Early afternoon was supposed to be a quieter time for Good Living to visit Vatan butchery. But with a line of customers almost out the door and 1000 sausages to prepare for the local high school, the meat cleavers are flying at full speed.
There is rarely a slow moment at this halal butcher, founded and owned by Ercan Gunaydin. His son, Anil, who has just completed his meat and processing qualification at Granville TAFE, is running the show while his father takes his first holiday in more than 20 years.
Sausages that sizzle ... Anil Gunaydin, with sucuk sausages, at his family's butchery in Mascot.Credit: Anthony Johnson
It was Anil's TAFE teacher who told him to submit Vatan's specialty, sucuk, a spiced Turkish beef sausage, to the Royal Agricultural Society's fine food show last year.
They won first and second place in the deli competition.
''It's like a salami; spicy, [and there's] a lot of garlic in there,'' says Anil, who only knows of a few butchers in Sydney who sell it.
All the meat at Vatan is certified halal and comes from abattoirs across the country. Anil says commitment to quality and friendly service keep customers coming back - and not just the locals.
''I've got people coming from all over the place, from Auburn, North Sydney, the northern beaches. I've even got customers that come from Ulladulla,'' he says.
On a good Saturday, they sell 150 lamb chops and many kilos of their special marinated chicken wings. Anil can't reveal the recipe for his father's secret marinade but says it is unique, very hot and paprika-based. Also popular is the adana, a traditional Turkish lamb mince with capsicum, paprika and lots of white pepper, which they mix themselves.
Lamb tongues are on display and specialty products are kept frozen, available on request, such as lamb brains, beef feet and oxtail.
Vatan supplies adana, beef and chicken mince to about 20 kebab shops, as well as sausages to more than a dozen nearby schools.
The Gunaydins, well known in the local Turkish community, are conscious of remaining an accessible, suburban butcher, and actively keep prices ''to a minimum''. Anil says he'd rather sell a greater volume for less and is sometimes shocked by the cost of meat at bigger chains.
''What they're selling for $43 I'm selling for $23,'' he says. Anil hopes to continue in the family business, which also includes two kebab shops owned by his father. Ercan originally set up Vatan in Redfern but moved to Mascot in 1996. It was on his first day at the new store that he tragically lost his left hand in a meat-mincer accident.
''He's still the fastest butcher I've seen,'' Anil says.
VATAN HALAL MEATS
1221 Botany Road, Mascot, 96670007
BEST BUYS
Sucuk $14/kg.
Marinated chicken wings $6.50/kg.
Adana mince $13/kg.