A Castlemaine family-run butchery business has brought home the metaphorical bacon, with their kabana taking out first prize coup in a new national award.
The local Pyrenees Premium Cuts Butchers owned and operated by Hayley and James Collicoat has clinched the first place accolade in the Australian Meat Industry Council’s new small goods Charcuterie Excellence Awards announced in Melbourne last week.
Their chicken cheese and jalapeno kabana significantly impressed the judges when it was tasted against many other worthy contenders from around the nation, including some much bigger industry competitors.
It’s a major coup for the local regional butchery business that also has shops in Maryborough, Ararat and Avoca.
“For us as a small regional business to take home this award against these bigger competitors just says – ‘you guys have got gold’,” Hayley says.
“It is our most time-consuming product that we make and it’s been really popular.
“It’s already a cooked product but it can be cooked again to get a melting effect.”
Hayley says the addition of the jalapeno pepper is not sufficient to blow away heat-a-phobics, merely adding a dash of subtle kick to the winning kabana that was judged on factors including texture, taste, smell, consistency and overall appearance.
“We make it all by hand and cook it ourselves,” Hayley says.
The kabana win isn’t the only reason the Collicoats are wearing winners’ grins either.
They also took home gold for their boneless ham, smoked chilli cheese kransky and smoked cheese kransky.

Two months after launching, Castlemaine’ own Safe Space is achieving exactly what it set out to, and is now keen to secure a permanent home of its own.
Volunteers with the new Safe Space, the first for regional Victoria, say the space has been well used from the get-go.
“Since launching we’ve had attendees at almost all of our sessions which proves there is a need in the community,” the Space’s Rachel Stewart says.
Like other such Safe Spaces Australia-wide and beyond, it aims to provide a safe non-clinical drop-in port of call for anyone experiencing emotional distress or suicidal thoughts to sit and talk to a sympathetic trained volunteer with lived experience of suicide.
It’s currently operating Tuesday evenings 6pm-8.30pm from the town’s Senior Citizens rooms and Saturday afternoons 1.30pm-4pm from the Salvation Army hall on Kennedy Street.
But with storage an issue, the board and volunteers are now keen to secure a permanent home of their own and are appealing particularly to local real estate agents and landlords or other venue managers to get in touch if they think they can help.
“We’re looking for a permanent venue, somewhere central,” volunteer Rose Gubbels says.
“It’s been going well. People have been just coming in and checking us out and we’ve had some pretty good feedback. We are building up trust.”
They’re also particularly inviting more people to get on board and train to become peer volunteers.
Having a background in counselling, psychology or social work is not necessary – but being an empathetic listener with some prior lived experience of the needs of folk undergoing emotional distress or suicidality is, Rachel says.
She says anyone who thinks they may be able to assist the Space secure a new permanent home in central Castlemaine is encouraged to get in touch straight away.

They are labours of love, works of art and frequently luxuriant family heirlooms to boot.
“They take a lot of time and effort and it helps if you’re a bit of a fabri-holic,” says Castlemaine’s Merlyn Pritchard describing what goes into crafting a quilt.
Merlyn would know. She’s created quite a few of them and, as a member of The Goldfields Quilters, she is also coordinator of a special exhibition set to showcase some of the quilters’ finest next weekend.
The Goldfields Quilters currently boasts about 30 members and their enjoyment of getting together to “sit and sew” has stood the test of time.
In fact the exhibition taking place in the Castlemaine Town Hall over next Saturday and Sunday – September 17 and 18 – celebrates their 30th anniversary
Merlyn says in excess of 60 handmade quilts will be on show during the two-day event which the quilters are keenly anticipating after being forced to move the event online over the past couple of years.
“Quilting is something you can do on your own but it’s great to do with others,” Merlyn says.
She says workshops are also something that The Goldfields Quilters do from time to time, and she is already looking forward to leading one planned for next year.
Next weekend’s exhibition will also feature a traders’ table with items made by members, materials and tools of trade.
“We’ve also got two traders coming from Bendigo,” Merlyn says.
Goldfields Quilter secretary Christine Christie says members will be on hand to answer questions about how to get involved in the time honoured craft and join the group that meets regularly at the Castlemaine golf course.
There’s also the chance to take home the raffle prize of an award-winning quilt that was collaboratively made by multiple group members and collected first place ribbon at last month’s Victorian Quilters Showcase awards held at Melbourne Exhibition Centre.
Raffle tickets are currently being sold at Castlemaine’s Maxi IGA in the lead up to next weekend’s exhibition and will also be sold at the exhibition where the winning ticket will be drawn.
Christine notes that money raised through raffle ticket sales will go to Castlemaine SES and Campbells Creek fire brigade.