BBC presenter Chris Evans showed his support for UK Sausage Week today (30th October) when he interviewed this year’s UK Supreme Sausage Champion live on-air.
Tim Parker of Frank Parker Butchers in Nuneaton was interviewed on BBC Radio 2’s The Chris Evans Breakfast Show about UK Sausage Week and his winning Free Range Pork Breakfast Sausage.
Evans asked Tim about the history of the family business and how it is supported by the local community.
Tim said the family are always learning from their customers and the industry even 120 years down the line.
Evans went on to ask about the shop’s sausage machine and chipolata machine.
Tim said: “We bought an amazing automatic machine. The machine pops the sausages out but it is how we make the sausage before we get to that stage which is key.”
Evans was keen to discover the secret ingredient used in Frank Parker Butchers’ sausages but Tim remained tight-lipped.
He did reveal: “We use only the finest free-range pork from our two lovely suppliers. We use the best cuts and we use secret ingredients which have been passed through the shop over many, many years. The trick then is getting the right blend to sell to our lovely customers.”
Evans jokingly asked whether there is a secret ceremony in which secret ingredients are passed from generation to generation.
Tim replied: “It’s just a miracle. One day the children have the confidence to make a Frank Parker sausage and once they’ve got that the ingredients are passed towards them for them to keep hidden in the back of their minds until they retire.”
Tim’s chipolata machine can churn our 200 sausages per minute and will play a key part in the impending festive season.
“Our homemade pigs in blankets are to die for,” said Tim.
Evans said he always takes advice from the butcher when purchasing meat from a butcher’s shop and asked Tim to share to best way to cook bangers.
Tim replied: “I like to grill mine because I’m a healthy person, but it’s very popular to fry them. Probably, more taste comes from frying but grilling is the healthier way forward.”
He concluded with some true words of wisdom: “A good sausage doesn’t need pricking.”
To listen to the full interview, click here (and listen from 2 hours 11 minutes into the programme).
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
