Sausages and pies from around the county were under scrutiny from a panel of expert judges at the Great Hampshire Sausage & Pie Competition organised by Hampshire Fare.
The contest attracted 196 entries from 29 butchers. Categories included Traditional Pork Sausage, Speciality Pork Sausage, Charcuterie, Meatballs and Faggots, Black Pudding, Hampshire Sausage and new for this year, Young Sausage Maker.
A panel of 12 professional judges and 12 local guest judges. They assessed 13 categories looking at texture and structure, taste and smell, appearance and colour and ease of cutting. Frances Slade from Ladies in Pigs, judged the Speciality Sausage Category and was impressed by the entries: “The standard of this year’s entries has been excellent. We’ve had to be really critical to find fault. I’m really pleased to have had the opportunity to be involved in the competition.”An impressive 90 Gold Awards, 58 Silver Awards and 29 Bronze Awards were presented with trophies going to one winner in each category.
Owton’s Butchers were ther Hampshire Champions in the Black Pudding Category. Regarding the win Rob Owton said: “We have been developing our Black Pudding over the last year after being approached by Fullers Brewery to create the product for their houses. We have had a few attempts and are over the moon to have the validation from the judges that this is indeed the best in Hampshire”.
Owton’s Farm Shops, traditional butchers have traded in the Southampton area for 35 years and have now expanded to over the last three years. With three shops and a fourth opening in March 2014, Owton’s are confident about the independent sector. The three stores are located at Chalcroft farm West End Southampton, Kimbridge Farm Shop Nr Romsey, Garson’s Garden Centre Titchfield and Country Market Bordon opens later this year.
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.
