Country’s top snarler announced

Last Friday was National Sausage Day and in time for the celebrations, New Zealand’s top sausage was announced at Auckland’s Fresh Factory. 

The nation’s top sausage has been found at Mangawhai Meat shop with the Chicken, Lime and Lemongrass sausage beating 500 other sausages in the Devro Great New Zealand Sausage Competition.   Competition Judge and President of Food Writers New Zealand, Kathy Paterson says this sausage will have Kiwis lining up for more.  

“This sausage was mouth-watering; it really stood out from the rest because of its flavour combination which while unique wasn’t over the top – it was just perfect really,” says Paterson.  “I know the maker of this sausage, Dan Klink, is an extremely passionate butcher and it really shows. The competition is all about finding the best and I’m confident we have done that.” There was a long process behind naming this sausage as number one in New Zealand, with the 500 entries allocated into one of 12 categories such as traditional beef and poultry.  All entries were examined, pulled apart and tasted by a panel of 24 judges made up of chefs, food writers and industry heavyweights. 
From here, gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in each category with the gold medallists being re-judged against one another at the final judging day where Klink’s sausage came out on top. New World Rollenston’s Pork & Tasmanian Apple Cider won the People’s Choice Award which was decided at a public tasting event last week.  

The Devro New Zealand Wild Card winner was awarded to Col’s Butchery’s Free Range Chicken & Parsley sausage for gaining the highest score out of all the sausages made in a Devro casing.   
The competition is sponsored by Devro, Kerry Ingredients, Hally Labels and Alto Packaging.