A visit to Westmere Butchery

A visit to Westmere Butchery.

As the weather in Raglan was not optimal, we headed to Auckland for a day to meet up with whanau for a barbecue in the evening. This meant a visit to Westmere Butchery. The place was heaving with customers when we visited at around 4.30pm – what a great recommendation!

With a wide array of sausages to choose from I decided to take some old favourites to the barbecue. I selected the Italian banderia and the pork, walnut, blue cheese and pear sausages. I have sampled these previously and knew they would be positively received. At the barbecue the chef – my cousin, worked on the culinary technique of cook ‘em till they are black. Although the sausages were not cooked to perfection – if he wasn’t whanau you could use the term “cooked the hell out them and ruined them” – the company was great.

I also bought some Italian beef and garlic with parmesan sausages to take back to Raglan. These were a medium to fine grind sausage. They were very appealing. They tasted like delicious meatballs. I make a meatball dish which comes out a Bill Granger recipe book, Bill’s Food. This sausage tasted exactly like these meatballs – delicious. The Italian flavours of parsley, thyme, pepper, tomato, garlic and parmesan come together to make a great snarler. Maybe I’ll have to try putting Bill’s recipe through the sausage stuffing machine back at home sometime…..

I also cooked some spicy chicken and coriander sausages. I have eaten these before and here is a link to the review.

Sadly I am an irregular visitor to Auckland, but one thing I try to do if I am in the city is pay a visit to Westmere Butchery, it is a small shop but the display of awards in the shop, and the crowds of customers, are a testament to the quality of the sausages (and no doubt the other meat) you will find inside.