There’s no doubt Kiwis sure love a good sausage sizzle, so taste-testing the hundreds of entries from across the country was surely no easy task for the 2022 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition judges, who conceded that this year there’d be not one but two bangers worthy of the title.
The judges said they couldn’t split Hamilton-based New World Te Rapa’s pork sausage and Auckland-based Zaroa Meats’ Aoraki salami, instead crowning them joint winners of the Supreme Award.
The successful sausages were announced at a special Sausage Mixer event on Tuesday evening, where butchers from across the nation gathered to find out who had taken out the top spot. It’s not the first time there has been a tie, but judges were unanimous that both sausages had all the qualities they were looking for to beat out over the hundreds of other entries.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the sausage competition, which has been the pinnacle for sausage, small goods producers and retailers in NZ. With the competition cancelled last year due to lockdowns, butchers across the nation were ready and waiting to put their best sausages forward, with over 530 entries received from 93 butcheries.
When asked the secret to their supreme sausage, New World Te Rapa’s Porsche Davis didn’t bite.
“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,” Davis said.
While Zaroa Meats would only reveal that it’s a family secret. “My father is the mastermind behind the supreme salami; he’s been designing the most incredible sausages for years now and when he created this Wagyu and venison salami we knew it was special. It’s a taste sensation,” Marc Zabern said.
The journey to supreme status for the winning sausages has been a long and rigorous process beginning with an initial five days of category judging back in August. The judging panel made up of a squad of butchers, foodies, chefs and industry heavyweights, whittled entries down to the top scoring sausages. From here, gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in each category, with the gold medallists then being re-judged against one another, with the joint supreme winners both receiving the perfect score.
Competition judge Felicity O’Driscoll, of Cook The Books, said 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 re-tasting on the day,” O’Driscoll explained. “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.”
Fellow judge, Greig Buckley of Kai Foods, said that 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,” Greig said. “The joint winners had it all and should be very proud of the products they have produced.”
The 2022 People’s Choice award went to Auckland’s Westmere Butchery’s gourmet Wagyu beef sausage.
Kiwis will also know where to get the best burger patties and meatballs with these two categories turning out eight medal-winning burger patties and three medal-winning meatballs – just in time as barbecues are unpacked and dusted in readiness for the summer months ahead.
