Rothbury butcher bids for sausage maker crown

Oct 24 2009 by Brian Daniel, The Journal

WHEN you think of butchers, you may imagine plump, red-cheeked, jovial, older men.

And the stereotype is in part confirmed by the fact that the average age in the profession is 52.

But one teenager in Northumberland is doing his best to change all that.

Seventeen-year-old Callum Garrick, who works at Rothbury Family Butchers, is cooking up a storm in the trade.

Already at such a tender age, he has won three awards for his dishes.

In the recently held 2009 Q Guild Smithfield Awards, one of the most prestigious affairs in the meat industry, he picked up golds for his pork, caramelised onion and cracked black pepper burger, his dry cured bacon and his smoked bacon.

The latter two dishes were rated at 92% and an incredible 99%.

And his career as a butcher could be set to go with a bang(er) as he prepares to enter another contest with his sausages.

Callum is to travel to the British Pig Executive roadshow at Harrogate in November to take part in the young sausage maker competition with his pork, tomato and cracked black pepper sausage, and his pork, apple and cinnamon sausage.

The teenager, who lives at Wagtail Road in Rothbury, became interested in being a butcher when he did work experience at the Town Foot shop when in year 10 at Morpeth King Edward VI School.