#SaveourSausage - An Evening with Paul Rankin

I am a very fussy person when it comes to sausages, so I was most intrigued when last week, Squiggle and I received an invitation to go and meet with Celebrity Chef Paul Rankin at the Great John Street Hotel in Manchester as he launched his new Rankin Selection Irish Family Sausages.

Michelin star Paul Rankin regularly appears on TV and is a personal favourite of mine from his time on Saturday Morning kitchen and the infamous three egg omelette challenge. Well he is now launching his own range of traditional Irish sausages in an attempt to bring back family meal times. He is currently touring Britain and Ireland with his Rankin Challenge where he just asks that you compare his sausages against the current market leader, see which you prefer and let him know.

Which was what our evening was all about. We were given an introduction to Paul and learnt how he has been working with artisan Irish food producer, Finnebrogue, to create a better quality sausage.

The evening was full of fun and laughter, we started off with a canape reception with sausage rolls and sausages in lovely sweet chilli sauce and then shown through to the dining room. We played a game of Silly Sausage where Paul tested our knowledge on the humble banger and I'm pleased to say I was part of the winning team. Squiggle was invited to go and choose our prizes, a choice of a Paul Rankin frying pan or an all day breakfast made out of sweets, he surprised us all by going for the frying pan!

We were then served a plate of bangers and mash with an onion gravy, I must admit I was wary, I've had bad experiences with sausages in the past but I needn't have worried. The sausages were lovely, there was no "bad bits" in them which I have found with the current market leader.

Paul said that he prefers to fry his sausages for 20 minutes, I personally prefer not to stand in front of a cooker for this length of time and admit I do mine in the oven.  I noticed such a difference when I cooked these sausages at home. Firstly they didn't explode ( there is no need to prick them ), secondly there was no excess fat in the pan when I cooked them and thirdly they taste so much better than other sausages that I have tried.

Rankin Selection Irish Family Sausages are now on sale in Asda at an introductory price of £1.75 (£2.00 RRP)  for a pack of 8

I was invited to this event by Tots100 and was given a goody bag and a packet of sausages in exchange for this review.