The Marquis of Salisbury with sous chef Mark Pillinger at the launch of the Salisbury sausage.THE Salisbury sausage was launched last week to huge acclaim and unanimously declared "delicious" by lucky taste-testers. The unique recipe, made from pork hand-reared on the Cranborne estate, is the culmination of the search for a food of distinction, fit to act as a symbol of Salisbury and put the district firmly on the culinary map.

The sausage's launch at the White Hart Hotel was one of the first events of September's Salisbury food festival - a week-long celebration of local produce and those who cook and consume it.

Cranborne's head butcher, Martin Moores, was the man who

came up with the closely guarded blend of meat and spices in the high-quality sausage.

The humble banger was chosen to reflect the area's long association with pig-farming. The Cranborne estate raises rare and traditional breeds and places great emphasis on humane treatment of its animals.