Five unique flavours in the running to be named 'the Bath & West banger' set to tantalise the taste buds of the South-West's leading foodies

Five unique flavours in the running to be named ‘the Bath & West banger’ set to tantalise the taste buds of the South-West’s leading foodies

Five sausage flavours, created by food-lovers from around the UK, have beaten off stiff competition from across the country to be named finalists in the running for the ‘Bath & West Banger’, a competition launched last month by award-winning West Country sausage manufacturer Westaways and The Royal Bath & West Society to give the public the chance to create a limited edition sausage flavour for this year’s Bath & West show in June.

The finalists’ flavours will be put to the taste test later this week by an expert judging panel including Taste of the West Ltd Chief Executive John Sheaves, Westaway’s owner Charles Baughan and the Bath & West Show Manager, Alan Lyons.

The winning ‘Bath & West banger’ will go on to be produced by Westaways and marketed to supermarkets across the South-West from May – September 2011.

The five flavours battling it out to win the coveted title of The ‘Bath & West banger’ will feature ingredients synonymous with the West Country and have been inspired by the region’s strong culture and history. These are:

‘The Beast of Exmoor’, a pork sausage flavoured with rich porter ale, caramelised onions and mature West Country farmhouse cheddar, created by Cath Burley from Woodbury, Devon The ‘Roman Smokey’, a pork sausage celebrating the Roman history of Bath with ancient seasonings including laurel berries and rue savoury and plenty of smoky bacon, created by Kath Deyke from Newton Abbott, Devon A Perry infused pork sausage with South West country pear chunks and a hint of sweet chilli – for that extra bang, created by Joanne Thomas from Glasbury, Hereford A Pork and blueberry sausage to represent the highly coveted Royal Bath & West rosettes, created by Jodie Smith from Wrexham, North Wales The Bath Blue, a pork and caramelised Somerset red onion sausage with chunks of melting Bath blue cheese, created by Rudiano Roversi from Gourock , Inverclyde, Scotland

Bath & West Show Manager, Alan Lyons says: “We launched this competition as a platform to promote the show’s foodie credentials and appeal to the thousands of food lovers that descend on the show – one of the UK’s largest Agricultural Shows– each year. The response to the competition has been fantastic and I am looking forward to tasting each of the unique shortlisted flavours next week.”

Charles Baughan, owner and Managing Director of Westaways, now has the exciting but challenging task of producing the five flavours to be tested by the panel of experts. Charles says, “I have been delighted with the number creative ideas we received. My team are looking forward to experimenting with the flavours and creating some exciting samples for the judging day”.

John Sheaves, Chief Executive of Taste of the West and fellow competition judge added, “The shortlist really illustrates the wealth of regional ingredients available in the South West. With Devon based Westaways producing an exclusive sausage for The Royal Bath & West Show, what could be more of a celebration of the region’s strong foodie credentials?”

The Royal Bath & West Show will be held between Wednesday 1 and Saturday 4 June 2011 at the Showground, Shepton Mallet. Advance tickets are available to buy now.

For tickets and show information visit http://www.bathandwest.com/.

For more information about the competition, visit www.bathandwest.com/banger

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