Bang on! New sausage gets seal of approval from town’s Mayor

One of the region’s longest-established butchers, Alderson’s, of Cockerton, Darlington, launched a competition to find a new flavour as part of UK Sausage Week.

The contest attracted more than 80 entries, with Nigel Alderson, the third generation of his family to run the business, choosing a Margherita Pizza Sausage as the winner to go into production.

The flavour, thought to be a world-first, was suggested by Gemma Hayward, from the award-winning Stable Hearth restaurant, in Darlington town centre.

Stable Hearth, in Duke Street, was recently named Best Pizzeria in England for the fifth time in a row at the Italian Awards in Leeds, and Nigel was inspired by the success of a fellow Darlington food business.

“We had a phenomenal response to the competition, but I really liked the idea of a Margherita Pizza Sausage, because it was something different, the flavours worked, and it was a chance to recognise the national success of a local restaurant,” he said.

The new pork sausage was created by replacing its water content with Passata to give it a tomato flavour, with basil and mozzarella added.

It has already proved to be a big hit with customers, and the Mayor and Mayoress of Darlington, Councillor Bob and Margaret Donoghue, were among the first to give it a try.

The Mayor of Darlington, Councillor Bob Donoghue, tastes the winning sausage (Image: Chris Barron) “In my book, local butchers provide better service and produce than supermarkets, and the competition was a great way to showcase a fantastic local business that’s stood the test of time,” said Councillor Donoghue, a self-professed sausage fan.

The Mayoress added: “The new flavour is absolutely gorgeous – it gets ten out of ten from me!”

Nigel said: “Out of all the suggestions we had, tomato was the ingredient that came up most. The new sausage has already been selling well and the plan is to keep it as part of our range, although it will depend on customer demand.”

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W. Alderson & Son was launched in 1934 by Nigel’s grandfather, Wilf, before it was handed over to his son, Derek.

To celebrate its passion for sausages, the business launched its own Sausage Festival, with a range of offers and activities.

“It’s gone so well, our team has made more than 2,000lbs of different types of sausages in the past week to keep up with demand – it just goes show to the Great British Sausage is still massively popular!” said Nigel.