By Meg Jorsh

Last updated at 09:56, Saturday, 05 July 2008

Shoppers in Carlisle town centre witnessed a sizzling sausage showdown, as butchers competed in the first annual Cumberland Sausage Cook-off.

• Video: Hairy Bikers back sausage campaign

Chef John Crouch fries some sausages

Carlisle mayor Jacquelyne Geddes teamed up with county councillor Tony Markley to judge the 12 finalists’ sausages for taste.

The event was organised by Made in Cumbria, to promote today’s Traditional Cumberland Sausage Day.

Mrs Geddes said: “People have tried to recreate the Cumberland sausage across the country, but they don’t do it successfully. It’s a very fine balance of the texture of the meat and quality of the spices.”

Overall winner Graham Gordon, from Carlisle, received a luxury hotel break and engraved trophy. In second and third place, representatives from Slacks of Orton and Melville Tyson Ltd, Broughton-in-Furness, both received plaques.

Mr Gordon, whose sausage has previously won The Cumberland News Countryside Awards, said: “I’m absolutely thrilled, and pleasantly surprised given the quality of the competition. I started making sausages when I left school and I’ve been at it ever since.”

The sausages were cooked by chefs Michael Weston-Cole, from The Waterhead Hotel in Ambleside, and freelance chef John Crouch. The event included a farmer’s market selling traditional Cumbrian produce.

Made in Cumbria spokesman Steve Dickinson said: “People are concerned with the future of the Cumberland sausage. We got together about six years ago to make sure the quality and the value of Cumbrian products are preserved.”

Together with the Cumberland Sausage Association, the group has applied to European Parliament to give the product Protected Geographical Indication status. If the bid is successful, producers outside Cumbria will not be able to use the name.

Mr Markley, who is also chairman of the Made in Cumbria Steering group, said: “Cumberland sausage is a great product and it needs to be kept in Cumbria. I was brought up on it, and it’s a fantastic thing for us to have.”

Celebrity chefs the Hairy Bikers are backing the campaign and have signed a petition to support it. Biker Dave Myers said: “Cumberland sausage has been part of my life since I was a kid. It’s a great sausage and it deserves to be protected.”

For more information, visit www.traditionalcumberlandsausage.co.uk.

First published at 09:20, Saturday, 05 July 2008
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk