[dave k]

Yeah, that old chestnut ;)

I've tried plenty now & have even had some halfway decent ones in amongst the bad...but to tell you the truth I was ready to throw in the towel and admit defeat.

But then.....EPIPHANY!!! :clap

I was at the NZ Food show in Wellington on Saturday & happened to chance on a stall promoting the meat products of a certain Wallace Harmony company. They do a line of sausages beyond compare...easily the best I've had over here. The one I tried was a German-style Weisswurst and was just to die for!
Had a brief chat with the guy at the stall & he explained how much of a labour of love his products were...all organic, best quality ingredients & so on.

I did a quick check on the net to see if you could get em online..but the site is still under construction.

Here's a sample ...

........"Purchased in 2004 this plant, based in Paeroa, produces a wide range of organic and traditional meat products from beef, lamb, pigs and venison. Free range farm raised pigs are processed and sold under the ECO PORK label.

Many different traditional smallgoods and cured products are also produced including salami’s, dry cured bacon, Black Forest Ham and a large variety of sausages."

So, if you see them anywhere...you gotta try.

And let me know too.

[GeorgeM]

Speaking of German-style sausages - I don't know how good their products are, but in Chch we have a company who describe themselves as The Wurst Butchers.

[Moorf]

Our fav sausie brand is Hellers and I believe these are branded differently up north - and they are made in Paeroa so perhaps the same ones! :P

Hellers also do a great Bratwurst and a Lamb one to die for :nice1

George - if you go to the Arts Centre market at the weekend there is a GREAT German sausage/wurst stand.. yummmmmmmm (it's not the Wiener one - it's the small one with lots of hanging meats).

[dave k]

Speaking of German-style sausages - I don't know how good their products are, but in Chch we have a company who describe themselves as The Wurst Butchers.

:mrgreen:

Classic!

[Mildred]

and a Lamb one to die for

Well that's how it became a sausage :?

[Diny]

Oh my gawd ....... a lamb sausage !!!!!!

P U K E !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Diny

[Carol]

you can even get Lamb and mint sauce ones Diny...... :uhoh

I love thew London Pride ones...NO idea who makes 'em - I just buy "em and eat 'em!
:nice1

[Simon & Emily]

Diny - you don't know what you are missing. Lamb and mint sauce sassages are really good. Honest. (But I suppose that depends on the make as well. :uhoh )

Emily

[baboonworld]

call me cheap - but I just love (and miss) the cheesey Sizzlers from Walls!!! Great for kids too!

Have you tried the local butcher - they should be nice.

[Junnifer USA]

Hello,
I just quit my job at hellers. The fresh product is made in Christchurch. Other items may come out ouf the Ak area. But for any Americans, you will know what I mean... they all have that strange kiwi sausage flavor!

Oh well...

Great bacon available though... and the "Canadian style" bacon that I grew up with also!

Jennifer

[Lil]

Junnifer said:
... they all have that strange kiwi sausage flavor!


I think the strange flavour you describe is lamb. Every kind of sausage seems to contain lamb or beef. Lamb in pork sausages, Lamb in Beef Sausages, Lamb in every kind of sausage.

So Diny if the idea of lamb sausages makes you PUKE, best you steer well clear. :laugh

[Carol]

Great bacon available though... Jennifer


there is?

:exit

[Wooba]

Hello,

Great bacon available though... and the "Canadian style" bacon that I grew up with also!

Jennifer

Excuse my ignorance Junnifer, but what is Canadian bacon?
You hear about it in movies and such.. but bacon here is GARBAGE. I mean, cheap cuts of fat that have to be nuked to be edible.
Are we exporting all the good stuff to the Americans??

[Diny]

Sorry folks ..... lamb of any description just about turns my stomach, but processed lamb in a sausage is enough to turn me inside out.

OMG .... visions of those things full of tubes and twangy bits that my mother in law served up are now creeping into my mind .... what a way to start the day.

I'm not a great meat lover at all really so steering clear of any kind of NZ meat product won't be too much of a hardship for me.

Oooh yukkkk .... lamb sausages http://www.websmileys.com/sm/obscene/eck15.gif

[Junnifer USA]

Good Grief, never thought my 2 month part-time stint at Hellers would give me any useful knowledge!

Anyhow, Canadian Bacon is not generally available anymore in the US. WHat was called canadian bacon is roughly the equivelent to "middle bacon" or a center cut bacon. It is available here in NZ, and the higher end cuts are very lean.

Sometimes you will see a package of :'economy bacon'... as it is called by Hellers. It is very fatty. To get anything edible out of it you would have to trim 50-70% of it off before cooking. (They give it away to employees... and we ate it only once.) It is actually made from scraps that were not packaged correctly in other bacon products.

What AMericans are used to in bacon is called "Streaky Bacon" in NZ. It is very fatty by my standards and would be the equivelent on a low end US bacon.

Hope that helps!
Jennifer

[miep]

Dave,

If the Harmony brand I buy is the same as what you've tasted, I've got some good news; Moore Wilson's (who else!) sell it! Its in the far corner of the meat section against the wall, they have pork, beef, very tasty ham and some sausages which I haven't tried yet. MW also sell gipsy bacon by Harringtons which is dry cured and comes in a piece rather than sliced so you can dice it, great with sauerkraut! :nice1
Another good place is the Dutch shop in Petone, they sell blackforest beef and ham, frosen sausages and great smoked (streaky) bacon dry cured ofcourse. They are supplied by the Blackforest butchery in Tauranga http://www.blackforestgourmet.co.nz/
When I was in Tauranga I went by with a chilly bin and bought as much as much as I could, even sausages (severe case of gristle phobia here :uhoh ) and I thought they were great, very flavoursome and no scary bits. They told me you can order via the web but I haven't tried that yet because the Dutch shop is so nearby.
The island bay butcher is the most famous butcher in Welly for sausage but I expect them to be Kiwi style and haven't tried them yet.
The South african shop (also in Petone) sell lots of good stuff too, including ofcourse Boerewors which is worth trying.

