Cowmans Famous Sausages
Last week we featured what must be one of the freshest and largest sausage rolls on sale from a small butchers shop in a small town called Clitheroe, Lancashire. (Click here to see this monster sausage roll in case you missed it last time). As promised, this wasn't the only meat outlet in the small town that deserves a mention, and this week we're featuring a sausage shop that's become famous throughout the nation for its huge selection of high quality sausages.
Cowmans has been a fresh local butchers for over 120 years, and the shop originally included its own abattoir within the building, so you'd have no problem knowing where your meat came from then!
The business has been passed down though five generations and remains a family business, who have been reinventing sausages for the last 60 years.
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| Cowmans Sausage Shop |
Over that time though they haven't deviated away from their original intentions of selling fresh high quality local meats to the general public. The "local" really means local too, with all the meats coming from farms within the Ribble Valley.
They offer a wide range of meats, including steaks, beef, bacon (we're featuring that too), chicken and ham, but their focus is the sausages - there's a reason they're famous for these.
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| Cowmans Famous Sausage Shop |
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| Cowman's Proclamation |
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| Window into a meaty heaven |
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| Selection of meats available |
The small shop is often queuing out of the door, and there isn't a lot of room to move inside either, but they pack a huge variety of sausage into such a small place offering over 70 different flavoured sausages in their range, often adding new specials to the selection too. When you enter the shop and read the menu of sausages available it starts to become clear why it's so busy.
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| Standard Choice of Sausages |
Look down into the refrigerated display units and almost all the sausages available are on display.
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| Sausages |
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| Sausages on display |
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| Beef & Guinness Sausages |
The choice is so vast that it's difficult to choose. I've been here numerous times in the past and always try to select something different to try, but I always pick up a batch of my favourite flavour - Pork & Blacksticks blue cheese!
If you're struggling to choose, you're sometimes helped out by the generous dishes of cooked samples to try on top of the counter. They don't always have tasters on offer but when they do it can certainly help you choose what to buy if you're struggling with all the choice.
This time they had my favourites on offer to try (Pork & Blacksticks blue), as well as Pork, Smoked Garlic & Red Wine and also Pork Apple & Cider.
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| Pork, Smoked Garlic & Red Wine |
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| Pork, Apple & Cider |
Although they're famous for their sausages, their smoked bacon also needs a mention. All the bacon on offer comes in thick cuts (streaky or back, smoked or un-smoked) and are 2 or 3 times thicker than what you get in a supermarket pack of bacon. Words can't describe the smoky smell of the smoked bacon, even uncooked it smells delicious.
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| Bacon |
Once you finally make your choice and get these meats home you'll be keen to get them fried, barbecued, grilled etc.
I purchased my usual favourite sausages and half a pound of smoked back bacon.
Unwrap the packets to expose the fresh uncooked meats:
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| Pork & Blacksticks Blue Sausages (£3.27/lb - £7.20/kg) |
It's worth pointing out here that this batch of sausages I was given this time didn't look to have been separated divided very well when they were made. It didn't affect the taste in any way, just meant that instead of 4 sausages I received 2 large sausages.
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| Smoked Back Bacon |
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| To give some idea of how thick this bacon is |
Cook to your preference the sausages sizzle away with the juices literally bursting out under the heat. Once cooked the smell will already be obvious and cut them open to release even more fragrance from the meat and flavourings. Entering your mouth you'll be amazed at the obvious meat content, before realising the added flavours which bring variation and additional compliments to the meat inside.
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| Cut open sausage - 75% pork content |
The smoked bacon is the bit that gets your nose really excited before your mouth. As you open the packet the smell hits you, then while its under the grill the smoked flavours will fill your kitchen leaving you eager to turn up the grill so you can get it in your mouth quicker.
Finally the time comes though that you can get it on the plate and sample the smoky tastes.
The thick bacon is a much more satisfying chewing experience than the cheaper packeted bacon available elsewhere.
The smoked flavours are outstanding. I don't know if they put this bacon in a smoker like is common with smoked fish, but it certainly doesn't taste artificial, and with the natural quality in everything else they sell it'd be very surprising if it is an artificial flavour.
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| Cooked Smoked Bacon |
Conclusion
If you ask Cowmans about their meat content it will become clear why you can taste the difference. There's a legal requirement for a sausage to contain 65% "meat" in a pork sausage or 50% "meat" in a beef sausage - you might not actually be getting "pork" or"beef" (bare that in mind next time you're picking up a pack of supermarket specials).
What makes Cowmans sausages stand out above these minimum requirement sausages is that Cowmans sausages contain a minimum of 75% meat content in all their varieties. They don't add any extra fat, and possibly the key factor is that their meat is what it says it is. Pork is mined pork, the beef is beef etc.
Butchers meat is always preferable to the cheap meats from all ends of the earth, and the minimum requirement sausages available in the high street supermarkets. You simply can't beat a good butcher who can tell you where the meat is sourced from, and sometimes even the farmers name that supplies them. Cowmans is one of the best butchers I've experienced so far for their selection and especially for the quality.
If you're a fan of your sausages and bacon, whether it be for a traditional cooked breakfast, barbecues, or to add to other meals (toad in the hole? to top off a burger?) then Cowmans sausage shop is a must.
It'll soon become clear why these sausages are award winning.
I'd recommend stocking up while you're there though, as once you've sampled these sausages and other meats once you might not be able to go back to the sub-standard bacons and sausages from supermarkets or franchise meat sellers.
Money for meat: Paid in Full
Meat Rating: 9/10
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