Butcher snags a win

By Carol Saffer

Shane Zammit and his team at Ballan Local Butcher are prize winners at the 2022 Regional Victorian Sausage King Competition.
The Australian Meat Industry Council’s annual competition is designed for butchers to compete with the best in their region.
Ballan Local Butcher achieved a first prize in Gourmet Open Class Sausage division, with a chilli and chocolate recipe and his beloved beef, jalapeno and cheese taking out a second place in the same category.
When asked how he comes up with the flavours for his sausages, Mr Zammit replied with a grin, “they come to me in dreams normally.”
He added, “seriously, there are myriad ways of how we come up with the flavour combinations.”
“Sometimes customers suggest ideas, or I use a meal I may have eaten as a base blending its flavour to see if I can get them to work in a sausage.”
It generally takes about 12-months to come up with the finished product to enter the annual competition.
Mr Zammit said his staff are the first round of taste testers.
He blends the flavouring ingredients with locally produced beef and cooks it in patty form for the staff to try first.
The next step is to give the patty away to customers for their opinion.
From the feedback, he will then tweak the recipe accordingly.
Having now won the Regional championship, Mr Zammit will compete in the State Championships in October and the National finals later in the year.
“We are always playing about with ideas and flavours,” he said.
Quite often, the prize-winning sausages will not be a great seller.
The gourmet sausages are designed generally as a competition entry rather than selling to the locals.
“They are a talking point rather than a purchase,” Mr Zammit said.
“We produce and sell 3000 kilograms of standard BBQ sausages yearly.”