Bangers and mash

[lindag]

My friend stopped in at Costco on Tuesday for her corned beef and came away with a package of Bangers too.

I have never seen these in a grocery store anywhere.

Anyway, we often go to a wonderful Irish Pub in town and they have great bangers and mash.

But we have never cooked them at home or made the Guinness gravy they serve with them.

Is there a secret to cooking bangers or are they done just the same as any other sausage?

And the gravy? 

[liuzhou]

10 minutes ago, lindag said:

My friend stopped in at Costco on Tuesday for her corned beef and came away with a package of Bangers too.

I have never seen these in a grocery store anywhere.

Anyway, we often go to a wonderful Irish Pub in town and they have great bangers and mash.

But we have never cooked them at home or made the Guinness gravy they serve with them.

Is there a secret to cooking bangers or are they done just the same as any other sausage?

And the gravy?

 

What does "bangers" mean to you? In the UK and Ireland it just means "sausages" of any kind.

 

Edited March 9, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[Maison Rustique]

1 hour ago, lindag said:

My friend stopped in at Costco on Tuesday for her corned beef and came away with a package of Bangers too.

I have never seen these in a grocery store anywhere.

Anyway, we often go to a wonderful Irish Pub in town and they have great bangers and mash.

But we have never cooked them at home or made the Guinness gravy they serve with them.

Is there a secret to cooking bangers or are they done just the same as any other sausage?

And the gravy? 

 

I bought these bangers, too. My husband loves bangers & mash, so will interested to see if there is anything special I should know.

[rotuts]

hopefully they will be Bangers that have that delicious finely ground SawDust in them , my favorite !

 

and yes I can't find them anywhere.

 

just sauté until nicely brown and deflate that pan w Guinness

Edited March 9, 2017 by rotuts (log)

[weedy]

Traditionally ONION gravy. 

And coleman's mustard. 

 

Serious eats has had a decent recipe if you search. 

Edited March 10, 2017 by weedy (log)

[DTBarton]

I've always thought that bangers implied that the sausage had a bread binder in it.  Rusk is what you hear about.  Good info here:  https://www.thepauperedchef.com/article/homemade-british-bangers-and-the-search-for-rusk

[rotuts]

I really do love bangers.

 

does anyone know if there is a difference between British Bangers and Irish ?

 

Ive had both , but not side by side.

[Anna N]

 I am with @liuzhou.   Bangers are just sausages in the normal course of events. But good sausages are hard to come by in my neck of the woods so I shall be anxious to see if the Costco "bangers" are any kind of improvement. Sausages with mashed potatoes and onion gravy are what comfort food is all about.  And none of your fancy retrograded, seived within an inch of their life mashed spuds. 

[Okanagancook]

This is a fun site http://www.bahamafood.com/bangers-or-not-all-about-irish-english-sausages/

[rotuts]

@Anna N  

 

indeed.

 

wow ever   . the international question is Bangers from GB or Ireland are not 

 

'' sausage "  as such.

 

they need that filler , fine sawdust or rusk !

[Dave W]

Cumberland sausage, onion gravy, mash. Hard to beat. Who knows if Costco bangers are authentic. 

 

Called bangers because of large rusk content causing them to split easily during cooking. 

[ElsieD]

I haven't noticed bangers at my Costco but then I haven't looked too closely.  The few times I did try their sausages I thought I was having a salt lick.  I'll be curious to hear the reports on these.  I used to love them and would likely get some depending on how salty they are.

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, Dave W said:

Cumberland sausage, onion gravy, mash. Hard to beat. Who knows if Costco bangers are authentic. 

 

Called bangers because of large rusk content causing them to split easily during cooking. 

I, for one, don't need authentic, whatever that means. I just want a better sausage. I want a sausage that cooks up moist and flavourful and doesn't force me to fight with or spit out hunks of inedible gristle.  I used to think that a sausage was a pretty lowly food but it's hard to beat a well-made one.  

Edited March 9, 2017 by Anna N
Spelling of authentic (log)

[chromedome]

"The sausages are for the ones who know what their sins are, and want to atone for something specific."

