Walsingham Farm Shop - Heacham - Trio of Sausages!

Three bangers in one review, it’s a first for Rate My Sausage and hopefully an enjoyable read for our loyal reader (thanks Barry).  We returned to Walsingham Farm Shop at Heacham to sample some of their more specialist varieties of sausage, after finding their simple Traditional Pork Sausage pretty good last year.  Michael wasn’t around on this occasion, but a very helpful Stan served us in a most polite and informative style.  In fact all the staff are super-friendly and seem happy to be there – it’s a lovely place to work.


Left to right you can see Tomato & Basil, Pork & Cracked Black Pepper, and Pork & Chive sausages. Looking great, all irregular shapes and sizes, lovely!

Right here, at the start of the review, I’m not sure what format to follow, so please forgive me if I jump around a little.  Let’s get cracking!.

Tomato & Basil

A “darker” flavour than I expected, and I have to admit I was a little disappointed.  I remember eating tomato sausage when I was a child, and they didn’t taste like this.  I expected the tomato to be the leading flavour with the basil as best-supporting ingredient, but it is very much the other way round.  Where will I find a tomato sausage like I remember?  The texture is good, somewhat better than average but could be improved further (as always).  The well chosen combination of flavours does combine nicely with the well-provenanced (very) local pork, but it wasn’t what I was hoping for or expecting, so I was left feeling a little deflated....to coin a sitcom-style summary, I wanted less Fawlty Towers and more The Good Life – less Basil and more Tom!

Pork & Cracked Black Pepper

A better balanced flavour than the tomato variety, and absolutely delicious.  Very smooth for a pepper-based banger, subtly warm, it toasts your taste buds with a scented candle instead of a flamethrower.  This is the second cracked black pepper we’ve seen in recent weeks, is this a trend among my butchery heroes? This is a brilliant sausage that was very much enjoyed at RMS Towers.

Pork & Chive

Very different again. The pork and the chives are on an even keel and serve up a nicely built banger.  This is a full and rich flavour, akin to a slice of your backyard herb garden in a sausage skin.  As much as these were pleasant on the breakfast plate I feel they’d be more at home and more suitable for something like a sausage casserole? This was Junior Sidekick’s favourite variety of the three and he is developing a good nose for a good banger....last week he visitied a mate’s house for tea where they ate bangers and mash for tea.  On the way home he confided in me, in very hushed tones, “They were Iceland sausages Daddy....”

Shrinkage: 

Tomato & Basil

Average weight uncooked - 67g

Average weight cooked - 51g

Shrinkage - 24%

The butchery department are obviously proud of their work and their department has a viewing window so that the customers can check out how the meat produce is being treated....

Pork & Cracked Black Pepper

Average weight uncooked - 61g

Average weight cooked - 47g

Shrinkage - 23%

Pork & Chive

Average weight uncooked - 55g

Average weight cooked - 45g

Shrinkage - 17%

Overall, although this is a slightly unfair figure, the shrinkage works out at 22%.  Not disastrous, not brilliant, don’t let it put you off sampling these well-made sausages for yourself.

Value For Money:

This is what this paragraph looks like in our “Blank Review” template, before adding the vital statistics:

£x.xx, weighing xxxg - this works out as a price of £x.xx per kg, or xxp per snorker.

These were free samples  therefore I have no numbers to crunch into that sentence on this occasion.  The trio of sausages from Walsingham Farm shop therefore didn’t cost us anything....however, each variety is priced at £7.26 per kilogram which, averaging across the three varieties, works out as 44p per snorker.  That’s a pretty good price for a pretty good product.  I’m declaring them to be “very good value for money”.

Through A Child’s Eyes:

Junior Sidekick only got to try these sausages cold, on a Thursday evening after school, so let’s skip on to....

Tomato & Basil, sliced.

Pork & Cracked Black Pepper, sliced.

Pork & Chive, sliced.

The Imaginatively Titled Next Day Cold Sausage Test:

This was done at the same time as cold-tasting sausages from frozen food shop Iceland.  The photos are at the end of this review, can you tell which is the retail crap and which is a proper butcher’s banger?  It’s not difficult, in my opinion....

Tomato & Basil

Still a darker, more herby flavour when cold, and combined exceptionally well with Grandad Bungalow’s home-made green tomato chutney, lovely!

Pork & Cracked Black Pepper

Solid and satisfyingly filling, would be perfect for a sausage buttie for your packed lunch or a picnic.

Pork & Chive

Also bulked up nicely in the fridge, too close to call with the Pork & Cracked Black Pepper for which variety is best when chilled.

All three varieties were very good cold, more than can be said for the despicably tragic offerings from Iceland....

