New World Te Rapa in Hamilton and Zaroa Meats in Auckland have been announced as the Supreme Award joint winners in the 2022 Great New Zealand Sausage Competition. Successful winners of the 25th Great New Zealand Sausage Competition were announced at a Sausage Mixer, with butchers from across the nation gathering.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all. I wasn’t expecting to win gold to start with let alone this.W e 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,” said Porsche Davis, of New World Te Rapa.
“My father is the mastermind behind the supreme salami, he’s been designing the most incredible sausages for years now and when he created this Wagyu and Venison Salami we knew it was special. It’s a taste sensation,” said Marc Zabern of Zaroa Meats.
The competition received over 530 entries from 93 butcheries. The journey to supreme status for the winning sausages was a long and rigorous process, beginning with an initial five days of category judging back in August. The judging panel made up of a squad of butchers, foodies, chefs and industry heavyweights, whittled entries down to the top-scoring sausages. From there, gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in each category with the gold medallists then being re-judged against one another with the joint supreme winners both receiving the perfect score.
“There were probably about four or five sausages that really stood out at the supreme judging, so there was much discussion and re-tasting 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,” said Felicity O’Driscoll, Competition judge from Cook The Books.
Chef Billy Cosgrave Cooking the Sausages
All entries are judged on their aroma – both raw and cooked – appearance, texture and finally the most important – the taste. The joint winners had it all and should be very proud of the products they have produced,” said judge Greig Buckley of Kai Foods.
2022 Supreme Award - Joint Winners:
New World Te Rapa, Hamilton, Pork Sausage - Dunninghams Pork Category
Zaroa Meats, Auckland, Aoraki Salami, Pohutukawa Smoked Venison & Black Origin Wagyu Beef - Continental Ready-to-Eat Category
2022 People’s Choice Award Winner:
Westmere Butcher, Auckland, Wagyu Beef - Kiwi Labels Gourmet Beef Category
