Sausage Competition #Blog

Lisa Edwards
21st February 2017

I cannot imagine why our Sausage Competition is so popular with the judges! Can you?

This year we had 10, yes 10 judges. And with 13 Plain sausages and 13 Flavoured sausages to taste and judge it was no mean feat!

Once the first of the Plain Sausages had been expertly cooked in the Now Food Centre, Chester University kitchens by our own Taste Cheshire Development Chef, Gaile Wundke, they were trollied into the judging room where Briony Wilson – Chair of the Judges, opened the competition for judging.

The Judges were:-

Gavin Matthews – Dee 106.3, Izzy Grey – We Love Cheshire, Mark Jarvis – The Chesterfields, Jeff George – NoW Food Centre, Steve Vaughan – Vaughans Butchers, Ruth Storrey – Allington Hughes, Michael Muter – Master Sausage Critic, Jake Wundke – our youngest, but most important judge, Henry Sidsaph – Chester Uni Research Student, Ross Gaskell – Taste Cheshire Judge.

The judges scored each sausage by appearance, texture and taste. They all commented that it was an extremely close competition and the standards were higher than they have known previously.

The scores were then added together and checked by Briony before totting up all 10 judges scores and announcing the finalists in each category.

The Finalists in the Plain Sausage category are:-

Cottom Foods of Widnes

Hawarden Estate Farm Shop, Hawarden

David Joinson, Chester

Ernest W Edge & Son, Handbridge

The Finalists in the Flavoured Sausage category are:-

Cottom Foods of Widnes 

R F Burrows, Tarporley 

Pen y Lan Pork 

The flavoured sausages in the Final are:-

Old English Sausage

Caramelised Onion Sausage

Pork and Chilli Sausage

A huge congratulations to all the finalists. The final will take place at the Chester Food, Drink and Lifestyle Festival on Easter Sunday 16 April at 10am and the judges are you – the audience.