-Douglas Adams, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish

[chromedome]

...and a musical interlude, just because I thought of it at 2 AM:

 

 

[Okanagancook]

We here the heck did you find that!  Hilarious.  My all time favourite comedian.  And I love those English sausages.  I made some Scottish sausage awhile back....made with plenty of bread crumbs to stretch the meat.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Okanagancook
Correct the (log)

[liuzhou]

Don't forget Rolling Stone, Keith Richard's recipe for Bangers and Mash, apparently pretty much all he eats on tour according to his excellent autobiography, "Life".

 

 

Edited March 10, 2017 by liuzhou (log)

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, Okanagancook said:

We here th heck did you find that!  Hilarious.  My all time favourite comedian.  And I love those English sausages.  I made some Scottish sausage awhile back....made with plenty of bread crumbs to stretch the meat.

I'd heard the song years ago on the CBC. Last night, as I was drifting off to sleep, it popped up in my head with a label attached that read "You need to find this on YouTube and put it into the 'bangers' thread..."

[weedy]

while I would agree in some senses that in the UK a 'banger' is "just  sausage"... I feel pretty strongly that if, in a London pub, one ordered bangers and mash and received mash with, say, a black boudin sausage, or a cumin redolent spicy chorizo, or an andouille, or a kaiser wurst... no one would consider that to be "right".

 

a banger is, at least by convention, a certain style of sausage.

[Anna N]

42 minutes ago, weedy said:

while I would agree in some senses that in the UK a 'banger' is "just  sausage"... I feel pretty strongly that if, in a London pub, one ordered bangers and mash and received mash with, say, a black boudin sausage, or a cumin redolent spicy chorizo, or an andouille, or a kaiser wurst... no one would consider that to be "right".

 

a banger is, at least by convention, a certain style of sausage.

You are correct, of course, technically. But those of a certain age and I feel comfortable including myself and @liuzhou in that group, know what we mean by "sausage" and those you mention would not pass muster.

[Kim Shook]

I grew up with an English stepdad and his mum used to bring us (quite illegally, I'm sure) a suitcase full of English bacon (swoon) and bangers.  I did not care for them - I'm afraid I'm on the all-meat side of sausage making.  Fast forward to a vacation in Bermuda years later.  Breakfast was included in our hotel package and I found that I STILL didn't care for bangers.  When I made the request for only bacon, the cheeky British waiters proceeded to bring me my bacon every morning with elaborate explanations that the it hadn't been near the sausage, causing much teasing and hilarity among our table.  Fast forward again to our trip to England in 2011 - and, again, I found the bangers NOT to my taste.  Sadly, this Anglophile has found the one British thing that I just didn't like! 

[IndyRob]

I impulse-bought some Irish Bangers I found at ALDI last week and served them the other night with pierogies and sauteed onions.  The bangers had a very light texture - almost souffle-like.  I guess that's the bread content.

[liuzhou]

8 hours ago, Anna N said:

But those of a certain age and I feel comfortable including myself and @liuzhou in that group, know what we mean by "sausage" and those you mention would not pass muster.

 

 Last month, I had dinner with a visitor from England (and some other people) and he made some disparaging comment about "Chinese bangers", meaning, of course, Chinese sausages. He doesn't much like them was the gist, if not the tone of his opinion. Tend to agree..

[weedy]

22 hours ago, Anna N said:

You are correct, of course, technically. But those of a certain age and I feel comfortable including myself and @liuzhou in that group, know what we mean by "sausage" and those you mention would not pass muster.

 

 

I suspect strongly I'm of a similar age, but in any event... it's when stating something on the internets for eyes of all potential ages that I tend to get a bit more specific about such things.

 

 

[Kim Shook]

Well, after that story (above), Wegman's was sampling their Irish Bangers today (as was Costco, but, as always, they were seemingly shocked by the number of customers in the store and didn't have any ready when we walked by - are we the only people this happens to at Costco?).  So, of course, I had to taste them.  Absolutely delicious.  Mr. Kim agreed.  They were light, but NOT fluffy and perfectly seasoned.  The packet says they are 8% bread crumbs, so that may explain it.  They may not be AUTHENTIC, but they are GOOD, so I got a packet!