Catalan Pork on Ara Pounamu
It is winter, and the hills in New Zealand are icy and snowy as weather from Antarctica covers the South Island. I recently went to the South Island to spend some time in the hills, going up a valley near Lewis Pass. This is a traditional ara pounamu, a greenstone trail, used by my tipuna (ancestors) for trade. The weather was about one degree when I left to go up the valley and the temperature did not rise during the day. It was pleasantly icy, with minimal wind.
The trip up the valley to Ada Pass was a misty and chilly one. Ice remained on the ground for all of the day, and lowish cloud hung over the hills. It was bracing day in the outdoors, and a good one.
When I arrived at Ada Pass Hut, I found a sausage waiting for me. I identified this as a Catalan Pork from Martinez Charcuteria Authentica based in Cromwell. I have reviewed this sausage previously. It is a coarsely ground pork sausage with a light hint of fennel. It is very nice pork snarler.
The packaging of the sausage does identify that the pork used comes from both New Zealand and imported pork from Sweden or Finland. I question why the butcher does not use New Zealand free range pork? Several butchers I talk with say they use free range pork as it is a superior product. You pay a premium for these sausages at around $2.50 per snarler and I find it disappointing the butchers making this sausage do not use NZ free range pork.
It was July and the sun sets early, I had to move at a solid pace to get back to the car before darkness and the sub zero temperatures of a winter’s night descended on the bush. The coldness of the hills and impending dark did not diminish from a bracing day in the mountains, with an above average sausage at Ada Pass.
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