Bangers and mash is sausages served on a mound of mashed potato with onion gravy poured over. It is one of the plainest meals in British cooking and one of the best loved, and it appears on almost every pub menu in the country.
Why “bangers”
The name comes from wartime. Meat was scarce during both world wars, and sausages were bulked out with water, rusk and cereal. Cooked in a hot pan, the water turned to steam, the skins could not contain it, and the sausages burst with an audible bang, frequently spraying the cook.
Modern sausages do not do this unless badly made, but the name stuck, and “bangers” is now simply an affectionate word for sausages.
British sausages
These are not American breakfast sausages, and the difference matters. A British pork sausage contains a significant proportion of rusk or breadcrumb, which makes the texture softer and more open, and the seasoning is herby rather than sweet or heavily sage-forward.
The two most famous regional varieties:
- Cumberland — coarse, peppery, and traditionally sold in one continuous coil rather than links. It has protected status.
- Lincolnshire — chunky, heavily seasoned with sage.
Cheap sausages with very low meat content are a genuine British complaint, and the meat percentage on the packet is worth reading.
The mash
The potato matters as much as the sausage. A floury variety — Maris Piper or King Edward — is boiled, drained thoroughly, and mashed with a great deal of butter and a splash of warm milk or cream. Warm milk, not cold, and never a food processor, which turns potato to glue.
Some cooks add mustard, and mash made with a spoonful of wholegrain mustard is very good with sausages.
The gravy
Onion gravy is not optional. Sliced onions are cooked slowly until deeply browned and sweet, then stock is added and reduced, sometimes with a splash of ale or a spoonful of redcurrant jelly. It should be dark, glossy and generous. Pouring it over from a jug at the table so that it runs down the mash is part of the pleasure.
The variations
- Toad in the hole — the same sausages baked into Yorkshire pudding batter.
- Sausage and mash with peas — the standard pub plating.
- Glamorgan sausages — a Welsh vegetarian version made with cheese, leek and breadcrumbs, which predates modern meat substitutes by a century.
Where to eat it
A good pub, on a cold evening. There are also dedicated sausage-and-mash restaurants in London and elsewhere offering a dozen sausage varieties and several gravies, which is either a fine idea or an unnecessary complication depending on temperament.