For National Sausage Roll Day, GB News is taking a deep dive into Britain's pastry titan - Greggs.
The much-loved bakery launched its vegan sausage roll in 2019, and ever since, connoisseurs have fiercely debated whether the meat-free version outshines its predecessor.
With the jury still out, GB News has taken it upon itself to settle the matter with a taste trial.
The channel's own Patrick Christys was asked to blind-test the two products to see if he could tell the plant-based roll from its meaty counterpart.
The criteria for the quiz were simple; the baked goods had to be judged on their looks, taste and texture to determine the final score out of five.
In a video exclusively for GBN members, Patrick said: “It is obviously the best day of the year after Valentine’s Day and Christmas, and Easter possibly, I am here to decide which sausage roll from Greggs, is vegan and non-vegan.
GB News carried out a taste test of the Greggs vegan and meat sausage rolls
GB NEWS
“I am supposed to be some man of the people but I have never actually had a Greggs sausage roll, so this is an experience for me. I am going to go off look first. The smell is amazing by the way."
Layed out before him were two batches, one slightly paler than the other, but with few other differences to tell them apart. Patrick had no idea which was which.
Picking up one of the lighter rolls, Patrick said: “They look a bit dryer, while the others have a nice glossy finish to them.
“The only thing I’d say about that is, I wonder if they’ve tried to make the vegan ones look more appealing to sell more, so they’ve glossed them up a little bit."
Moments after tucking into the treat, he reflected: “I mean it’s nice, it’s quite flaky, I feel like I’ve got it all over my face. I actually can’t really tell if that’s got meat in it or not.
“Which if it’s the meat sausage roll, I’m not sure is a good thing”. Taking another bite, Patrick continued: “Nice flaky exterior, soft on the inside, there’s definitely a meaty twang to it in the middle.
“I wonder if I’ve made the wrong choice here, I think this might have meat in it. It is lovely though, but I think the only way to tell definitively is to try the other one.
“One thing I will say is there is some kind of barrier going on between the crispiness of the pastry and whatever is inside."
Patrick seemed sold on the treat but, still unsure which of the two batches contained meat, he tucked into the second lot.
On the meaty treat, Patrick said: “This is already the best day I’ve had at work in a long time, and I’ll now try my second sausage roll.
“I originally thought that this one would have meat in it, as you can see it’s got a slightly glossier finish.
“I’ll be honest with you, it looks more appealing than the last one.”
Taking a second mouthful, and still unaware which baked good was vegan, he added: “It’s a bit less flaky than the other one. I’m getting more of a meaty undertone now. It’s really kicked in at the back of the mouth.
“The only way to be absolutely sure is to have another massive bite. I could do this all day. It feels to me like the pastry and what’s inside it, blend a bit better."
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Patrick Christys had no idea which sausage rolls were vegan and which contained meat
GB NEWS
The verdict became clear to Patrick after his third bite, with the second sausage roll taking the crown for best sausage roll.
"I think this is the meaty sausage roll," he said. "I will say, the other one was good and if you hadn't presented this to me, I wouldn't have known. Although I could still be wrong."
Patrick, who had unknowingly correctly identified the meat and vegan sausage roll, was then made aware of which sausage roll was which.
“Note to self - for the next GB News taste test - I need to be more indecisive for longer, that way I get to eat more," Patrick joked, as he went on to reflect on the taste test.
He said he thought the vegan version was "actually really nice". He added: “I’ve eaten quite a lot of vegan food in my time, and most of it I found tasted quite awful, but this did not taste awful, so if I had to rate this out of five, I would probably give it a 3.5.
"I don't know, for me, there is some kind of barrier going on between the crispiness of the pastry and whatever is inside."
On the second meaty, sausage roll, he said: “As somebody who has never had a Greggs sausage roll before, I feel like I've been missing out big time.
"The glossy finish of it, the way the pastry just flakes off."
He added: "As far as sausage rolls go, I’m going to give that a 4.5 out of five."
To get a well-rounded opinion on the matter, GB News asked staff members about the best of the two sausage rolls, with the meaty version coming up trumps as a team favourite.
The test comes as Greggs is selling a limited number of yard-long boxes filled with 12 sausage rolls in the cities that love the iconic menu item the most.
