Sausages time honoured stable of the BBQ!

As we stride ahead into the ever temperamental British Summer, we lovingly welcome the BBQ back into our culinary repertoire. Come rain or shine many a mealtime will now be spent rescuing bits of unidentifiable char grilled food from the flaming pits of the BBQ. Of course no menu is complete without the time-honoured king of the BBQ – the sausage!

The sausage has an impressive history which started at least 5,000 years ago in Sumeria (modern day Iraq), it had its first literary mention more than 2700 years ago in The Odyssey written by Homer and by 900 BC the ancient Greeks had adopted the sausage as one of their favourite snacks, readily available from sausage sellers in the aisles of amphitheatres. It is no wonder with such a lengthy history that today’s recipes vary greatly, using different meats, spices and binders. Pork based sausages are still the most popular, however consumers are increasingly attracted to those made from less traditional sources including beef, lamb, chicken and game sausages, such as the Suffolk venison ones produced by the Wild Meat Company.

In the UK there are hundreds of local variations. For instance the Newmarket sausage was a first class product traditionally made for a wealthy market with higher meat content. It is still produced using traditional recipes from the 19th Century by Musks and Powters – both still based in Suffolk’s famous horse-racing town. The Cambridge sausage contained rice as a filler instead of breadcrumb and is still produced to this recipe by Procters. In fact there are something like 470 recipes and flavours for sausages in Britain and if you take into account all the different variations from butchers across the country you could eat a different British sausage every day for ten years. The reputation of the sausage continues to change over time. It has become increasingly trendy with restaurants, pubs and cafés now paying homage to the sausage, giving this humble staple undoubted sophistication.

The sector as a whole has seen a notable shift towards premium positioning as more consumers begin to demand products made from high quality traceable meat, hand reared and produced in traditional methods, such as the sausages available from Great Garnett Farm or Priors Hall Farm.

British sausages even have their own fan club, the British Sausage Appreciation Society, which has over 7,000 members. British Sausage Week will be happening from 3rd - 9th November as fans up and down the country celebrate sausages. During this week of celebrations the winners will be announced of the Great Suffolk Sausage Competition 2008 organised by the Swan in Lavenham.
Visit our website for more details on local sausage producers and where to buy.

Julie West is Tastes of Anglia’s Chief Executive, the region’s food promotion group.
T: 01473 785883