Big, plump pork sausages sputter with savory juices atop a buttery nest of mashed potatoes, with overtones of pepper and a golden brown onion sauce lending a bittersweet burnish . . . This is bangers and mash, a lunch or dinner favorite in English pubs and a satisfying homemade supper to boot.
It appears in one of its most refined presentations at London’s stylish Green’s Restaurant, where Cumberland bangers are enhanced by strips of crisp, smoky bacon. More aromatic pork bangers hinting of sage, nutmeg, and mace are the specialty of Cumberland, while those from Yorkshire and
Lancashire are based upon beef.
These sausages were dubbed bangers after World War I, when water added to stretch the scarce meat of the filling caused the frying sausages to burst—with a bang. Usually fried or grilled in their own fat, bangers emerge more plumply moist and golden when brushed with butter and oven roasted, especially if their casings are unbroken. (Ignore the advice of those who say they should be pierced before cooking.) Devotees shun mass-produced bangers, especially if skinless, and lean turkey or chicken bangers in favor of those made by artisanal butchers who use natural casings and a pork
mix that includes just enough snowy fat to preserve juices.
Ideally, the boiled, starchy potatoes should not be pureed but rather broken down with an old-fashioned potato masher as butter and milk or cream are worked in. A few lumps add textural
contrast, providing the right purchase for the roux-thickened onion gravy.
Where:
In London, Green’s Restaurant, tel 44/20-7930-4566, greens.org.uk;
In New York, Tea & Sympathy, tel 212-989-9735, teaandsympathynewyork.com;
In Austin, TX, Banger’s Sausage House and Beer Garden, tel 512-386-1656, bangersaustin.com.
Mail order: For bangers, R.J. Balson & Son, tel 321-281-9473, balsonbutchers.com.
Further information and recipes: How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman (2006);
theguardian.com (search bangers and mash).
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