Every region in the UK seems to have its own variety of great sausages – it’s almost a staple British food, and for good reason!
Norfolk is no different in this, having a tradition of great sausage making which will stand up there with the best of them – as a free-range food producer myself I think I know a good banger when I see one!
What makes top Norfolk sausages?
Unsurprisingly, you can’t make a great sausage without great raw ingredients, which is why our new meat subscription has been so well received!
The best Norfolk sausage producers rear and use their own good pork as a starting point, or source from local Norfolk farmers.
You can also make good, specialty sausages with ‘Rare Breed’ meat – using ‘Rare Breed’ Pork rather than the conventional British Pork tastes different due to what the animal has been eating all year.
For example, free-range pork that is reared in woodlands has a distinctive flavour to its meat, different from pork raised in open fields and something you’ll notice when trying them side by side.
It then comes down to the producer having a good taste for spices and flavouring that they can use to create top awarding winning Norfolk sausages.
What alternatives to the traditional pork sausage are there?
You can make sausages from most meats, as long as you can get the fat content in there.
Sausages are made from off-cuts of pork after it’s been butchered for it choice cuts, which are then ground up to release fat which helps bind the sausage meat and helps cook the sausage in its own natural oil.
I would recommend Sutton Hoo Chickens who do a lovely Chicken sausage, although it should be noted that they contain a small amount of pork to help bind the meats.
(I also spoke a bit about Sutton Hoo Chickens in this recent post about Norfolk and Suffolk food producers).
You can also get these types of meats used in locally produced speciality sausages available at local food fairs and farmers markets too:
- Duck
- Venison
- Turkey and also Smoked Turkey
- Venison
It’s worth asking your butcher if they do any alternatives to pork sausages, you might find they do some really interesting ones that you previously weren’t aware of!
What are my personal favourite sausage producers?
In addition to the lovely chicken sausages mentioned above, other producers I would highly recommend as personal favourites are:
- Papworth Butchers are an award winning butchers with shops in Fakenham, Swaffham, Sheringham and North Walsham who are known for their ‘Champion’ Sausages.
- Archers Butchers in Norwich, another great butchers and a regular winner of Norfolk’s ‘Battle of the Bangers’ competition – and not without good reason, their sausages are simple and delicious!
Where do you get your favourite sausages?
If you have a favourite sausage or sausage producer but I haven’t mentioned I’d love to hear about them – get in touch and let me know!