Have fun shopping! :mrgreen:

[GeorgeM]

For good sausages in Chch try the Traiteur in Merivale (where else with a name like that?) or Elite Meats in the Bush Inn Centre.

For decent bacon the Traiteur is good as is the butchers opposite Supervalue in Edgeware Rd St Albans (can't remember the name).

All a bit more pricey than PaknSave etc, but yer get what yet pays fer...

[Lil]

I'm pleased to report my sausage findings for today were on "Special Offer" in Foodtown - Signature Range "Alpine Pork" Sausages. Not a speck of lamb in them, just pork with no scabby, lumpy / grisly yukky bits! I cooked them in the oven, they were lovely and hardly any fat came out of them at all - definitely worth a try.

[Moorf]

I'm now turning into a sausage anorak - I surveyed the sausages in Woollies - Hellers range - and except for the lamb sausages, NONE of the others had any lamb filler etc in them! And they were 65-70% meat. Blackball range has slightly more % of meat.

I did have a "Diny puke" moment on Sunday though - having trawled around most of the DIY stores in Chch looking for wooden curtain rings I got peckish and succumbed to buying a sausage wrapped in a bread slice from outside of Mitre 10 (some charity raising sausage sizzle). I smothered it in ketchup, jumped into the car, starting driving and bit into it - it was disgusting... all lumps of fat and tubes .. oh god, here comes my lunch.... :exit

[dave k]

Dave,

If the Harmony brand I buy is the same as what you've tasted, I've got some good news; Moore Wilson's (who else!) sell it! Its in the far corner of the meat section against the wall...:

Hehehe! Found em yesterday in there :P

And then read your post today :laugh
And they also had a spesh offer on Eco pork fillet, so grabbed some of that too :nice1

Also, just discovered the other bit of MW..the cash n' carry warehouse bit with the cookware & stuff upstairs! Wow, can this shop get any better?

[Diny]

I did have a "Diny puke" moment on Sunday though - having trawled around most of the DIY stores in Chch looking for wooden curtain rings I got peckish and succumbed to buying a sausage wrapped in a bread slice from outside of Mitre 10 (some charity raising sausage sizzle). I smothered it in ketchup, jumped into the car, starting driving and bit into it - it was disgusting... all lumps of fat and tubes .. oh god, here comes my lunch....

Not laughing too much at that Moorf :laugh Now then .... can you imagine if that was your first experience of NZ sausages, and you were abit 'tickle stomached' about meat products anyway? Can you now understand my sausage phobia?

By the way ...... brilliant bit of info about the wooden curtain rings. I'm bringing a massive box load with me because I know they never include enough with the poles and they can be abit pricey to buy extra. Thanks for that :nice1

Back onto sausages now.

Diny

[Moorf]

When I eventually found some, the right size etc, they were unstained and cost $9.75 for SIX!!

:eek

So yeah, bring all you can get your paws on!

And yes, I can very much appreciate your hatred of NZ sausages, but believe me, they are the cheapie ones and there are some really nice ones around :nice1

Mind you, I still won't touch canned friut after a bad experience when I was 10!! :laugh

[Diny]

Mind you, I still won't touch canned friut after a bad experience when I was 10!!

Do tell ??????

Reminds me of a report I read once about how 20 cans of tomatoes were tested. 18 of them contained a whole (or part of) maggot !!!!!!!

Yummmmmmmm.

Diny

[Hannah-NL]

Thanks, just as I was starting to feel like a snack of this or that I read this, you saved me!!

[Nic in NZ]

just thought i would let you all know we had some Hellers London Pride sausages tonight for tea.
They were fantastic just like english ones.
So from no on i will be buying them just hope they have a regular supply otherwise i am going to have to stock up.

Nicola

[Moorf]

Traiteur have a website with online shop :nice1

http://www.traiteur.co.nz/

[nessie]

Traiteur have a website with online shop :nice1

http://www.traiteur.co.nz/

*licking lips*

F

[nessie]

I've just started a new subfolder in my NZ favourites for food ;)

Great link from Traiteur to the Spice of Life where you can get Ras al Hanout, for Moroccan tagines, and jerk seasoning and loads of other great spices and for a 200 g jar good value too :nice1

[Moorf]

I might also give these guys a try - lots of sausages and meats etc :nice1

http://www.janssens.co.nz/index.php?action=list&category=10001

:clap They do emmental and gruyere too so whew I will be able to use the fondue set here :laugh :nice1

[Moorf]

Err, that janssens isn't such a good site for us on S. Island if their delivery cost to me of .5kg emmental was $27.50!!!!

[miep]

Janssens is great, the Dutch shop here used to sell some of their stuff, but very expensive.
It's also worth knowing that the Emmenthal and Gruyere they sell most likely comes from the south island!
I think its made by either Meyer or Karikaas which I think are both located in Canterbury.
I think Verkerks in Chch also sell cheese, you could try there.
In Welly we can get the real deal (ie imported from Switserland) at Moore Wilsons and some supermarkets but the ones I mentioned above are really nice and much cheaper.

:cheers Miep