The Final Raglan Post

The Final Raglan Post

 

This is the final post from summertime Raglan - it was an enjoyable two weeks of sun and relaxation. The surf at the beach in the second week was a bit lumpy and uneven, however it was still vastly better than being in Wellington. I have a gps watch that I use for running, this watch has an open water swim function. Using this while boggie boarding it was able to tell me that I was surfing the waves at 29 seconds per hundred metres, this is considerably quicker than the world record for swimming a hundred metres which currently stands at 46.91 seconds. I do like the speed and power of the surf.

 

 

After another day at the beach we had snarlers for dinner. These were canela chorizo from Zamora in Queenstown. These are a medium to coarse ground sausage, cinnamon is the primary flavour. Of all the sausages I have sampled from Zamora this is one I liked the least, I guess I’m just not a fan of cinnamon. I had managed to perk some snapper and a couple of flounder, these were cooked up on the barbecue along with the snarlers for dinner, we also had aubergine smash, a chick pea salad, and roast spuds.

 

 

I did not do the best job of cooking the fish on the barbecue, the flounder was alright, however the snapper fillets came apart. I definitely more practice needed in the art of cooking fish on the barbie.

As this is the last post I must make comment about the great little butcher’s shop in Raglan. I consider Top Cut Butchers punches above its weight in the fine art of sausage making. Although I have been discursive about a couple of the sausages they have made, they make a wide variety of quality sausages tailored to the kiwi palate. If you are in Raglan I would recommend you pop in a grab a few snarlers for dinner. My favourite was the sweet chilli and plum, the only way you can identify your preferred sausage is the try them.

I hope to return to Raglan next summer to spend more time enjoying the ambiance of the place, with a special focus on the beach, and of course sausages on the barbie.

Too Much Meat?

Too Much Meat?

 

Tonight’s dinner had a focus on meat, the salads were chick pea and fresh vege along with a potato salad, and fresh corn on the cob.

The Calabrese chorizo are made by Zamora in Queenstown. This is a chorizo with flavours of fennel and coriander. This sausage is medium to coarsely ground and it has a minimal level of heat, the fennel is a dominant flavour with a secondary flavour of coriander. My wife thought they were superb and I enjoyed them too. These are an excellent snarler.  

 

 

The sweet chilli and plum sausages came from Top Cut butchery in Raglan. After going for a run, I will often wander into the shops to see what varieties of snarlers are in the meat cabinet today. These are a fine ground meat sausage with the flavours of sweet chilli and plum meld together to create a moderately flavoured sausage. Sausage Boy and the other members of the whanau considered this sausage to be the best so far that we have sampled from Top Cut.

 

 

I also purchased some beef eye fillet which is not a cut of meat we normally consume. They were cooked on the barbecue and were a delight to eat, tender, soft and juicy - they melted in the mouth.

 

 

My wife and I had a discussion about the level of meat in the dinner - she thinks we eat too much meat. This does pose an issue for the sausage blogger, will the blog become a sausage and vegetarian dish blog? I’m not convinced. Or maybe preparing three meat options for dinner was over the top? I just like making great food at the beach.

Xiang Chang Sausages - Zamora Queenstown

Xiang Chang Sausages – Zamora Queenstown

After completing the Kepler Challenge in the hills around Te Anau a few weeks ago we called into Zamora in Queenstown to replenish the snarler supply. I purchased a few different varieties, some of these were frozen so they could be consumed while on holiday in Raglan.

Our family headed Raglan for a couple of weeks at the beach and I was looking forward spending time on the sand and in the surf. We stayed at the same house we rented last year which is a great house, in a very pleasant spot.

 

Tonight for dinner we had pimenton sausages, see previous review, and Xiang Chang, a Chinese sausage. This is a pork sausage with flavours of soy and cinnamon. The sausages were accompanied with a green salad, potato salad and roast carrots.

 

 

  

The Xaing Chang sausage is medium grind sausage and it cooked up into a dense little sausage. It has a very good balance between meat and other flavours, elements of soy and cinnamon can be tasted. I thought this sausage was different and was rather unsure about the flavour. Although I did not dislike it, I just thought it was a new and different flavour, but my wife enjoyed the sausage and was more effusive than me.
 

So, if you are after a new and different taste sensation I suggest you should give Xiang Chang a try. However if I had to select a sausage to eat, I would probably choose another variety of snarler.
 

The pimenton are a strongly flavoured sausage with smoked paprika to the fore. I enjoyed eating one of my favourite sausages as part of the meal and I would choose these over Xaing Chang every day of the week.

Chorizo Criollo – Zamora, Queenstown

Chorizo Criollo – Zamora, Queenstown

After completing the Kepler Challenge we flew back to Wellington via Queenstown. We stopped in to see my favourite South Island butchers, Zamora. Matias, one of the owners of the business, was in the shop and he talked to me about how they create their fantastic array of sausages. Needless to say I purchased a few, along with some salamis and condiments. I came prepared with a freezer bag to keep the purchases cold on the flight back to Wellington, Zamora also kindly provided a block of ice.

Over the next few weeks I will review the purchases.

Yesterday I went a mate’s place for a barbecue. I know him through running and a group of us had a run before we fired up the BBQ and focused on eating. My legs were still tired after the exertion of the previous weekend so I bailed out early in the run and walked back to his place.

I took chorizo criollo to the barbecue. These sausages are made from pork and beef, the grind is medium to coarse, the dominant flavours are garlic and oregano. There is a subtle flavour of mild heat also present, but this is a secondary flavour. This is a great example of another quality sausage made by Zamora. I look forward to sampling the other varieties over the next few weeks.

