You just can’t beat a traditional sausage when it comes to meat, butcher Brad Wootton says.
“But no sauce; you don’t put sauce on a sausage,” he said.
He should know, given his traditional thick beef snags won first place in Victoria’s northern region in the annual Sausage King Awards in Melbourne at the start of July.
That wasn’t the only podium place the cuts from his Shepparton butchery, Brad’s Magic Meats, scored.
The butchery also took home firsts for its sweet chilli sausages in the gourmet sausage category and its beef burgers, as well as a second place in the poultry category for its satay chicken snags.
The northern Victoria region spans from the Mallee to Wangaratta and the Sausage King Awards are open to Australian Meat Industry Council members.
Mr Wootton’s shop was up against six others from the region.
The butchery is no stranger to placing in these awards, having won several accolades over the years since Mr Wootton started working there in 2005 and then buying into the business in 2007, before later becoming its sole owner.
He said it won third place at state level a few years ago and will vie for another state podium position when the finalists from all Victorian regions meet in August, again at William Angliss TAFE, for judging.
Mr Wootton will hand-deliver a kilogram of each of his entries in his refrigerated van to ensure they make it there in tip-top condition.
Results won’t be revealed until the state awards dinner in October, but Mr Wootton said he didn’t mind whether his products won, placed or otherwise, as the event was more about networking for him.
“It’s just good to go down and chat with other butchers,” he said.
By then, the hearty winter roasts, stir fries and curries that are popular with customers in the cooler months will make way for barbecue meats — that historically have the highest sales between AFL Grand Final weekend to Easter — when truckloads of Mr Wootton’s award-winning snags will be enjoyed by Aussies in their backyards.
“We make our sausages to recipe, not price,” Mr Wootton said.
And that’s probably why they taste so good you don’t even need to smother ’em with dead horse.