Image from www.olhausens.ie
We talked yesterday about guilty food pleasures, although I prefer to think of them as nostalgic comfort food, as there’s already far too much silly guilt associated with food. I was struck while reading the comments with a sudden desire for a sausage sandwich on brown bread, with wholegrain mustard and mayonnaise.
My usual favourites for this cheap and tasty snack are Kearns’ Sausages, which I can pick up in my local Centra at about €1.60 for a pack of eight. Yesterday I nipped into Dunnes Stores instead, who don’t stock Kearns’, and came away with a packet of Shaw’s Sausages. I thought these would be the next best option, as I find Denny’s sausages strangely unpleasant (I think it’s the texture of the skin).
It’s probably a strange thing to be fussy about, but they were sadly disappointing in my otherwise perfectly crafted sandwich. They’re not particularly interesting in flavour, and had lots of those creepy little white buttons that you sometimes get in pork.
Kearns’ Sausages have an excellent peppery flavour, and while they’re not a gourmet product, I think they’re just as tasty as many of those premium sausages. Granted, they’ve probably got less pure pork and more filler, but when it’s a ‘guilty pleasure’, that kind of thing doesn’t really matter.
What’s your favourite sausage for a sausage sandwich or a fry-up?
Wednesday 27 May, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Butcher sausages are often the best. My local butcher, Terry Kavanagh’s in Roundwood, Co. Wicklow, sells super sausages.
Wednesday 27 May, 2009 at 2:07 pm
Superquinn sausages all the way!! YUM!
Wednesday 27 May, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I’m a big fan of Superquinn sausages but even better than these are the sausages from Nolans supermarket in Clontarf – they have a great flavour and no little grissley pieces that you sometimes get in other sausages.
Wednesday 27 May, 2009 at 2:15 pm
My butcher is George McCartney in Moira, Co. Down. Best sausages on the planet.
For some reason I use cheaper sausages for fry ups and the likes of McCartneys for dinner.
If having a sausage sandwich, gotta have red sauce with it!
Wednesday 27 May, 2009 at 2:50 pm
No sausage under 80% pork gets under my grill. Take that as you will. 🙂
Wednesday 27 May, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Problem with Shaws is that they are packaged to look posh but the quality is akin to Denny….
Butcher sausages from Bray are the business, superquinn the next best….Find the lack of “gourmet” sausages in Dublin a bit strange, there is a company in Cork does fab ones (in the English Market) but can so far find no equivalent in Dublin….does anyone know who does gourmet (at least 80% meat content) sausages in Dublin?
Wednesday 27 May, 2009 at 5:31 pm
in the wee north- newtownards co down, you can get steak sausages! a utter winner ! very hard to beat,
Wednesday 27 May, 2009 at 8:17 pm
has to be from my local butcher Jim Flavin! SQ’s aren’t bad either.. Just had a sausage sandwich on Sunday evening washed down with a Peroni – heaven:)
Thursday 28 May, 2009 at 1:33 am
I highly recommend Lidl’s premium sausages. (I think they’re labeled Milton Gate.) They’re 86% pork and are really delicious; even nicer than Superquinn, Olhausen or Tesco Finest in my opinion. For something a little different, I like Sainsbury’s Taste The Difference Venison & Red Wine sausages. Well worth picking up a pack if you happen to be shopping up north. They’re lovely with mash and onion gravy!
Thursday 28 May, 2009 at 1:54 pm
try Jane Russell sausages – they great!
Thursday 28 May, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Clonakilty ispíní on brennan’s with lashings of butter is your only option when it comes to sausage sandwichs. four little sausages side by side swimming in teh butter, unreal. They get a lovely crispy skin on them when you fry them
Brennans in crumlin do a mighty fine sauage too.
Friday 29 May, 2009 at 3:19 am
For anyone looking for amazing gourmet sausages in the Dublin region, you should really try Hick’s sausages. They’re available from (among other places probably) Hick’s butchers in Dun Laoghaire, Fallon and Byrne’s, McGill’s (across from the back door to Powerscourt Town Centre) and the Hick’s stall at the Temple Bar Food Market. They also sell hotdog-style sausages at the food market which are lovely but not quite as nice as their actual sausages when you buy them.
I’m not completely obsessed with Hick’s sausages, only slightly!
Saturday 30 May, 2009 at 3:24 pm
97% meat minimum for me.
Thursday 4 June, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Superquinn sausage win my vote every single time. . such a treat
Saturday 6 June, 2009 at 12:11 am
just tried a new brand today i found in superquinn, called Truly Irish, 82% and only €1.99 for a 12 pack and they dont shrivel up in the pan and are truly delicious!!! not to mention fully traceable and irish!!
Friday 23 October, 2009 at 3:27 pm
Hodgins sausages are amazing, 80% meat content, they have gluten free and low fat sausages that taste great! only available in cork yet im afraid…although i think they are going to be in dunnes nationwide soon
Saturday 19 March, 2011 at 7:57 pm
+1 for Hodgins – lovely 80% sausages – tried them because I was sick of the cheap grissely sausages everywhere and there is a huge difference getting more pork.
By the Way – why does everyone go on about Superquinn Sausages being great? Could it be because they have E621 flavour enhancer in them – otherwise known as Monodium Glutemate or MSG – if they were great sausages they would not need MSG!
Saturday 25 June, 2011 at 12:51 am
Fay’s butchers on Thomas st have really good sausages. Jumbo version are really good for having in a crusty roll with loads of butter and ketchup. And the pork and leek sausages are great for dinner with nice buttery mash potatoes. Mmmm
Tuesday 20 September, 2011 at 1:43 pm
The best sausages I’ve had are from Hicks of Dun Laoghaire, 60 George’s Street. They do tonnes of different flavours, all made by them, and my personal favourite for sausage sandwiches are their Jumbo sausages, full of flavour! They also have Hick’s Sausage Kitchen, which is found at festivals, and also can be hired for your own party, I was at a 40th where it was feeding the revellers, and it all went down VERY well! Go and visit them, and their online shopping site is going to be ready soon too.
Friday 14 March, 2014 at 11:03 pm
Lavistown sausages, organic homemade sausages from Kilkenny. Available in Eurospar Kilkenny and all good delis.
Superb sausages!