Thursday, September 27, 2007

A new Top 5 is coming soon

The Sausage and Bread Top 5 is in need of a major overhaul; several new establishments have emerged in the last few months and at least one has closed down.

So stay tuned for an updated Top 5...

Friday, September 21, 2007

Sept 24th is National Braai Day in South Africa

South Africans sure do enjoy a good braai (bbq) and no braai is complete without boerewors.

I have to admit the ones I tried when I was in Namibia weren't that appealing: dark and chewy meat with a somewhat musty, heavily spiced flavour. However they come in endless varieties and there is undoubtedly a 'wors' to suit everyone.

And what better way to kick off a weekend than watching Archbishop Desmond Tutu geting all excited over a sausage sarnie :D



Braai etiquette:



Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Homemade: Wickham Manor Farm sausages

I was wandering through Balham in South London when I saw a small farmer's market selling organic produce. One of the stalls was for Wickham Manor Farm and was selling - you guessed it - sausages.

It was too good an opportunity to miss so I bagged one pack of pork sausages and one pack of cumberland. The friendly stallholder gave strict instructions not to rush the cooking of these sausages (allow 20 mins) and when I examined the label back home, I discovered that the farm is a supporter of the 'slow food movement' - a campaign to get people away from our current microwave-burger-bar-scoff-it-down culture and instead actually take some time over food - and thereby appreciate it more.



In other words, these sausages are made with the intention of being savoured. First up, the plain pork sausages:






The first thing you notice is how lean the sausages are. Very little fat comes out when you grill them. Solidly packed in a thin casing, meaty and delicately seasoned, these went great with mustard and tomatoes (grilled along with the sausages) in a fresh baguette. I did like the texture and flavour of these very much.


The following weekend I tried the cumberland variety:





Again, a very good sausage, although I thought it could have done with a bit more seasoning. The texture was good but I felt it lacked a little fat this time. This could have been purely down to me grilling the sausage for too long, but either way I think a bit more fat would have enhanced the flavour overall. The relative leanness of the sausage might be why I missed that peppery, herby taste I associate with a cumberland. You can't deny the quality of the meat, though, and I'd be happy to get a sausage like this in a sandwich bought in town.

Both sausages were really good but the plain pork was especially good, in my opinion. If you'd like to order or buy Wickham Manor Farm sausages, their contact details are:

Wickham Manor Farm
Panel Lane
Winchelsea
East Sussex
TN36 4AG

tel: 01797 225 575 (grant.culwick@btconnect.com)

Or you might be able to catch them at the farmer's market in Balham High Street at the weekend. Enjoy!

Monday, September 03, 2007

Goodbye Olly Olson. Was nice knowin' ya.




Sad to report that after just a few months, Scandanavian hot dog pioneer Olly Olson has shut up shop.

Despite being in a great location (and my numerous visits), they seemed to have had trouble attracting customers in large numbers to the store.

They never really promoted the hot dogs that well and the whole concept - from the name to the look of the store - never really clicked. The quality of the actual hot dogs was variable too, and they were presented almost as curiosities, rather than as tasty food to be enjoyed. Whilst the Swedish Korv was memorably good, something just didn't work there.

Ah well, the choice for hot dogs in London just got smaller.

Olly Olson Review 1

Olly Olson Review 2