Our sausage
safari around Heacham continues, and this week we’re visiting Howard’s
butchers, which you will find on the High Street. Just across from the Post
Office (maybe, memory not so good at my advanced old age). The area is predominantly residential streets
so you should be able to find somewhere to park quite easily while you pop
inside for some great meats. It’s not
just meat though, check the pic further down, Howard’s sell a really good range
of very local sauces, fruit, juices, pickles, etc.
Now, the
name Howard’s may be familiar to you if you’ve been Rating The Sausage for a
long time. We have rated sausages from a
Howard’s before – not this one but the shop in Gayton, a few miles out of
King’s Lynn. We absolutely loved their Howards Pork Sausages, and the review contains the phrase “six year old Junior
Sidekick”. He’s ten now, we’ve been
doing this for a while then! Two Howard’s butchers? Is there a connection you
eagerly ask? Yes there is! The Howard
name comes from Old Farmer Howard, who ploughed Norfolk’s green and pleasant
landscape for many years. Sadly Old Farmer Howard passed away two years
ago. But if nothing else, his legacy of
Most Excellent butcher shops is something he would be extremely proud of. There’s rivalry between Heacham and Gayton
outfits – Heacham tell me that everyone at Gayton is hirsutely challenged (i.e.
bald as a coot). This is a direct quote from Richard Howard, boss of the
Heacham shop! Are you going to put up with that, Gayton?
Family fun-feuding aside, you’ll receive a wonderful warm
welcome here. And, best of all, there’s a stunning, hot girlie behind the
counter. Yes, we’re getting all chauvinistic here, but you Have to check out
this complete hottie. Brenda is an ex Heacham Carnival Queen. She is
delicious! But enough of the background
information that you, the readers, love so much, here’s what we thought of
their bangers:
Meat
Content:
70%. This little piggy put his heart and soul into
these sausages, not to mention the more traditional and higher quality cuts of
pork which we know go to making a good banger, such as arse, belly and
shoulders. His sacrifice is greatly to our benefit. These taste MEATY (capitals intended), which
in itself is a good thing, and it’s a neat trick when Howard’s claim a healthy
but not record-breaking 70% pork content.
Flavour:
Simply put,
“sweet and meaty”. Really rather
splendid. I’ve no idea why they’re
called “Heritage” though, I don’t “think” it’s an ages old recipe. Maybe it’s simply clever marketing? I tried to work out where the sweetness was
coming from....sweet basil? Nutmeg? The flavour is tenderly light on the palate
and it’s a brilliant contrast with the rough and ready, agricultural texture.
Nice!
Texture:
Huge shock. Grainy, almost gravel-y, this is by far the
best texture of 2013 so far. The sausage
filling is on the dry side, which simply serves to emphasise the component
pieces of meat. You can’t push your fork easily through these babies, compare
and contrast with the bloody awful Iceland sausages that we tried so hard to
eliminate. Top marks Howard’s, bloody lovely.
Shrinkage:
Average
weight uncooked - 71g
Average
weight cooked - 55g
Shrinkage -
23%
Unimpressive
stats for an otherwise superb banger.
Value For
Money:
£2.61 for 6
sausages, weighing 424g - this works out as a price of £6.16 per kg, or 44p per
snorker. That’s kind of bang in the
middle of this year’s range of prices, but you have a Champions League sausage
for that money. I can only rate Howard’s
(of Heacham)’s Heritage sausage as bloody fantastic value for money/ Bravo!
The Bisto
Factor:
There
wasn’t much going on in the olfactory department when I fried these
beauties. But there was plenty going on
in the “you ain’t gonna eat ME, sucka!” department. These are Feisty sausages., in that they have
apparently evolved a self-defence capability - they spit Extremely Molten,
Liquid Fat. Straight at you. Wherever
you stand the jet of lava-like fat comes straight for you, it’s uncanny, and obviously
deliberate. These sausages spit more often, and further, than the front row at
a Stiff Little Fingers gig.
Through A
Child’s Eyes:
No chance
matey, these were all long gone before Junior Sidekick could even get a sniff!
Stan-Watch:
Success!
There was a Stan in action, and, brilliantly, the Stan was hailed to come and
talk sausages! Stan makes the bangers at this excellent little butcher’s shop,
and you’ll be able to spot him as he’s the only (male) member of staff with a
full head of hair. We like to call it “Stan Fluff”.
And
Finally, Esther:
Superb
sausages. Please go and buy some as soon
as you can....
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