Sausages being cooked in the 2022 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition. Photo: Supplied
Two butchers are sharing top honours in the competition for best sausage in New Zealand.
New World Te Rapa's pork sausage and Auckland's Zaroa Meats Aoraki Salami have been crowned joint winners of the Supreme Award at the 2022 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition.
Judges were unanimous that both had all the qualities they were looking for to take the top spot over hundreds of other entries.
More than 530 sausages from 93 butcheries were entered this year, after last year's competition was cancelled due to lockdowns.
New World Te Rapa spokesperson Porsche Davis said she wasn't expecting to take the supreme award.
When asked about the secret to their winning sausage, Davis wasn't giving anything away.
"We did recently update our pork sausage recipe, it's made from New Zealand pork but I can't reveal any trade secrets, you have to try it to understand!"
Competition judge Felicity O'Driscoll of Cook The Books said there were some really outstanding entries this year and whittling it down to the supreme winner was quite a difficult task.
"There were probably about four or five sausages that really stood out at the supreme judging, so there was much discussion and retasting on the day.
"At the end though, it came down to some really fine details between the contenders with both winners deserving the joint title of supreme sausage maker."
Fellow judge Greig Buckley of Kai Foods said the judges were looking for well-made sausages with the right combination of quality ingredients that would appeal to the market.
"All entries are judged on their aroma - both raw and cooked - appearance, texture and finally the most important - the taste."
The winners had it all and should be very proud of the products they have produced, he said.