You can't get much more Aussie than a sausage roll with sauce. But a dousing of tomato sauce on this one might attract a few odd stares - and it even has its creators slightly divided .
Best eaten bare and definitely not with a knife and fork, is this fancier, and now prized, version of the national staple - and it's got some bite.
Made in-house at Miranda by family business New York Cakes, this chorizo roll is on a....roll - officially. It recently won 'best gourmet sausage roll' in the Fine Food Australia national Aussie Pie Comp 2023.
The Aussie Pie Comp is the longest running and largest pie, sausage roll, and pastie competition in Australia, and was established 34 years ago in 1989. It is facilitated by the Aussie Pie Council, a consortium of industry-leading businesses; Complete Display Equipment, Simple Simon Pie Machines, and the National Baking Industry Association.
Competition pastry experts judged more than 1500 pies, sausage rolls, and pasties from bakeries, butchers, cafés and restaurants in Australia. Held at Sydney International Convention Centre, the competition this year was the biggest so far.
Wholesale bakery New York Cakes is run by sister and brother Kalliope and Arthur Panayiotakis, who took over the business from their father Kon and their uncle. They have been serving up their goods for a long time, but this was the first time they entered the competition.
"We've been around for 28 years and we have been part of the Fine Food show but we have never really submitted any of our products into the competition," Kalliope said. "We submitted about 10 products and we got quite good scores, and our chorizo roll came first, which we are really happy about. Our spinach and feta roll came third."
She said the chorizo roll had been a work in progress before the final recipe passed the taste test.
"We love the chorizo flavour and we wanted to put that into a roll. We did a lot of testing to make sure we were happy with the end product," she said. "It has very flaky pastry and has a bit of a kick and a little on the spicy side. It's a big seller. It was popular when we released it earlier this year."
Then there's a saucy debate - to squeeze or not to squeeze, that is the question.
"I prefer it without sauce, my brother likes it with sauce. It's a personal preference," Kalliope said. "The traditional sausage roll stands on its own but this is a bit different for our customers."
The business wholesales its products to cafes across NSW and ACT and has retail stores at Caringbah, Revesby and Mortdale.
"We are starting to develop a few more different flavours in our range, which encouraged us to apply for the competition this year," Kalliope said.
"It's great for our production team of about 100 staff and gives them credit for their hard work."
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