The Great Sausage Roll Off

The Great Sausage Roll Off 2023

This year’s winners and prizes:

First place – the coveted Golden Sausage Roll trophy and IOShen bespoke knives:
Mat Follas from Bramble Restaurant in Sherborne, Dorset

Second place – prize supplied by Netherton Foundry and other judges’ prizes:
Dav Browing of The Ocean View at the Dome, Plymouth

Third place – boxed F Dick Knife provided by Rational UK:
Sue Mcgrath of The Vine in Buckden, Cambridgeshire.

The Great Sausage Roll Off 9, after a three-year hiatus, was back with a bang(er)! Back with a fresh set of faces and a light sprinkling of past competitors eager to win the holy grail of savoury pastry awards – the Golden Sausage Roll itself.

On a cold, dark night in February, 16 professional cooks from all over the country gathered in our South West London pub kitchen armed with their hand-crafted dough, thoughtfully prepared fillings and a burning desire to be the best. Their palms were sweaty, knees weak, arms were heavy, some were nervous, but on the surface, they looked calm and ready. Eventually everyone lost themselves to the task in hand – to create a dozen perfect sausage rolls, and that they certainly did!

What a show, what a performance, a shining example of what our fantastic industry can achieve – so much passion, comradery, and respect for each other and their experiences, past, present and ongoing. Hospitality stood up, put all fingers on both hands up and declared – “we are in this together!”.

And then the fabulous judges, all committed professionals, at the top of their game, all experts in ubiquitous bar snacks, ready to strike fear into the hearts of the contenders. With 16 tasty morsels to appraise, the task ahead was no mean feat but after nearly two hours the decision was made, and the supreme champion was crowned!

On the night, we raised £2,000 for Hospitality Action through an auction and sausage roll sales.

Watch the video below to see all the action from 2023