Northland bakers in the running for best sausage rolls

A baker's dozen of Northland bakers have entered the 2020 Bakels Legendary Sausage Roll competition.

Northlanders love their sausage rolls and most people have their favourite place to get them from.

And in less than a week's time Northland bakers will find out if their sausage rolls are up there with, or are, the best in the country.

A baker's dozen of Northland bakers have entered the 2020 inaugural Bakels Legendary Sausage Roll competition.

The 1818 sausage rolls from 606 bakeries across the country arrive in Auckland on October 21 ,

to face intense scrutiny from judges who will eye up pastry colour and quality, the traditional sausage filling and whether to decide whether the rolls are up to "Legendary" status. The winner will be announced the following morning.

Traditional sausage rolls are made from pork meat, but entries in the awards must be made with pork, beef or lamb.

Northland's entries are 47 sausage rolls from 13 bakers across the region . Hastings and surrounds have the highest number of rolls entered at 120.

The Northland bakers are: Charlies Bakery, Whangārei; Country Bake, Ruakākā; Kamo Bakery; Lens Pies, Kaikohe; Munchies Bakery, Ruakākā; Nora's Lutong Bahay Cafe & Bakery, Kamo; Pantry Cafe, Whangārei; Pie Here Pies, Kerikeri Rd; Real Town Pies, Maungaturoto; Riverside Bakery, Whangārei The Bakers Crust, Whangārei; Tikipunga Bakehouse, Whangārei and Treat Cakes & Pastries, Whangārei.

• Wrapping meat or other foodstuffs in dough can be traced back to the Classical Greek or Roman eras.

However sausage rolls in the modern sense of meat surrounded by rolled pastry, appear to have been conceived at the beginning of the 19th Century in France.

From the beginning, flaky pastry was used, which originated with the Hungarian croissant of the late 17th Century.

Early versions of the roll with pork as a filling proved popular in London during the Napoleonic Wars and it became identified as an English dish.

UK bakery chain Greggs sells around 2.5 million sausage rolls every week.