Bangers turned into real sweetmeat

Juliette Hogan taste tests the Jafa Sausage at Taste of Auckland 2015. Photo / Michael Craig

Aucklanders are used to taking a grilling about their uppity tastes - now they have their own gourmet sausage.

A quirky chocolate-and-orange-flavoured banger called the Jafa has been launched by Parnell-based butchers Neat Meat.

It is claimed the Jafa shares many traits with its flashy namesake: bold, intrepid and feisty ... if a little bit pretentious.

Juliette Hogan taste tests the Jafa Sausage at Taste of Auckland 2015. Photo / Michael Craig

It debuted at the Taste of Auckland food show yesterday and went down a treat with well-heeled punters.

"A chocolate and orange sausage with a spicy and sweet twist is a controversial concept," said Will Eriksen, director of Neat Meat.

"We will have to sell this at our shop in Ponsonby because it is right in the heart of Jafa-land and that's where this thing will fly."

Following months of research, the sausage was fine-tuned by a specialist team at Fisher & Paykel.

"We prototyped a fish-and-chips-flavoured sausage and another one made with pineapple lumps before settling on the Jafa," Eriksen added.

Kiwi fashion designer Juliette Hogan was one of the first to sample the upmarket banger.

"I first got a blast of chocolate then a nice zest of orange came bursting through," she said.

"I would definitely have this sausage on the breakfast table and I like the cheeky name. I suppose I am the ideal customer."

The four-day Taste of Auckland festival finishes at Western Springs today.