Arthur Howells - Wells-next-the-sea - Wells Smuggler Sausage

Arthur Howell is a north Norfolk legend.  His butchery business is considered by many to be the very best for miles around, and it’s hard to find a case against.  I visited on an early autumnal day last October, and the welcome I was given was wonderful, and will remain in my memory for a very long time.  RMS will be writing a LOT more about Arthur and his empire shortly, but for now I’m concentrating on his “Wells Smuggler” sausages.  The display of sausages inside the shop is a delight, as you can see, and the superb scenery and views in and around Wells are not to be missed either (see sample pic), and there are some top notch fish and chip shops just around the corner on the quayside to top you up at dinner time.

There’s a very good Howell’s website for you to browse in the warmth of your own living room:

Howell's Website

As it turned out, “Smuggler” is a very good name for these bangers, outwardly respectable and normal, the kind of sausage you’d be happy to have as a next-door neighbour....but under the surface lurks a secret devilment that you don’t want to mess with....find out more....

Meat Content:

Outstanding.  And, considering the provenance of the pork, that’s no big surprise.  All the animals are sourced from farms within a stone’s throw of Wells-next-the-sea, and unloaded direct into the yard at the rear of the shop.  From there it’s a twenty metre voyage through the EEC-approved abattoir until the pigs are converted into brilliant sausages.  As well as all the other fabulous porky products that Howell’s offer, of course.

Flavour:

To start it’s a deep, low, serious taste.  Sage (lots), the pork holds its own valiantly and tastily, there’s a nostalgic, wartime flavour somehow.  The sausage maker gives you a two-stage sausage here – after that initial trip down memory lane there’s a bang up to date peppery pummeling from the hot stuff.  Typically English, the spicy flavour waits patiently until Dad’s Army makes way, then marches in to steal the show.  Black pepper, cayenne pepper, mace, all seem to join forces ready to add a real kick as you savour this tasty sausage.

Texture:

Have a look at the six slice picture – it was quite tricky to take as the sausages wanted to fall apart.  This is a Very Good Thing (and a good reason to bin the six slice photos, that you, “the readers”, voted to keep last year).  You don’t have to push these sausages apart, just ask nicely and the filling dives apart like deliciously porky shrapnel.  The filling is a little dryer than the average banger – that’s not a criticism, simply an observation – maybe it’s something to do with the nice blend of pepper included.  Not far from perfection, texture-wise, if only the filling was, say, twice as coarse.  Then, good grief, I’d be in sausagey heaven.

Shrinkage: 

Average weight uncooked - 68g

Average weight cooked - 51g

Shrinkage - 25%

That’s one area that could improve these sausages....they’re so nice that it’s a shame to lose a quarter in the pan....

Value For Money:

£2.95 for four sausages, weighing 410g - this works out as a price of £7.20 per kg, or 74p per snorker.  All in all these sausages are officially rated as very good value for money.

Through A Child’s Eyes – combined with - The Imaginatively Titled Next Day Cold Sausage Test:

Junior Sidekick wasn’t here for the first tasting, but he was for the cold bangers.  “I’ll put myself through it,” he manfully sighed, and after he tried one, “I’ll give it seven out of ten.  It’s got a bit of a kick in it.”  Wise words from the nine-year-old food reviewer.  These sausages are just as good cold as they are hot, albeit a little less spicy.  And the remaining spice seems to have transferred its target from the throat to the roof of your mouth, interesting!

Opening Hours:

Monday: 0800 - 1730

Tuesday: 0800 - 1730

Wednesday: 0800 - 1730

Thursday: 0800 - 1730

Friday: 0800 - 1730

Saturday: 0800 - 1730

Sunday: 0930 – 1230 (winter only, longer in the summer)

And Finally, Esther:

Take yourself off to Wells as soon as you can, to grab some of Arthur’s Wells Smuggler bangers, they’re a real treat.  I wouldn’t recommend them for youngsters, but you can ask the staff to choose you an alternative banger for the kids.  It’s a fabulous little town with an awesome butcher – highly recommended!

British Sausage Week - Sausage Mash-Up with Old English Sausages by Arthur Howell’s of Wells-next-the-sea

It's British Sausage Week 2012, and every day we're trying out one of Al Murray's official BSW recipes, using some fabulous sausages that we've chosen especially for the job.  It's Monday and we're kicking off our culinary crusade by trying out some Old English sausages from Howell's the butchers in Wells-next-the-sea as the star ingredient in Al's Sausage Mash-Up dish.

