It was the best of times, it was the wurst of times

I spent last Sunday making sausages. That's something you don't get to say every day.

The class was held at Red Feather Inn in Hadspen, Tasmania. It has accommodation and a cooking school - amazing place.

John T Bailey was the man giving the orders in the kitchen. (His "day job" is chef at The Banc Restaurant in Swansea). Certainly the sort of man you jump to, when he tells you to. So, I

was a little apprehensive about being near a mincer when he was about.

Turns out, he's a lovely bloke. And it is possible to make your own sausages, as long as you have a team of people (or at least 2) and a good (read: expensive) mincer.

Our menu for the day was ambitious: lamb koftas, country pork cumberland, smoked kransky, game sausage and chipolatas.

Step 1: was getting the ingredients together. In a real sausage (read: one that doesn't come cheap from the supermarket or butcher) there is meat, spices and herbs. That's it.

Step 2: mince the meat. Depending on how fine you want it will depend on how much you mince it. The expensive machines mince faster, thereby cutting your prep time and ensuring the uncooked meat does not heat up.

Step 3: Filling the casings. We used intestines (different sizes for different bangers) and one person fed in the mince while another was in charge of filling the casing in an even way that still had a little give (so it doesn't burst when you tie it). It's quite delicate work.

Step 4: Tie them off. You use the same technique as a busker does when making a balloon poodle for a kid, by twisting the sausages into each other. Then, hang for a bit before cooking.

We all sat down together to eat the product of our hard labour, and boy were those snags filling. A world away from a typical barbie.