Lancashire pub seizes Cumberland sausage crown
Sausage wars look set to break out in the North of England after a Lancashire licenesee beat rival county Cumberland at its own game.
The Cumberland sausage made by Kevin Berkins at the Fence Gate Inn, near Burnley, has won the Best Cumberland Sausage accolade in the North West Fine Food Awards. To cap his success, Kevin also picked up the Sausages with Natural Additives category for the Lancashire Champion Sausage.
Qualified master butcher Kevin makes all the sausages on site at the Fence Gate, offering them exclusively on the menu to customers at the award winning pub and restaurant.
Producers in five counties - Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside and Greater Manchester - are eligible for the awards.
Kevin said: "The Best Cumberland Sausage award has only ever gone to producers in Cumbria before now, so I expect they'll be seething that the title has now been claimed by Lancashire."
This year's NW Fine Food Awards saw more than 500 submissions, across categories including chutneys, cakes, puddings, dairy, fresh meat; fish & Seafood and Beverages, as well as sausages. Judges included chefs Nigel Howarth and Paul Askew.
Sue Nelson, chief executive of NW Fine Food, said, "The North West Fine Food Awards celebrate the very best foods produced in the North West and recognise just how fantastic locally produced food and drink really is."
Kevin is the current holder of the Best Pub Sausage title in tne BPEX Foodservice Sausage competition, in association with The Publican. The Fence Gate holds two Pub Food Awards and is a finalist in the Freehouse of the Year category in the Publican Awards 2007.
