It’s official, Bexley North is the home of the best boneless ham in Australia.
The crew at the German Butchery Deli and Cafe have won the Best Boneless Ham in the 2018 Australian PorkMark Awards.
The German Butchery won in both the NSW and national categories in the awards, announced on November 26.
The judges, Fleischmeister (German meat master) Horst Schurger and chefs Simon Bestley and Darren Smith assessed the appearance, taste and aroma of 155 Australian hams.
The awards highlight the importance of supporting local pork products.
More than 75 per cent of ham sold in Australia is imported. Only local hams carry the Australian Pork PorkMark logo.
Commenting on the boneless ham from Bexley North’s German Butchery Deli and Cafe, the judges said,” This was a fantastic product that impressed the judges with a great shape and trim, perfect colouring, very good moisture and excellently balanced sweetness.”
It’s not the first time the German Butchery crew have won in the Australian PorkMark awards.
Last year, they won the award for Best Baked Ham in NSW and came third nationally.
German Butchery’s Madeleine Herz said the company treats its hams in the traditional German style of smoking and baking.
“Our secret is in the beechwood we use for smoking our hams,” Madeleine said. “It gives it a distinctive flavour.
“We are also very well-known for our mix of traditional German sausages and barbecue sausages, particularly our red wine and garlic Wagyu beef sausages and our pear and cider pork sausages.”
The German Butchery is a recent local success story.
“We only opened our factory six years ago,” Madeleine said. “We started as a family business and now employ 20 people.”
Madeleine said much of the credit for the company’s success is due to the enthusiasm of the staff.
“For us it is important that the people who sell our our ham and sausages love the products they sell,” she said.
The German Butchery Deli and Cafe is located at 1/2a Sarsfield Circuit, Bexley North