In a non-homoerotic way, I love me some sausage. They are so easy, so versatile and so delicious (God, this is still sounding so sexual). Like candy looks better wrapped in a sweater, I am of the strong opinion that Sausage is best when wrapped in pastry (the sex vibe just won’t go away, will it).
In my too many years in retail, Sausage Rolls have been a constant friend on my breaks whenever I need some love and comfort. I believe this qualifies me as a connoisseur of the delicacy and gives me the right to decree the best of the CBD.
Before I get into it, I need to describe my perfect Sausage Roll. The top would be a light and flaky golden brown pastry, hiding beneath the thin soft layer of pastry it will house the textured meat, onion and herb combination of the sausage. Below the pastry would be double thickness and as such will have the barely cooked layer of soft pastry that is my white trash gastronomical dream. Can any of them match up to the ideal Snag Roll I have in my head?
I started my study by deciding on my controls. Of course, there should be sauce. I went with a single Masterfoods Tomato Sauce per roll, which is to be squeezed over the top of the sausage roll prior to the commencement of eating. A 600ml Coke would then wash it all down. Each break over a three-day period I would then change out the variety of Sausage Rolls to discover which reigned supreme.
Wednesday lunchtime arrived and I decided to visit Brumby’s. Being the closest to work, I had frequented them with many a hangover looking for the sweet relief of baked goodness. I was disappointed; they’ve given me better sausage. I’m not sure if it was over cooked, or simply left in the pie oven too long, but the pastry was way too hard and was split down the top of my Sausage Roll. It was too hard, with no textural change…a key factor in the success of the pastry and in turn the roll. The sausage itself was like a thickened paste, with no texture and it left a claggy feeling in my mouth. The aftertaste was heavily infused with onion, however there was none to actually be seen.
On Thursday evening I decided to venture to Pie Face. The first store I visited was sadly out of the dish, so I had to venture down the mall to find another Pie Face. This wasn’t a good start, however when it came time to pay my walking woes were forgotten when I realised they didn’t charge for sauce. The experience only got better. The pastry flaked away as I took my first bite and inside I was met with texture of real food. There were visible chunks of onion, grated carrot and cracked pepper throughout the sausage and it was packed with flavour and there were no strange feelings were left on my palate. Pie Face’s Sausage Roll is a breath of fresh air in the sometimes stale and overcooked Sausage Roll industry.
I was worried that following up my delight from Pie Face would leave me feeling empty and disappointed, but Michel’s pulled out all the stops to win me over. Far and away, the pastry was best in show. It had the perfect flake like the Pie Face entry, however followed it up with the soft just-cooked pastry on the bottom. The sausage was sprinkled with a delightful mixture of herbs and onion was visible again. I was disappointed to see the inclusion of ground pepper, rather than cracked but I’m thinking that being able to see any pepper at all is a good thing.
Upon collating the data I collected, I have come up with the following results…
Coming in at first place, the cheapest of the lot, Pie Face. It was the closest you could get to the joy of a home made Sausage Roll. You could see what you were eating and I was knocked out by the flavour sensation. It also came with free sauce, which gives it an edge. Coming a very close second, ranked Michel’s. Whilst being the most expensive one in the study, the perfection that was its use of pastry made it worth every cent. In a distant third place came Brumby’s. The mid-priced sample was not the best I’ve had of theirs, but even on a good day I don’t see them taking out the top spot.
No comments:
Post a Comment