Bay sausages snag gold medals

DELICIOUS: Havelock North New World owner Richard Lucas (second from left) and (L-R) Phil Ripia, Alamaine Hooper, Murray Selwyn and Kyle Miller with their lamb and mussel sausage. Photo/Paul Taylor.

Several Hawke's Bay sausage producers are flying high after winning medals at the 2017 Devro Great New Zealand Sausage Competition on Thursday night.

New World Havelock North and Hastings-based Wild Game Salamis won gold medals for their respective lamb and mussel sausage and precooked saveloy.

In the wake of the gourmet varietal gold medal, Havelock North New World store owner Richard Lucas said quality fresh ingredients made the sausages a gold standard.

"We wanted to add a seafood element to our sausage range because of how popular our made in store seafood salads are.

"We tried the mussel with beef then with pork but weren't completely happy with the flavour combinations but when we tried it with lamb we knew we were on to a winner!"

He said fresh live mussels were ordered in daily, along with tender New Zealand lamb, to ensure the sausages were always top quality.

"The best way to describe them is that they are a tender coastal sausage that takes you from pasture to sea. It starts with a hit of spring lamb then a fresh burst of seasoned mussel."

Wild Game Salamis owner Rob Beard said the secret to his award-winning Beard Brothers Old School Saveloy, which tied for gold with Greytown Butchery, was loads of premium quality beef.

"We use 100 per cent beef so it's straight beef. It's the old saying that what you put in is what you get out."

Mr Beard said the win was made even sweeter by the fact that his business had just begun supplying Foodstuffs; a long grind that had taken two years.

"It was awesome to see Richard Lucas get an award too. It's good for Hawke's Bay; two gold medals is blimmin' good."

"Getting the award was a real buzz. I didn't expect it. I knew we were up for something, I thought maybe a bronze or a silver if we were lucky, but to take out the gold was big time."

Waipawa Butchery was also celebrating after securing a silver medal for their pork sausage, tying with Auckland's English Sausages Ltd.

Owners Duncan Smith and Annabel Tapley-Smith, who bought the business four months ago, said they were thrilled to continue former owner Murray Stevens' legacy for producing top quality sausages.

"Winning a medal at the national competition reinforces that we have a good solid skill base with our butchers who are producing not only award-winning sausages but also exceptional cuts of quality beef and lamb," Mr Smith said.

New World Greenmeadows also won a bronze medal for their Free Farm Pork with Apple and Cider sausage in a four-way tie.

More than 500 sausage entries were judged by a panel of 48 judges, including head judge Kathy Paterson, after first being scrutinised by a panel of butchers, foodies and industry heavyweights.

The competition also provided a stage for four of New Zealand's best butchers who were challenged with the task of producing as many sausages as possible in one minute.

This was taken out by Corey Winder from Elite Meats Bush Inn Christchurch who amazed the crowd by making 56 sausages in 60 seconds.