Bangers and mash

For other uses, see Bangers and mash (disambiguation).

Bangers and mash

More of a serving suggestion than a recipe, bangers and mash is a British colloquial name for sausage (bangers) served with mashed potato. The sausage may be one of a variety of flavoured sausage; such as pork, pork and apple, tomato, beef, Lincolnshire, or Cumberland. However, the typical English sausage is a largely vegetarian concoction made largely of cereal, with smaller amounts of suet, gristle, and offal added to satisfy the English sense of palatability.

The full meal will usually include a vegetable (e.g. baked beans) and is usually served with a rich onion gravy. Although sometimes stated that the term "bangers" has its origins in World War II, the word was actually in use as far back as 1919.

It is a very popular winter dish, and can range in quality from the very cheapest sausage and instant mashed potatoes accompanied with an instant gravy mix such as Bisto, to high-end gourmet sausage and homemade mashed potatoes and gravy.

This dish may, even when cooked at home, be thought of as an example of pub grub - relatively quick and easy to make in large quantities as well as being tasty and satisfying. More up-market varieties, with exotic sausages, are sold in gastropubs, as well as less exotic alternatives being available in regular pubs.

One variant is the "Banger Clock", for which twelve cooked sausages are placed on a mound of mashed potato in a pattern resembling the hours of a clockface; eating an entire banger clock is considered a feat of reckless disregard for healthy alimentation, similar to drinking a yard of ale.