It is quite an art to meld heat and herbs. Getting the balance between these two elements is something that many sausages fail to achieve, and the heat of the spice often overpowers the herbs. Zamora succeeds in the creating a very good balance and I would expect nothing less from these quality butchers.

Park Avenue Quality Meats also make a chorizo criollo with bolder flavours. This is my favourite sausage and is quite different to the one made by Zamora. Both of these sausages are very high quality, but if I had to choose the one I prefer I would select Park Avenue’s example. However the key message here is to let your taste buds be the decider, rather than my preferences. I suggest you sample both and let me know your views. You will not be disappointed by either sausage.

Manna from Queenstown

Manna from Queenstown

My wife had a workmate who was heading to Queenstown for a well deserved holiday recently. Her partner is a sausage lover with whom I had shared the odd quality snarler. After a few emails and some manoeuvring I arranged for them to pick up 5kg of pimenton Argentinian chorizo. Last year I gave this sausage the award of the best sausage I had sampled in 2014. Thanks to the guys at Zamora for making these sausages for me. These are one of my favourites, and I was very pleased when the packages arrived.

When I smelt the pimenton it was different to what I had remembered. The aroma was not as strong as I had anticipated, it was more subdued. Not one to muck about I cooked up a batch for the whanau. The aroma became more pronounced as the heat came through in the pan.

The taste of the sausages was just as good as I remembered. They have a soft initial taste and then the complexity and layers of flavour kicked in. The snarlers disappeared rapidly once the whanau heard what was on offer.

 

If you are ever in Queenstown check out Zamora, it is well worth the visit. Here is a link to last year's review.

 

And a big thanks to our friends known as the Smarty-Pants for their excellent courier service!

Don's Sausage Blog Awards 2014

Don’s Sausage Blog Awards 2014

Each year I identify those sausages that I have reviewed and that have given me the most pleasure during the year. I have decided to take the less is more approach to these awards. Not too many awards, however the recipients are at the very top end of the sausages I like and enjoy eating. Life it too short to eat bad sausages, so if you are after a great snarler, here are the best ones I ate in 2014.

All the sausages awardees have been reviewed on this blog.

A drum roll please……………….

Don’s Sausage Blog Awards for 2014

The Undisputed Champion:

Pimenton: Zamora, Queenstown. I made an error when I brought some of these snarlers, the mistake was not buying more. This Argentinian style chorizo has layers of flavours and complexity on the palate when you eat it. It is a sausage that remains in the memory and leaves you wanting more. Reviewed May 2014 

A Close Runner Up:

Chicken Rocket and Cashew Sausages: The Fridge, New Plymouth. There are plenty of reasonable chicken sausages around, but to make an exceptional chicken sausages you need to have a great taste of chicken meat (as opposed to chicken flavour). This sausage excels in this. I contend this snarler is the best chicken sausage in the country – certainly the best I have tried that are currently being made. Reviewed June 2014 

Those that were in the mix and gain a worthy mention:

Venison Rost: Park Avenue Quality Meats. This is a venison and pork sausage that will appeal to a wide range of sausages eaters, on the continuum a little spicy with pepper and chilli added for flavour. A great snarler to eat. Reviewed February 2014.

Louisiana Reds: Eastbourne Village Meats. I purchased a few of these when I was out in Eastbourne one day and then went back for more but they did not have any in stock. These Cajun inspired sausages are subtly flavoured and leave you hankering for more. Reviewed June 2014.

The best sausages in Queenstown

The best sausages in Queenstown

We were in Queenstown during summer a few years ago. This was before I started my sausage blog. At a market I met a man selling sausages. As usual I talked to him, he was Argentinian and he told me the sausages should have been cooked over a charcoal barbecue, however today he was using gas. I know a good sausage when I see and smell it, and I enjoyed eating one of his tasty morsels. Last weekend I went back to Queenstown. I googled "Queenstown sausages" and the name Zamora came up.

I found this shop in an industrial part of Queenstown. It is a newly opened shop featuring quality meats and deli goods. I got talking to the guy behind the counter and he identified himself as Nicolas, the same Argentinian guy I had met a few years ago. We talked at length about his South American inspired butchery. The other butcher in the business is Uruguayan. As butchers trained in South America he says they often cut the animals differently to NZ butchers, following the line of the muscle. NZ butchers tend to cut more across the muscle. There is a very distinctive South American influence in the shop.

They also make a number of cured sausages which are left to dry for three months. We sampled some of these and a review will follow in due course for these. Needless to say if I did think they were top quality or I would not have purchased some to take home. Clearly I am not alone in the view as Nicolas told us that he also sells to Rata Dining, Josh Emett’s restaurant, which we sadly didn’t get to on this trip.

 

 

I brought some pimenton sausage, fresh chorizo, to take back to Wellington. Pimenton is Spanish for paprika. These were cooked as an aperitif prior to our dinner this evening of chicken risotto. This is course to medium ground sausage. The aroma of pimenton permeates prior to cooking, stimulating the taste buds in anticipation of a very nice pre dinner snack. This spice made from chilli peppers is the primary flavour in this sausage. This sausage succeeds because it gets the balance between the hotness of the spice, the meatiness of the pork, and subtle complexities of added spice. It is a medium to strong spiced sausage. In my view it is excellent.

 

 

My boys said they were, "Delicious," and, "Sooo good," my wife said, "We should have brought every packet they had in the shop." High praise indeed from the critical whanau. These sausages tasted great. If you are in Queenstown and appreciate quality sausages I would strongly recommend a visit to Zamora. You won’t find better.

The Zamora’s web site is currently "curing." However here is a link.

 

We went up past Glenorchy for a walk to Lake Sylvan. The majesty of Southern Mountains is awesome. I must return to spend time in these mountains.