 A sausage in bread served with onions and tomato sauce | |
| Course | Snack |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Australia[1][2] |
| Associatedcuisine | Australia,New Zealand |
| Main ingredients | Sausage,sliced bread |
Asausage sizzle is a community event in Australia and New Zealand[1][2] to cook and serve sausages in bread (also referred to as sausage sandwiches or sausage sizzles)[3][4][5] which aregrilled orbarbecuedsausages (most commonly beef or pork) served insliced bread with grilledonions and various condiments, most commonlytomato sauce,barbecue sauce ormustard.[6] The term "sausage sizzle" came into common use in the 1980s and is used primarily to refer to thebarbecuing event, but also to the sausage itself, mostly inWestern Australia.[6][3][4][5][7]
Sausage sizzles are generally held either as free community events or as fundraisers for charities, schools, sports clubs and other organisations. As such, ingredients and equipment are cheaply purchased or donated by suppliers. Fundraising sausage sizzles have becomeparticularly associated withelections in Australia and the hardware chainBunnings.
Most commonly, the main sale item at a sausage sizzle is apork orbeef sausage (often colloquially referred to as a "snag"), cooked on agrill or barbecue[6] and served on a single slice of whitesandwich bread,[8] or a hot dog roll inWestern Australia.[9][10][11]Tomato sauce is the most common accompaniment, and is usually available for no extra cost, although other condiments such asbarbecue sauce andAmerican mustard are regularly available. Grilled onions are often available, for free or at extra cost.
Some sausage sizzles also offer the option of a whitebread roll as an alternative to sliced bread.Vegetarian orgluten-free options are infrequently available, but they are often sold at events with more extensive menus, includinghamburgers or complete meals.[citation needed] Cans ofsoft drink or bottled water may also be available for purchase, especially to maximise fundraising.[12][13]
Sausage sizzles have become a recognised and expected addition to polling booths at Australian elections, with sausages at these stations nicknamed 'Democracy Sausages'.[14][15][16] There was widespread media coverage of this in the2013 and2016 Australian federal elections, with the hashtag "#democracysausage" trending onTwitter.[17] Twitter also added a sausage-in-breademoji to the '#ausvotes'hashtag on the day of the 2016 election; it was the most widely used emoji in relation to the election under that hashtag.[18] During the 2016 election, the leader of theAustralian Labor Party,Bill Shorten, came under scrutiny for the way in which he consumed his sausage in bread.[19]
Australian hardware chain Bunnings offers barbecue facilities at all of its stores for hire to community groups. Sausage sizzles at these locations usually occur on weekends and have become associated with the Bunnings brand.[20] In 2016, when Bunnings expanded to theUnited Kingdom, it brought the sausage sizzle there as well, resulting in considerable media coverage.[21][22][23]