This is how the Rate My Sausage version looked.

And here’s how it “should” be done....(photo and recipe with kind permission of BPEX)....

Ingredients

• 454g (1lb) Pork and apple sausages
• 900g (2lb) Potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 1 x 15mlsp (1tbsp) Vegetable oil
• 2 Leeks, washed and cut into large chunks
• 2 Parsnips, peeled and cut into small cubes
• 1 x 15mlsp (1tbsp) Plain flour
• 300ml (½pt) Cider or apple juice
• 5 Fresh sage leaves, roughly torn
• Splash of milk
• Knob of butter
• 50g (2oz) Strong Cheddar style, hard cheese, grated

Method

• Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4, 180ºC, 350ºF.
• Place potatoes into a pan of boiling water and cook until tender.
• Heat oil in a large pan, add sausages and leeks. Cook until sausages are lightly browned.
• Add the parsnips and flour, mix well. Add the cider and stir until all the flour has mixed into the liquid and started to thicken slightly. Add sage leaves.
• Spoon into a shallow ovenproof dish.
• When tender drain potatoes, mash with a splash of milk and knob of butter. Add half of the cheese and stir through.
• Place in large spoonfuls onto the sausage mixture, but leaving some of the sausages and leeks to poke through (they will brown nicely if exposed). Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake in a preheated oven for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.
• Serve with additional seasonal green vegetables.

So how did I find the recipe?  I’ll say “ambiguous” to be polite, as following the method to the word produced very, very al dente vegetables.  I found that the leeks, if simply warmed in the pan with the sausages, were too hard, and the recipe also left the parsnips underdone.  Did I do it wrong?  Probably, as I’m not the world’s greatest cook.  When I revisit this recipe I’ll pre-cook the leeks and parsnips, and all should be just fine and dandy.  Oh, you may notice that I added baton carrots, which I DID pre-boil, and they were OK.

Mis-interpretation or not, how did it taste?  Rather good actually, even though I forgot to include the sage (bought it, chopped it, missed it out....it’s my age).   It’s a good dish for this time of year too, with the clocks going back and temperatures dropping mashed potato and winter veg are a great start.  There’s a sweet taste pervading this recipe thanks to the apple juice. Do you think that cider would give the same flavour?  Overall this is essentially halfway between sausage stew and bangers and mash, and that’s not such a bad thing....

What really saved this from disaster for me were the stars of the show, the Old English sausages from Arthur Howells butchers in Wells-next-the-sea.  Howells is a superb set-up, including a deli, wet fish shop and bakery in Wells itself, and other shops in nearby towns and villages – Rate My Sausage will be featuring Arthur’s empire in our forthcoming Fresh Friendly Fabulous Food series in the new year....but for now back to the bangers.

Straight away it’s worth mentioning that these sausages scored the highest total of any Old English we’ve ever tried.  Bravo!  They’re the second cheapest too, costing £7.20 per kg (47p per snorker), which makes them very good value for money.  The flavour is lower and deeper than most OE’s, very herby as you’d want, with a lot of nutmeg adding a hefty punch to the taste.  Gavin at the shop (Bilbo to his friends, although it’s unconfirmed whether he has hairy feet or not, or even a devastatingly powerful ring) told me that the recipe is a nod to the Lincolnshire sausage, full of arcane knowledge passed down through the ages. 

These are real bulldogs of sausages, which is appropriate for something with such traditional English pedigree, solid and lean and full of muscly menace.  They weighed just 11% less after cooking which is highly commendable and good for the budget.  The texture is excellent, tight-knit when encased inside the skin but scatters when the cutlery appears, like a gang of nine-year-olds does when borrowing apples from the vicar’s garden and the Reverend unexpectedly pops out of his greenhouse (especially the small kid in the red jumper with the white V-neck, who may or may not be me).

In summary, these are very good sausages to kick off British Sausage Week, let down a little by the recipe (obviously scrawny kids in red v-necks don’t grow up to be great chefs).

Rate My Sausage Star Verdict (out of five):

Recipe   * * *

Sausages   * * * * *