Who bakes the best sausage rolls? ‘I doubt whether these are the winning ones’

The tastiest Brabant sausage roll is chosen for the 25th time. On Tuesday morning, home bakers and pupils/students could submit their creation to the Curio bakery training course in Breda. A critical jury looks at, smells, feels and tastes the sausage rolls. Douwe from Veghel comes to hand in his daughter’s sausage rolls: “These are very tasty, these are the winning rolls.”

This year, 25 home bakers, 30 pupils and students and 15 professional bakers will compete for the coveted title. The professional bakers have been visited by a mystery guest who comes to the door to taste anonymously. The home and student bakers can select their ten best rolls and submit them to the jury.

“Look, the sausage is a bit small.”

Theo van der Biezen’s sandwiches are in a box. “People say we have the tastiest. They even come from Limburg to our house in Heeswijk-Dinther for the sausage rolls.” Theo’s secret is tasty and good herbs. According to him, there is nothing difficult about baking a good sausage roll. “That’s just very simple.”

TV chef and jury chairman Danny Jansen does not agree with that. He is already looking at one submitted sausage roll for Omroep Brabant. “I see an incredibly beautiful sausage roll here. Nicely evenly baked, no cooking residues and sealed on all sides.”

But he also immediately sees downsides. For example, there are a few small blisters on bread. “And look, the sausage is a bit small. That could have been a bit bigger. You don’t just win that title of the best sausage roll of 2024, we are really very critical.”

“I’ve baked a few hundred of them.”

Douwe Sanders arrives with the ‘winning sandwiches’ from his daughter Lotte (33). “These are baked with love, I have no doubt: these are the best.” The Veghelse sausage rolls look special: they are somewhat smaller and not uniform in color. “But they are awfully tasty. The secret is that they are baked in several stages.”

Who is less sure of his case is Guus van Heereveld from Sint-Oedenrode. “I doubt whether these are the winning ones,” he says as he approaches. “I’ve been baking for so long and I just wanted to participate once for fun. I’m just curious what the jury thinks.”

Guus has been baking and experimenting for weeks to create the best sausage roll. “I’ve baked a few hundred of them. You can go in so many directions with the dough, meat, herbs, baking time and types of flour. The seasoning is the secret.” And what’s in it? “Yes, of course I’m not going to tell you that.”

“I baked a hundred and selected the ten best.”

Each sausage roll starts with one hundred points. “So everyone starts as a winner,” says Danny Jansen. “Only points can be deducted.” The jury pays attention to the appearance of the sausage roll, the minced meat filling, the bread, the bite and the overall taste. Danny already takes a bite. “Nice, still more than forty to go.”

According to Hans Leermakers from Loon op Zand, the shape is the difficult element of a sausage roll. He came third in 2022 and second in 2023 with his sandwiches. This year he is going for that first place. “I baked a hundred and selected the ten best.”

The biggest secret according to home bakers? They all agree on that: love. We will know whether you win the title on Wednesday evening, April 17.

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