Sizzlers are all a top sausage
Sizzlers are all a top sausage
should be…
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Sausage stuffing is an art form for one Glos
butcher – who recently netted a hatful of
medals at a top award ceremony. Tim Relf
pays his busy, customer-friendly shop a visit
PEOPLE were popping in all day – and not just the ones wanting to buy something, either, of which there were plenty.
They poked their heads round the shop door, called out Well done, Congratulations or I hear youre a winner.
Receiving the congratulations – smiling, embarrassed and proud – was Mark Carr of Cam Family Butchers, Dursley, recently returned from British Meats Regional Awards for Excellence.
The 36-year-olds Gloucester sausages won the speciality sausage section – with others collecting bronze and silver. "I was totally and absolutely gobsmacked. I was just doing it as a learning exercise," says Mark, of his competition debut.
"Many congratulations, Mr Sausage Man," one of his regular customers calls. "Just lovely," is how she describes the prize-winning wares. "Theyre a nice flavour, they keep their shape, the skins dont break – and they havent got too much fat."
* Its a secret
So whats the secret, then? The secret, apparently, is just that – a secret. Theres a mixture of locally-bought pork, some herbs and spices. "Thats all I can tell you," Mark says, smiling.
Competition organiser, Steve Derrick of the Meat and Livestock Commission, sums up the top sizzlers even more simply: "Everything that a sausage should be. The judges couldnt find any fault with them."
Such accolades make all the hard work worthwhile for Mark who – from a farming background – bought the business 13 years ago. "At busy times, our working day can be three oclock in the morning to six or seven at night."
But its been fun, too. "I love it. If it wasnt for the fact that I had family, I would spend all my life here," says Mark, looking fondly around the shop.
The key to a successful butchers shop, he says, are quality and personal service. "Always having time to talk to the customers which the supermarkets dont always have time to do."
* Time for customers
Spend a few minutes in this shop and its perfectly clear that Mark has plenty of time for his customers. Its occurs to you theyre more like old friends. And then you realise – many of them, of course, are old friends now.
"Hes always got a smile for his customers," says one happy shopper, heading home with a bagful of goodies. "Hes always rude and cheeky – like a proper butcher ought to be."