Sign In / Register
Things are cooking, or rather sizzling for Warkworth Butchery.
It just picked up its biggest swag of awards at the 2024 Dunninghams Great New Zealand Sausage Competition including three gold medals, one silver and a bronze across a wide range of categories.
The butcher behind many of the award-winning creations is shop manager Eli Ropata, who is not only the right-hand man of owner Rob Lees, he’s also chief sausage-maker.
“Like I said to Rob when I first joined the shop, I never start anything with the idea not to be the best. If you don’t have the aim to be the best, whether you get there or not, you’ll never have a shot at it,” Ropata says.
Part of the reason for Ropata’s success is that Lees has always been very supportive of any ideas he’s brought to the table – in fact, Ropata is the longest-serving butcher under Lees with nearly six years under his belt.
“Several of the sausages that won awards, I just said to Rob I want to try this. He’s pretty approachable so you can bring him ideas and talk to him about anything. I’ve been here long enough that I’m respected and Rob will let me run with it.”
For Ropata, inspiration often comes when dining out.
“You’ll see a dish at a restaurant and it’s got different flavours or combinations, or it’s got a profile or an idea, and you think how do I turn that into a sausage,” he says.
Ropata’s lamb merguez sausage is “a French spin on spicy North African flavours” with citrus, coriander, paprika and lemon juice, and it won another gold medal this year after picking one up in 2022.
“We use whole lemons, that’s one thing we pride ourselves on is using real produce in our sausages, not just a lemon juice or anything like that. It’s got proper lemons,” he says.
A gold went to the aptly named Warkwurst sausage, which is a spicy bratwurst with sriracha.
The butchery also won a gold in the ‘Heat n’ Eat’ category for its ‘Frank n Peno’ (as in Frankenstein) sausage.
“It’s a jalapeno, mozzarella bratwurst, but it’s precooked so you can buy it in-store and eat it for lunch – they’re also awesome for hot dogs.”
With a few awards to his credit, does Ropata consider himself something of a sausage specialist these days?
“Definitely. Small goods, that’s where I like to think I excel. I really enjoy making small goods. Cutting steaks is cutting steaks, man. Anyone can put a knife through a steak and cut the meat,” he says.
Just like their award-winning sausages, Ropata says the butchery’s plain beef and pork snarlers are made “the old school way” with quality ingredients, even if that means it takes more time.
“Everything’s made in-store. We don’t use a packet of spice mix, which is all your ingredients all in one.
We mix the spice ourselves, so it’s a bit more of a process.
“But this means the texture and the feel our sausages is a lot different. You can almost feel the fillers when you chew it, so it makes for a meatier sausage.”
This focus on quality extends beyond sausages to their bacon and ham products, which were also in the awards this year.
At the 100% New Zealand Bacon & Ham Awards 2024, the butchery won a gold for its dry-cured bacon.
“The curing time is what sets us apart. I’m big on trying to cure as long as possible, which is tough because of time constraints, but worth it.”
And a bronze was awarded for its preservative-free bacon.
“We don’t use any liquid whatsoever in our bacon. When you fry bacon, all that liquid falls down to the pan. It’s because they’ve wet cured it. They’ve pumped it like a ham to bulk it up. There’s no money in meat, but plenty of money in water.
“It also cures a lot faster. You can process tons of bacon in a matter of days curing it like that, whereas if you just dry cure it and allow the rub to seep, it can take weeks,” he says.
“But as my boss loves to say, being from Christchurch in the mainland, good things take time.”
If you’re interested in doing one of Warkworth Butchery’s popular Butcher Master Classes, which includes an on-site demonstration of breaking and boning and a sausage-making lesson, email Rob Lees at rob@wb.net.nz. The next class is on Wednesday, November 13, from 5.30pm to 8.30pm.
