New World Te Rapa in Hamilton and Zaroa Meats in Auckland have been announced as the Supreme Award joint winners in the 2022 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition. Photo / Supplied
New World Te Rapa in Hamilton and Zaroa Meats in Auckland have been announced as the Supreme Award joint winners in the 2022 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition. Photo / Supplied
Right in time for summer and the first barbecue of the season, Retail Meat NZ has crowned the top sausages in the country and Waikato-made sausages were a real banger.
New World Te Rapa's Pork sausage particularly impressed the New Zealand Sausage Competition judges - so much so that they couldn't decide on one overall winner.
But no pig deal, they just made the Hamilton sausage and Zaroa Meats' Aoraki Salami from Auckland joint winners of the Supreme Award.
It's not the first time there has been a tie for the Supreme Award, but judges were unanimous that both sausages had all the qualities they were looking for to beat out over 530 other entries.
Porsche Davis of New World Te Rapa says she wasn't expecting the win at all.
"I wasn't expecting to win gold to start with let alone this."
When asked about the secret to their supreme sausage, Davis didn't take the bait.
"We did recently update our pork sausage recipe, it's made from New Zealand pork but I can't reveal any trade secrets, you have to try it to understand."
Competition judge Greig Buckley of Kai Foods says the judges were looking for well-made sausages with the right combination of quality ingredients that will appeal to the market.
"All entries are judged on their aroma – both raw and cooked – appearance, texture and finally the most important – the taste. The joint winners had it all and should be very proud of the products they have produced."
The journey to supreme status for the winning sausages has been a long and rigorous process that began in August. Photo / Supplied
New World Te Rapa's Pork sausage also won a gold award in the Dunninghams Pork category.
Also celebrating a sizzling success are Putāruru butcher Moos, Baas & Oinks who won gold in the Caspak Traditional category for their Pork, Roast Onion & English Mustard Seed sausage, and New World Rototuna who won silver in the Gourmet Varietal category for their Delight Lamb, Manuka Honey & Hickory sausage.
The Great New Zealand Sausage Competition is now in its 25th year and is the pinnacle for sausage and small-goods producers and retailers in New Zealand.
With the competition cancelled last year due to lockdowns, butchers across the nation were ready and waiting to put their best sausages forward this time, with over 530 entries received from 93 butcheries.
Competition judge Felicity O'Driscoll of Cook The Books says there were some really outstanding entries this year and whittling it down to the supreme winner was quite a difficult task.
"There were probably about four or five sausages that really stood out at the supreme judging, so there was much discussion and retasting on the day. At the end though, it came down to some really fine details between the contenders, with both winners deserving the joint title of supreme sausage maker."
The competition now also has a category for the top burger patty and meatballs, which saw over 50 entries submitted this year.
