyed.  

The other meats available for lunch were ham and salmon.

 

The barbecue was enjoyable and sausages we ate were appreciated. We all arrived home replete and satiated from another fine Christmas lunch.

The Mircomanagement of Sausage Selection

The Micromanagement of Sausage Selection

After some thought I decided to bring two varieties of Park Ave Quality Meats sausages for the Christmas lunch. Kolbaz and lamb and mint, which would satisfy those seeking a flavoursome sausage along with a sausage with a more elementary flavour.

In a phone conversation with my sister, which my wife was listening in to, I was informed that they both thought I should be bringing pork and fennel sausages. Knowing the dynamics of my family, pork and fennel sausages it is. Not that there is any micromanagement going on here!

I went to Moore Wilsons and purchased some Island Bay Butcher’s pork and fennel sausages. These are a thin sausage and I chose them over the Harmony pork and fennel due to the size of the sausage.

Our whanau is fortunate that on Christmas Day we are able to bring a large range of quality food, and if late additions are requested they can easily be accommodated. Many people are not in this position. Although Christmas is time for family and eating, we must also remember that not all members of society have this privilege.

The post Christmas posting will give you the response to the sausages.

Merry Christmas. Happy blogging.

Island Bay Butchers Supreme Sausage Award review

It is great to the see the award for the top sausage in New Zealand returning to Wellington. Island Bay Butchers, one of Wellington’s great sausage shops won this award for their smoked kielbasa.

 

This is a lightly smoked sausage, the smoky flavour is present but not intense. The sausage is ground to a fine medium texture. They are pleasant on the palate and taste good. I find some sausages made by Island Bay Butchers to contain too much fat; this is not the case for these sausages. For someone who is looking to try an Eastern European sausage, I would recommend these. I prefer a more flavoursome sausage but my wife prefers these. We served these cut into slices as nibbles when we had people around on Sunday afternoon and they were enjoyed by all, with much discussion on the qualities of sausages with our German neighbours.

 

Cost per kilo: $19.95

This award got me thinking, and researching. The first Wellington sausage maker I can remember winning this award was Bells Smallgoods, with a bratwurst.  This sausage had a regular diameter and was small in length. It was medium to coarsely ground and it had a very good meaty taste. Bells Smallgoods were based in Newlands(?). At the time there was limited supply of quality sausages that a sausage aficionado could purchase. Many years ago they rebranded and became Luscutto. I have not seen Luscutto products for sale recently. The website www.luscutto.co.nz has been parked. I have gone back into archived websites and discovered that in 2006 and 2005 they won the supreme sausage award. A fantastic achievement. In 2005 it was for the Thuringer Bratwurst, followed by the Luscutto Hunter Sausage in 2006. The web archive did not go back past 2006 but I think that another bratwurst made by Bells won the supreme award many years before 2005.   

If anyone knows what happened to Bells/Luscutto, leave a comment.

Island Bay Butchers wins Supreme Sausage Award

The Devro New Zealand Sausage Competition is organised annually by Retail Meat New Zealand and is New Zealand’s premier sausage judging event.

The competition is an annual highlight for butchers and small-goods manufacturers as they vie for their sausages to be named the Supreme Award Winner. Makers can also be awarded gold, silver and bronze medals.

Congratulations to Island Bay Butchery for winning the supreme award at the 2013 NZ Sausage Awards. Other medal winners from Wellington were: Preston’s Master Butchers, gold and Greytown Butchery, a bronze and silver.  

Wellington award winners are below.

Pre Cooked BBQ

Gold
Preston's Master Butchers (Wellington) Turingia Pre-cooked Bratwurst
Bronze
Greytown Butchery (Greytown) Beef pre-cooked

Flavoured

Silver
Greytown Butchery (Greytown) Beef Flavoured

Supreme Award
Island Bay & Strathmore Butcheries (Wellington) Smoked Kielbasa

For full results see: http://www.rmnz.co.nz/index.pl?page=2012_medallists&m=334

Watch out for my thoughts on these sausages in later posts.

Smoked Venison Sausages

Cold Smoked Venison Sausages

Island Bay Butchery

I was in Island Bay Butchers and I thought I would buy a few of the cold smoked venison sausages. These are made with venison, malt vinegar, Worchester sauce, thyme, mace and caraway seeds. The venison is farmed deer.

The aroma of the sausages reflects the malt vinegar and Worchester sauce. They smell good. The sausage is ground to a medium coarseness. I prefer a sausage that is chunky and has not been ground to a puree, so I like the texture of these sausages. These sausages are lightly smoked, the delicate smoked taste is pleasant on the palate. They taste good without being spectacular. 

 

These sausages when cooked oozed a lot of fat, too much for my liking. I consider that less fat would enhance the flavour and quality of the sausage.

Cost per kilo: $19.95