Cooking Local with Cookes Food - The Sausologists

We have had an AMAZING week with Sophie and Nicole from Cookes Food - thank you ladies for sharing your favourite local suppliers and delicious recipes all week! Keep up with Cookes Food by liking them on Facebook or subscribing to their mailing list through their website. Thanks again to Sophie and Nicole! - Jenny x

Our relationship with The Sausologists began a little more back to front than usual. Nic was contacted by a couple who make up 2/3rds of Team Sausage – Victoria Thaine and Neil Morrison, who were planning their wedding. As with all our events, it’s important to understand who your client is before you rush into planning their event, and to our great fortune we met The Sausologists. Victoria’s brother Daniel makes  up the 3^rd piece of the puzzle.

The Sausologists! - Daniel, Victoria and Neil

This business intrigued me as I loved their dedication to the art of the sausage!  They were not making up run of the mill flavours, they felt strongly about where their produce was coming from, and they were regulars at markets around Victoria.  I first used the team for a wedding in the country where the bride and groom were looking for canapés that were not stuffy and fancy, I contacted Daniel and we workshopped some ideas and came up with the elegant cocktail sized sausage – about the size of your pinky.  We planned to serve them on big robust wooden boards with a selection of relishes and mustards.  The bride and groom LOVED the idea - as did the 200+ guests on the day.

The second time I used them was at The Design Files Open House when we catered the Jardan VIP Night. It was brilliant that Jardan were as excited about The Sausologists as we were, and the night was a buzz with guests chatting about which sausage they liked the most.  I believe it was the Snagyu that took the night by storm - The Snagyu: wagyu beef, smoked tomato and pepper.

The Sausologist Sweet Mary with samphire, heirloom carrot and onion marmalade

Photos - John Deer

2 Sweet Mary sausages; free-range pork, apricot, smoked bacon, rosemary, cumin 1 cup samphire 4 heirloom carrots 2 tbsp onion marmalade 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (we use Kynton Extra Virgin Olive Oil) 1 lemon (zested and juiced) Salt and cracked pepper

A sausage can be BBQ-ed, pan fried or roasted… it depends on what kind of mood you're in!

Boil a little water for the samphire; oh yes…what is samphire? It's an edible coastal plant - you may see it on the beach.  It’s a little like seaweed – it's fantastic with seafood like scallops, but also brilliant with heavy meats like pork… hence its use here.

Photos - John Deer

Boil samphire for 2-3 minutes and then refresh in iced water.  Drain and dress with lemon, salt and olive oil.  Set aside.

Once the sausages are cooked using your prefered method, slice into  pieces and place atop a neatish pile of samphire.

To add colour and crunch, thinly slice a well washed carrot!  It's best not to peel an heirloom carrot as when you do some of them just end up orange.  Dress the carrots with olive oil, zest and lemon juice.

Sophie plates up!  Photos - John Deer

Serve with your favourite chutney or relish!  We make an onion marmalade that is a recipe from a book by Sally Clarke.

- Sophie and Nicole x

Sophie and Nicole sample the sausages!  Photos - John Deer