Bangers and mash comes squarely from the Pub Grub school of cooking. It is filling, tasty and rich whilst being simple enough to be produced in quantity. Incidentally, this simplicity allows the cook to add their own twist elevating it to the level of "Gastro pub" food.
The name "bangers" comes from a time when there was too much water added to the sausage meat mix. (The other ingredients are: Minced meat, spicing and bread or rusk all popped into a natural hog casing). More water meant a greater weight and thus more profit. This was certainly done during the rationing of the second world war, but may well have been happening both before and after. This meant that when the sausages were heated in a frying pan the steam meant that they were very likely to blow up in the pan. This lead to the mistaken dogma of pricking the sausages with a fork before cooking. Please do not do this, all the fat will run out, leaving you with a dry sausage with the texture of cous cous.
Buy the best sausages you can afford, a decent butcher will take pride in their traditional sausage. Start them in a frying pan with a little oil to get a little brown on them. Then put them in a medium oven for about 25 minutes, they should still have a distinct snap as you bite through the skin.
I served the sausages with buttery mash and an onion gravy. Peas, as a vegetable, just seemed right.
The Match
For many years, Landlord has been the last word in classic English Bitter. It is consistently good, one of the most reliably good beers in the UK. This example was from the bottle and was delicious, however, if you can find some from the cask in a pub, you are in for a real treat! The balance between hops, yeast and malt is nearly perfect. It drinks very easily with just a hint of fruit, a smart but balanced lick of hops and all based out with malt. Needless to say, it was an excellent match to the bangers and mash. The only problem with Landlord is that it is far too easy to drink - one pint is never enough!
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