On 7 March this year I took a trip to Creake Abbey Farmers Market and came home with a splendid haul of new sausages to try out. We ran a poll to let you, our beloved readers, decide which sausage we should fry first, and the winning butcher was Papworth's. I chose their unusually named (more on that later) "Norfolk Flyer" sausage to review first, dug out the RMS pans and here we are. Our first new review since July 2013. Not a lot has changed, we'll still be frying not grilling, but instead of olive oil we've changed to rapeseed oil from the most excellent Yare Valley Oils.
It's nice to be back, and we hope you enjoy reading about our often ill-informed and irreverent adventures with sausages....
Where To Find Them:
As already described I found these sausages at Creake Abbey Farmers Market, but this is definitely not the only place that you can buy them. Papworths also have bricks and mortar shops in Market Place, Swaffham (postcode is PE37 7QH for your SatNav), Miller's Walk, Fakenham (NR21 9AP) and Station Road, Sheringham (NR26 8RG).
Stanwatch:
Have a peek at the photo of the stall. On the right is Sam Papworth himself, with an enthusiastic Stan on the left. If you're new to Rate My Sausage you may wonder what the heck I'm on about with the Stan stuff? Well for years I called a local butcher Stan, before he eventually told me that his name was "Terry. It's bloody Terry. TERRY!" Since then we have used Stan as the collective noun for all the staff diligently beavering away behind the counter. The more Stans on view the better we like it.
Flavour:
Subtle-y peppery, discreet seasoning but done well. This is an old recipe with no modern frills, and has been tried and tested over many years. Do not add any of your own salt or pepper as I think you'd overdo it and spoil the taste. If this is how bangers tasted during the second world war then it's no wonder that Adolf got a butt-kicking.
Texture:
The filling is chopped to a medium coarseness, which works well. But how juicy and succulent when you slice one open and press the meat with the flat of your fork. The goodness simply oozes out. The skins are natural and keep these sausages supremely moist through the cooking process.
Vital Statistics:
Average Weight Uncooked = 81 grams - big and bouncy!
Average Weight Cooked = 70 grams
Meat Content = 80%
These sausages look big and that's because they ARE big. Solid chunky lumps of porky pleasure - don't cook too many because you won't manage to eat them all. Alternatively cook LOTS and put some back in the fridge for the next day. Picture two burly lumberjacks using a two-handed saw to carve their way back and forth through a recently felled giant redwood. The Johnson Flyers are the sausagey equivalent of that tree. Really.
Value For Money:
£2.33 for 4 sausages weighing 323 grams. This works out as £7.20 per kg and 58p per banger.
We rate this as very good value for money. Try some soon!
The "Aah, Bisto" Factor:
Delicious sausagey wafts had me clock-watching while the Johnson Flyers were in the pan. Lovely.
Why "Norfolk Flyer"?
A good question, thanks for asking. The sausage was launched to coincide with the 2013 Movember LINK campaign. I'll let Sam's own description do the rest:
The Johnson Flyer – Our Movember Sausage.
Friday 1st November sees the start of Movember, and in our case the launch of a new sausage to go with it.
Richard and Alex are going to grow their Mo's in memory of shop manager John's late father Johnnie Johnson D.F.C.
Johnnie flew over 40 missions to Germany during WWII in a Lancaster bomber.
The butchers will grow their Mo's , and at the end of Movember Johno has agreed to join them in shaving his Mo off! It will be the first time he has gone without for over 45 years.
John knows all too well the importance of good Radiography, as his wife Liz is recovering from cancer, and regularly has to visit hospital in Norwich and London.
With all this in mind we have named the banger "The Johnson Flyer".
It is a robustly flavoured Pork Sausage with black pepper and sage as its’ primary flavours, with hints of nutmeg and coriander in there too.
It is a sausage John can remember making years ago, and was always popular with his customers. With the help of our ingredients company D.F Dickens we have re-created the flavours. Made with our own local Pork we are sure you will enjoy.
And Finally, Esther:
A really good sausage to have chosen for our return, complete with a fascinating and heart-warming back story. Recommended!
1 comment:
Good to see you back and on form! Will def be on the lookout for these.
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