In the late summer of 2020 I managed to escape for a few days to the scenic North Yorkshire coast. A jolly nice time was had by all, and of course I brought home some sausages.
The area has a wealth of proper butchers and we visited quite a few. There was always a warm welcome, and the customer service was invariably excellent. We heard stories of uncovered beautiful Victorian tiles, nationally famous pies, products named by TV viewers, and even a delivery sheep, so please do have a chat with staff when you pop into any of the outlets around the Yorkshire Coast – you may be amazed with something you hear and the butchers love retelling their tales (but I will not be held responsible for the occasional embellishment or complete myth!).
Where To Find Them:
Visit the small but perfectly-formed fishing village of Filey and when you're done with the beach, the chippy and the penny arcade head for Union Street. You can't miss this attractive, eye-catching butcher's shop with its blue and white awning and colour-coordinated bollard and butcher's bike. Smashing. If you're using SausNav type in YO14 9DZ. Be careful if you're parking close by, the traffic wardens appear to be very predatory.
Opening Hours:
During the COVID period daily opening hours are 0700 to 1500, but “when it's all over” this should revert to the following:
Monday – 0700 to 1700
Tuesday – 0700 to 1700
Wednesday – 0700 to 1600
Thursday – 0700 to 1700
Friday – 0700 to 1700
Saturday – 0700 to 1600
Sunday – Closed
Also bear in mind that Collings close for a winter break each year, from mid-January to the start of February. All right for some eh!
If you're new to Rate My Sausage a Stan is a member of staff who potters around in the background when you visit, usually with a handful of absolutely lethal looking knives. Scary. At Collings we saw a good selection of stans working hard to provide Filey with its quality meat products, nice.
Flavour:
Although labelled as Plain Pork, these were a mixture of pork and beef, which I forgot until I tasted them. At first bite I thought there was some kind of problem, the flavour was not what I was expecting, it was deeper and more salty Checking the notes from the shop there it was, pork and beef! The flavour is pleasant and ever so savoury as it stands but personally I do prefer just one meat to be included. A pork banger tends to be nice and sweet, beef darker and hotter. These sausages are good though, and in a league many, many levels above the likes of the bloody awful Richmonds rubbish.
Texture:
Short and stout is what you get, much like me. These sausages take on slightly different shapes and sizes in the pan, which we love. The skins are great, they are natural (meaning no splitting at the first touch of heat) and give that authentic “cutting into a proper banger” pleasure. The filling is crumbly with decent sized lumps of filling, as always we crave a coarser texture but most people don't. A slight down point is the weight loss during cooking which seems on the high side, but that's just a minor criticism of an otherwise cracking product.
Vital Statistics:
Average Weight Uncooked = 74 grams
Average Weight Cooked = 52 grams
Meat Content = 75 %
The meat content of these particular sausages is an equal split between pork and beef, although the shop can vary these numbers according to individual customer requests.
Value For Money:
£3.20 for 6 sausages weighing 446 grams. This works out as £7.17 per kg and 53p per banger.
We rate this as very good value for money.
The "Aah, Bisto" Factor:
A decent aroma emanated from these sausages, certainly enough to make your mouth water more than a bag full of Opal Fruits.
And Finally, Esther:
Lovely, homely, filling bangers. Buy some!
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