Why are sausages and creamed potatoes called 'Bangers and mash'? (2024)

FAQs

Why are sausages and creamed potatoes called 'Bangers and mash'? ›

Sausages were made with cheap ingredients and high levels of water, which meant that they had a tendency to explode during cooking as the water turned to steam. 'Bangers' today are far less likely to explode. 'Mash' of course, refers to mashed potatoes.

Bangers and mash is a staple of the country's overall cuisine and is a popular pub dish. The term bangers supposedly originated during World War I, when meat shortages resulted in sausages' being made with a number of fillers, notably water, that caused them to explode when cooked.

Bangers and mash, also known as sausages and mash, is a traditional British dish consisting of sausages and mashed potato. It may consist of one of a variety of flavoured sausages made of pork, lamb, beef, or a meat alternative. The dish is usually served with onion gravy, but may also include fried onions and peas.

British sausages being called bangers seems to be a historical legacy, a colloquial term left over from war time when sausages sometimes exploded in the pan when you cooked them. We started calling sausages bangers sometime during the first World War, it was a slang name for a sausage at the time.

A banger is a nickname that the British and Irish give to sausages. The nickname “bangers” originated during World War II, when rationing was common and meat was scarce. Bangers have two distinct characteristics – they have a much softer texture and are much less salty than their American and continental counterparts.

Strangely enough us Brits call frankfurters, frankfurters. What as a slang name we call 'bangers' are one of the many varieties of British style sausage. It's not a term that is used that much really these days. About the only time we will use it is to refer to that good old fashioned British dish 'bangers & mash'.

Bangers and mash is a quintessential British dish of sausage and mashed potatoes, typically served with onion gravy. It's roots extend to Ireland where you'll find the dish in many local pubs. I found “Irish Style Banger Sausages” at my whole foods and knew I had to try them out.

If, after much searching, you find yourself without bangers (and without the proper equipment to make a batch yourself), then in a pinch substitute any sort of plain, fatty pork sausage. Bratwurst always seems closer to a proper banger than a mild Italian sausage in my mind.

Other unusual applications include pouring it over pancakes (six per cent), cereal (five per cent), jacket potatoes (nine per cent), hash browns (seven per cent) and rice (seven per cent).

Bangers and mash consists of sausages ("bangers") served with mashed potatoes ("mash") and onion gravy. While lamb or beef sausages can be used, the most traditional choice is pork – specifically the Cumberland variety, a type of pork sausage seasoned with pepper, thyme, sage, nutmeg and cayenne.

Why is a banger not a sausage? ›

Bangers is an old nickname. Nowadays if you see sausages labelled as Bangers rather than Sausages, it is because they don't reach the minimum meat requirement to be called sausages under EU regulations to protect the consumer. After Brexit, they might get called sausages again.

Irish Sausage is also commonly known as “English Sausage”, “British Sausage, and as “Bangers” outside of the UK; the terms are used interchangeably. The traditional recipe consists of ground pork, a rusk bread filler, eggs, seasonings and a natural pork or beef casing.

The Meat: Sausage and Bacon

The combination of both bacon and sausage is one of the essential elements to a full fry up. A simple pork sausage (like the banger) is ideal and the type of bacon is up to preference.

In the British Isles we have eleven native pig breeds, all of which are traiditionally used to produce wonderfully different tasting meat depending on where the breed is from and what it traditionally grazes upon.

Indeed, during World War I, when meat was scarce, the Brits had to get creative with their sausages, which is why bangers historically contain less meat than other sausages, though the name is now pretty much just a blanket term for all breakfast sausages.

Sausages, brats, bangers, and dogs are terms that are often used when referring to any of the fresh sausage links we adore for their ability to pair well with ball games and beer.

Bangers and mash is co*ckney rhyming slang for. money. It's THAT valuable.

The term “bangers” is British slang for sausages but is used almost exclusively for the sausages in the dish bangers and mash.

Despite popular belief, there is no record of the dish ever being made with toad. The origin of the name is unclear, but it may refer to the way toads wait for their prey in their burrows, with their heads poking out, just as sausages peep through the batter.