Who bakes the tastiest Brabant sausage roll? Every year dozens of bakers try to win the title. Bakker Pim Filius from Dongen was surprised on Tuesday morning with a visit from the jury of the annual competition for the best Brabant sausage roll. De Bakker is one of the ten finalists. Filius is originally from the province of Zeeland, but now he is part of the top of the best bakers of this Oer Brabant regional product.
Just before Tienen the men from the tastiest Brabant sausage roll enters the bakery with a bunch of flowers and certificates for the finalist. Bakker Pim Filius is pleasantly surprised: “I happened to be baking in the back of the Bakkerij Sausstadjes and then they said you can get to the store for a while, because there is a camera crew. I hadn’t taken it into account at all.”
Good minced meat
The secret of the recipe of his sausage roll will of course not give up the baker, but he does want to light up a tip of the veil: “We really pay a lot of attention to making the sausage roll. We make them fresh and get warm every hour From the oven.
That the sausage rolls are a great success is evident from the sales figures. Every week between five and six thousand are sold. “It is very striking that it went that way,” says the born Zeeuw. “We have been in Brabant for 23 years now. It was completely new to us. But our predecessor also helped us on our way.”
Lots of extra customers
For the Dongense bakery, the sausage roll is even the most important product. A nomination for the final of the best sausage roll competition already yields a lot of extra customers: “In 2017 we also participated and then the customers came far outside Dongen to taste.”
Danny Jansen from the organization of the competition says that a nomination yields so much extra customers that you can buy a nice house from it. According to him, apart from the taste, it is important that the sausage roll is completely closed: “Because sausage rolls with open edges are not Brabant sausage rolls.”
Danny has already been able to taste, but says that all finalists make delicious sandwiches. “Otherwise you won’t get into the final.” Twelve jury members will eventually determine who will win the coveted prize. The winner will be announced on 2 April.
