CONOR POPElooks at sausages

KEARNS€2.99 for 454g, €6.58 per kg

While these sausages looked worrying pale when we took them from their polystyrene and plastic coffin, they actually tasted surprisingly lovely. They had a decent peppery kick which appealed to us no end and, although the pork content was not particularly high, at 55 per cent, they did have a meatier texture than their main rivals. They are slightly more expensive than the competition too, but the price gap is small and, in our opinion, worth paying.

They were very greasy and we’d not recommend you eat them every day, but as an occasional guilty treat you’ll not go wrong with these.

VERDICT:Very good

STAR RATING: ****

BRADY'S BUTCHERS SAUSAGES€4.21 for 530g, €7.95 per kg

There is a lot to be said for supporting your local butcher. When it comes to meat they know their stuff, they will chop and de-bone things for you in a heartbeat and often offer better value for money than the supermarket chains. The trick is finding a good local butcher and judging from the queues which form outside Brady’s three branches in Fairview, off Dorset St and in Terenure on a Saturday afternoon, it is very good indeed. Certainly its sausages, made to a secret family recipe, are excellent, nice and plump with a taste of real pork not found in any of the mass produced products. They are often on special but when they are not, they are comparitively pricey, but sometimes it’s a price worth paying.

VERDICT: Excellent

STAR RATING: *****

GRANBY PORK SAUSAGES €1.49 for 227g, €6.56 per kg

Did you know that we eat 250,000 sausages every day, or more than 90 million of the things annually, which probably goes some way towards explaining our ever-widening waistlines. Quite a few of them will be made by this Dublin-based company which has been in the business for more than 75 years.

You don’t get to stick around for that long by making a bad product and these are certainly a long way from bad. They are not, however, great either. The texture of the meat was on the soft side and they were very greasy – although the same thing can be said of most sausages which are doing their job right. They are nicely salty and made with 55 per cent pork.

VERDICT:Grand

STAR RATING: ***

HODGINS SAUSAGE€2.84 for 454g, €6.25 per kg

Much was expected of these sausages which come from an award-winning company in Cork, both because of that firm’s reputation and the boast on the packaging that their sausages contained 80 per cent pork, a number which put them up there with fancy gourmet bangers. While Clonakilty disappointed us, these did not. They lived up to their bold claims by being the meatiest sausage we triedby a wide margin. They had a nice texture and a lightness we were certainly not expecting. The flavours are nicely balanced, and while they are salty, they are not excessively so. They are comparatively cheap, very old-school and not even that greasy.

VERDICT: Very good

STAR RATING:****

CLONAKILTY€2 for 454g, €4.40 per kg

Given this company’s deservedly stellar reputation when it comes to black and white puddings, our expectations for their sausages, which have started appearing in almost every supermarket, big and small, in recent years, were prettty high. We were, however, let down. In terms of taste, texture and appearance these were not at the races. They had a worryingly pink, hue, although that is not uncommon in typical butcher’s sausages. Of greater concern was the texture of the meat which was soft going on mushy. We thought they were lacking in the taste department too and they also have less pork – 53 per cent – than the other store-bought options. On the plus side, they are quite cheap.

VERDICT: Disappointing

STAR RATING: **