Opening Hours:

Monday: 0900 - 1730

Tuesday: 0900 - 1730

Wednesday: 0900 - 1730

Thursday: 0900 - 1730

Friday: 0900 - 1730

Saturday: 0900 - 1700

Sunday: 1000 – 1600

And Finally, Esther:

A slightly mixed bag of a review for Walsingham Farm Shops’ sausages, but this is down to my own personal preferences.  All three varieties were well-made and ticked a lot of the boxes that make for a good banger – please do yourself a favour and head off to Heacham to experience them for yourself!  Grandad Bungalow rates the Cracked Black Pepper bangers as “the best I have ever tried”....

I absolutely adore Walsingham Farm Shop, and I seriously implore you to visit them as soon as possible....

One last thing to report, sadly  in a negative tone, about Walsingham farm Shop, Heacham - this utterly freaky wicker figure in between the rows of lavender. Scary!

Walsingham Farm Shop - Heacham - Traditional Pork Sausage

Walsingham-Farm-Shop  is a fabulous little place situated just outside the western Norfolk seaside town of Heacham, and has a sister shop found, unsurprisingly, in Walsingham.  I was visiting on a triple mission, to find some unique foodie Christmas presents for my family, to sample the breakfast in the adjoining Lavender-Kitchen restaurant, and to get my hands on some of the home-produced sausages from the farm shop itself.

The interior of the shopping is visually stunning, and you’ll find the meat counter towards the rear, right-hand side.  The resident master butcher is Michael, an engaging and knowledgeable young man who is in charge of butchery at both locations.  You’ll find the same cuts of pork, beef and lamb at both outlets, and the livestock is all prepared on site, which has to be a good thing.  I chose the Traditional Pork bangers for my introduction to Walsingham , and Michael described them as “a jack of all trades sausage, you can use them for all kinds of sausage dishes, and children like them too.”  While telling me this he was hacking huge slices of meat from what appeared to be a diplodocus leg (pronounced - well, however you want to, opinion is split down the middle, as voted by you, the Rate My Sausage readers - see, there was a reason for that poll) skilfully wielding a broad-bladed hatcher that wouldn't look out of place on the set of Conan the Barbarian....so I wasn't arguing....

Meat Content:

After Michael’s self-deprecating comments that played down his sausages somewhat I wasn’t expecting too much, but these are pretty good.  You’ll find a small-ish banger with a bigger meat presence that you’d expect – maybe the proportion of pork is being understated a little – the figure quoted was “80 to 85%”.  There’s no slop, no sludge, the meat you get is the good stuff – and that may not be surprising when you consider that Walsingham Farm Shops use free range pork which is reared just around the corner at South Creake (for any passing eco-pedants, that’s a distance of just thirteen food miles).

Flavour:

A pleasingly warm and comforting flavour which I rather enjoyed.  The seasoning is sufficient without being overpowering and there’s a nice sagey-ness running throughout.  You won’t find any headline stealing outlandishness, no bizarre ingredients are needed, this is a flavourful little sausage that will leave you feeling content and with a smile on your face.  I asked for the recipe, but as always was told “It’s a secret.”  Whatever!

Texture:

Walsingham Farm Shops’ Traditional Pork sausages felt nice and grainy when I was slicing them up for the photos.  The skins are natural and good and they cover a very acceptable and bobbly filling.  Michael certainly has ground together a texture that we like – coarse and just about crumbly enough to tick the box if you’re serious about your sausages but definitely youngster friendly too.

Shrinkage: 

Average weight uncooked - 85g

Average weight cooked - 69g

Shrinkage - 19%

Value For Money:

£2.33 for four sausages, weighing 340g - this works out as a price of £6.85 per kg, or 58p per snorker.

A decent price for a sausage that did exactly what I was told it would, and left me pleasantly surprised.  Good value for money.

Through A Child’s Eyes:

The Junior Sidekick was only on duty for the cold tasting, so.....

The Imaginatively Titled Next Day Cold Sausage Test:

Just as good cold as hot.  The texture is still decent, combining a nice moist feel with the fall-apart-ness (good word) that I liked yesterday.  My Junior Sidekick was VERY impressed.  I held aloft the index finger of each hand and told him “This one is if the sausage is the worst you have ever tasted, and this one is for the best....” then slowly moved the “worst” finger towards the other, waiting for Sam to stop me at the desired point.  He didn’t stop me.  I asked if he was sure, and he confirmed....”This sausage is perfect.”  His words, not mine.

Opening Hours:

Monday: 0900 - 1730

Tuesday: 0900 - 1730

Wednesday: 0900 - 1730

Thursday: 0900 - 1730

Friday: 0900 - 1730

Saturday: 0900 - 1700

Sunday: 1000 - 1600

And Finally, Esther:

When my plate was empty I wanted more, which has to be a significant pointer, and I was extremely tempted to raid the fridge for the “next day cold” samples immediately.  Michael’s modest description of his product almost implies a lower quality but this is absolutely not the case.  I’ll be back.