Worzals - Wisbech - Traditional Pork Sausage

“Ooo-arr, ooo-arr ay, ooo-arr, ooo-arr ay”.  Inspirational words from one of the most influential musical ensembles of our times.  Pink Floyd?  Phooey!  Sonic Youth?  Pah and Fie!  We’re talking The Wurzels, brilliantly fronted by the iconic Adge Cutler (until he had a disagreement with a roundabout while driving his MGB) .  And so it was with awe and trepidation that I ventured into their, errrrm, farm shop, near Wisbech.  Songs about scrumpy obviously don’t pay the bills well enough these days I thought.  Still, rock gods or not, I had to sample the Wurzels’ sausages....

Sadly the myth was well and truly busted as soon as I arrived.  It’s spelt “Worzals” for a start.  And there were no Boris Johnson lookalikes wearing white smocks with red neckers, swigging zyder from earthenware jugs.  And not a single combine harvester, brand new or otherwise, in sight.  Bugger.  In a bad mood already, their bangers had better be bloody well worth the disappointment.

Fortunately, Worzals turns out to be a rather decent farm shop, with no link whatsoever to the seminal rock band of the same name.  It’s just off the A47 at Wisbech, and quite easy to find, should you wish to do so.  How did their sausages rate?  Read on to find out the yokel-tastic truth....

Meat Content:

I have to admit to some trepidation when I laid these sausages out before cooking – they seemed limp and sadly lifeless, and I feared the worst.  I was wrong.  In the pan the bangers firmed up, filled out, and grew in stature.  The label tells the tale that there is 67% pork included – maybe so, but the entire make-up of the filling really produces an end product that you’d swear was nearer to 90% pure pig.  Arrr!

Flavour:

Fruity at first taste, there are so many flavours colliding.  There’s a fruity sweetness that may be provided by red and green peppers (you can see scraps of the peppers in some slices of the sausage), and a mildly spicy afterglow, courtesy of the very visible mustard seeds (I’m writing this without looking at the listed ingredients, let’s see how close I get).  Good quality juicy pork is the backdrop throughout, and the seasoning is low-key but adequate.  What else is going on?  I’m not expert enough to decipher everything, you’d need to ask Mister Stephen Plume, the Sausage King, to deploy his superior taste buds I’m afraid.  In summary.....”Cor!”

Texture:

These sausages all looked different as they were cooking which raised hopes that the texture would vary too.  I wasn‘t disappointed – what superb little creations Worzal’s have produced!  Delightfully firm when you cut straight through, and they simply melt into a million fabulous tiny pieces in the mouth.  What does Rate My Sausage like?  Firm, then crumbly, with a decent variety of smooth/chunky mouthfuls – Worzal’s Traditional Pork sausages fit the bill precisely.  Oooh-arrr indeed!

Shrinkage: 

Average weight uncooked - 58g

Average weight cooked - 47g

Shrinkage - 19%.  Again, a slight improvement on 2012’s best figure, but still not brilliant.  That’s a small criticism in this case, considering the quality on offer.

Value For Money:

£1.57, for four sausages, weighing 231g - this works out as a price of £6.80 per kg, or 39p per snorker.  Worzal’s have created sausages here that represent good value for money.  Next time you are anywhere near Wisbech you have to buy some.  Seriously good vfm.

The Bisto Factor:

Mouth-watering is the only way to describe the delicious aroma filling the air while Worzal’s sausages were in the pan!  It was a severe temptation to cut short the frying time just to taste them.

Opening Hours:

Check out the picture and plan your visit!  Wear wellies, smell of ordure, and chew on some straw for a discount.