Best bangers sought for awards

BEST BANGER? Hastings New World is again having a shot at the Devro Great New Zealand Sausage Competition. PHOTO FILE

The build-up to bestow bouquets upon the best bangers has begun, and Hawke's Bay sausage makers are being urged to have a shot at creating an award-winner.

The Devro Great New Zealand Sausage Competition, which has been running for just over 20 years, is open to all the country's producers whose sausages are available for retail, and over the past five years the Bay's banger builders have tasted some success.

Hastings New World picked up a category award in 2011 and in 2013 the Havelock North Village Butcher took out the supreme award.

For this year's competition, which will be judged in Auckland on September 27 and 28, Hastings New World is again having a shot, entering nine of their 25 flavoured sausages.

"We see a huge demand for old fashioned genuine sausages that are full of flavour, all our sausages are made on premises and have proven to be very popular," spokesman Dan Shaw said.

The competition scouts out the best sausages among 12 categories and all entries are judged by a panel of culinary trained chefs, butchers, industry experts and food writers.

Judge and President of the New Zealand Food Writers, Kathy Paterson, said she was looking forward to working with this year's panel of judges and had high expectations.

"The quality of sausages that come through this competition improve each year," she said.
"Kiwi butchers really know how to create innovative flavours that satisfy their customers."

The sausages which are awarded the top mark in each category are re-judged against one another to determine the overall winner who will be presented the coveted Supreme Award at the Awards Dinner on 13 October - the day before the second annual National Sausage Day.