Best Banger Finalists Announced

The wait is finally over. The best of Chester and Cheshire’s sausages have beaten out the competition to enter the final of The Chester Food & Drink Festival Sausage Competition.

With more than 100 sausages entered into the contest, each butcher provided his bestseller and a new recipe designed exclusively for the competition.

The eight judges, including Carole Faulkner of The Cheese Shop and chef Martin Bouchier who flew in from his restaurant in Andalucia, Spain for the tasting, awarded marks for presentation, texture and taste. The eight sausages that scored highest were:

Phil Salt, of Stocks Lane, Boughton, Thick Pork
Phil Salt, of Stocks Lane, Boughton, Country Style
Noel Baker, of The Close, Blacon, Beef & Onion
David Joinson (Last Year’s Winner) of Chester Market, Pork and Blue Cheshire Cheese
David Joinson, of Chester Market, Pork and leek
Stuart Bebbington, of Chester Market, Pork and Apple
John Edge, of Handbridge, Lamb and Mint
And Chris Austin, of Austin’s Butchers, with the Chester Sausage

The final judging will take place during the Festival over Easter weekend, March 22nd to 24th.

“It was a hard task for the judges to whittle down the entrants from more than one hundred to just eight,” said Faulkner, Chairman of the judging panel. “The quality of the best selling sausages is naturally very high and the new recipes have some really interesting combinations of herbs and spices, with some unusual tasty additions. We’re looking to spice up the competition with more public involvement, details to follow in March.

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