Sausage sarnie kings are crowned
8 July 2008
Father and son butchers from Sherburn in Elmet, Cyril and Graham Starkey, have been named as the 'sausage sarnie' kings of Yorkshire.
Graham Starkey (left) with Grant Burton
The hard-fought accolade was bestowed on them today (8 July) at the Great Yorkshire Show following a quest by the North East NFU to find the best Yorkshire sausage to make the ultimate sandwich.
The search was launched as part of the NFU's centenary celebrations and resulted in a journey of more than 400 miles round some of the region's best butchers, farm shops and small farm producers.
In total 16 sausages from producers scattered the length and breadth of Yorkshire -from Huddersfield to Pickering and Settle to the Sea - were bought by an NFU mystery shopper, the aim being to test a range of 'every day' products, not sausages made especially for competition.
Following two rounds of judging, Cyril and Graham's product was judged to be the best, with the Silver Award going to Farmer Copley's Farm Shop located just outside Pontefract and the Bronze Award given to Elite Meats of Harrogate.
Graham Starkey represented the family business at the presentation ceremony, collecting a hand crafted wrought iron 'frying pan' trophy, made by Yorkshire wrought ironsmith, James Godbold.
He said he was delighted to have won recognition for the quality of their sausages - all of which are freshly made on their Sherburn premises using top quality British pork and natural casings.
"We are a traditional family butchers, with three generations of the family currently working in the shop," he said.
"As members of the Guild of Q Butchers, we pride ourselves on the quality of our product, so there's no doubt this award will take pride of place on the shop wall."
The job of tasting all the sausage entries fell to a panel of six judges representing the NFU, Yorkshire Agricultural Society, Regional Food Group Yorkshire and Humber and Ladies in Pigs plus the renowned York chef, Michael Hjort.
Selecting the winners was no mean feat says NFU judge, regional director Richard Ellison. "Our stamina for sausage tasting was certainly tested to the full, but what amazed me was just how different they all were. Tasting such a huge variety of flavours and textures I was struck by the creativity of our producers who are undoubtedly in search of perfection.
"In the end we were looking for a sausage that was succulent and had great flavour, because whether you prefer brown or white bread, brown sauce or tomato ketchup, it's the quality of the sausage that makes for a great sausage sarnie."
The results were announced by NFU member and York sausage producer, Grant Burton, who helped devise and organise the competition.
Commenting, Grant said that the competition was intended as a fun way of promoting the quality of Yorkshire produce. "We know that people are increasingly interested in sourcing local produce and as it happens Yorkshire is a hot bed of sausage producers - each of them with their own unique take on what makes the perfect banger," he said.
"It seemed fitting therefore in our centenary year to celebrate this diversity and at the same time pay tribute to the great sausage sarnie - a real local delicacy."
