BS: What's a British Banger ?

Subject: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: GUEST,Sleepless Dad
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 11:17 AM

I shudder to think of the replys I'll get with this title but...

I was at the grocery store the other day and I saw that the butcher shop was selling Bangers. I know that they are sausages. Are they spicy ? Mild ? Pork ? Beef ? All of the above ? Mystery meat ? Are they just for breakfast ? Or anytime you need a little sausage in your life ?

And bangers and mash are sausages with mashed potatoes - correct ? How else are they served ?

Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: robomatic
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 11:19 AM

If you want to try something extremely noxious, ask for savalloys, unless that's a Kiwi term for 'bangers'.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: GUEST,Leadfingers
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 12:09 PM

A Nineteen Sixty Vauxhall ??

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: ossonflags
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 12:15 PM

The best sausage I ahve ever tasted was from a shop in Newark.They were made with somerset pork, bramley apple and stilton cheese.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: s&r
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 12:24 PM

A banger is just a common or garden sausage ( supposedly because they burst sometimes)

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: s&r
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 12:26 PM

Some info

Stu

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Tam the man
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 01:16 PM

In Scotland we have two types of sausages, the 'bangers' which we call Links, and square sausage meat that we call slice or square slice.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: greg stephens
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 01:25 PM

And then, of course, there is the snorker.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 02:08 PM

A sexually-obsessed Englishman?

Oh, wait, sorry, contradiction in terms there....

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: greg stephens
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 02:43 PM

A snorker is a sausage, Rapaire. This sexual obsession with Englishmen, is it a problem to you or a source of satisfaction?

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 02:55 PM

Sexually obsessed is it?

There used to be a story about a US company sending an order to a UK firm, for 20,000 condoms. Thinking to exercise a little one-upmanship, they specified a length of 12 inches.

Two weeks later their goods arrived in crates stamped "Medium Size".

Grins broadly
Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Rapparee
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 04:01 PM

A banger is one who bangs. A British banger must, therefore, be a bangin' Brit. There is a wonderful old South-Central-Highlands-Of-The-Lake-District-Middle-English folksong (HA! a music reference!) called "Bang Away Lulu" (or "my Lulu") which makes it clear that Lulu's banging isn't on a drum (shall we say?). Therefore, a British Banger must be a sexually obsessed Englishman. But as we all know, "sexually obsessed" and "Englishman" are contradictary terms (except for certain members of the Royal Family, but they were originally of lusty German stock).

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Ebbie
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 04:42 PM

Rapaire, you may be on to something- the image of the chilly English gentleman may be one that the English themselves promulgate.

Years ago I worked in a resort where our Dining Room Manager was a very correct Englishman. He spoke clipped, upper class English, his clothes were expensive and impeccably brushed, his carriage was spare and upright and unhurried.

He was also very married with two halfgrown children.

One day we got to work and discovered that our bloodless Englishman had run off with one of the waitresses.

har

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Bill D
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 05:40 PM

John Cleland, Sir Richard Burton, Lady Chatterly.....oh, the English have their penchants, even when they don't show it in polite society.

and there WAS Benny Hill...*grin*

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 06:21 PM

But as we all know, "sexually obsessed" and "Englishman" are contradictary terms (except for certain members of the Royal Family, but they were originally of lusty German stock).

Pick an invasion, and see where the english come from
Romans- Italians.
or Normans- Frenchman
or Vikings- Enough said!

Or the original inhabitants, Celts. I can't remember much about them, except stripping off and painting themselves blue alot seemed popular...

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 06:34 PM

What's in a banger? You might as well ask what's in an American hotdog.

You don't really want to know, do you?

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: GUEST,Sleepless Dad
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 06:50 PM

Actually I do want to know whats in it. And are they spicy or mild ?

And just for breakfast ?

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 06:55 PM

When they caught sight of his big red sausage
All the ladies said, yes please!
Cos it weren't all floppy like an English banger
And he'd even let you give it a squeeze
If you asked for bite, he'd say 'Alrighta (Italian accent here!)
My poloney aims to please-a!'
No he wouldn't quibble
He'd let you have a nibble
With a little bit of parmesan cheese!

a song I wrote nearly thirty years ago for the Mattesons Sausage Company Song Writing Competition - and now available on my latest album see the website:-
http://bigalwhittle.co.uk/

all the best

Big Al Whittle

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Emma B
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 07:03 PM

remembered childrens rhymes

The sausage was a fat one
The outside was a skin
The inside was the mystery
Of poor little Jim

In the boarding house I lived in
Everything was growing old
Silver threads amongst the butter
And the cheese was green with mold
When the dog died we had sausages
When the cat died, catnip tea
When the landlord died - I left there
Spare ribs were too much for me
......too much for meeeeeeeee

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 07:10 PM

It is just another name for a sausage. Normally in Britain, a sausage is pork, unless otherwise stated, and mild unless otherwise stated. Of course you find beef and venison ones, and combinations of unexpected things, such as pork and stilton cheese, as well ones with loads of herbs and spices. Any and all of these are bangers, but mainly it will be just pork.

Of course, I'm only thinking about real sausages, made with actual meat, not the cheap things, made with things I don't want to think about.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: John O'L
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 07:42 PM

I thought a British banger was a right little scrubber

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 07:56 PM

prime pork sausages grilled [ or baked ]slowly until the skin is seared brown and crispy..

hot mashed whole potato [with skins] topped with cheddar cheese and black pepper..

savoury fresh onion gravy..

[baked beans and/or peas optional]

and a jug of strong farmhouse cider..


weekend punkfolkrocker heaven !!!


..now ask us what British faggots, are..

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: wildlone
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 07:57 PM

Toad in the hole, sausages in batter.
Make a batter as you would for a Yorkshire pudding.
Fry your sausages.
Put a roasting tin with a little lard in itin a hot oven.
When the grease is just starting to smoke tip in the batter and the sausages.
When you put a knife into the batter and it comes out clean it is cooked.
Serve with mashed spuds [potato] peas and onion gravy.
dave

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 08:08 PM

Are they spicy? They're British. A "sexually-obsessed Brit" may or may not be an oxymoron, but "spicy British food" definitely is one. It's no coincidence that "British" and "bland" both begin with a "b".

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 08:48 PM

"American", "anaemic" and "anodyne" all begin with "a", come to that. Coming from the nation that wished MacDonalds' cardboard-burgers upon us, that is maybe just a little rich.

When I lived in France back in the mid-1970s, I was taken out one night to eat the hottest merguez (sausages) in Marseille. My Provençal friends were expecting a laugh at the expense of the poor Briton, accustomed (as they blithely assumed) only to bland food. They didn't know about curry, of course. I got respect that night.

It's perfectly true that cheap British sausages are made mostly of cereal and various undistinguished rubbish, and taste of not-very-much. During the war, and the post-war years, little else was available. That sort of thing can be habit-forming; the cost of living in the UK is higher than it is in the USA, and wages are lower. Many people are still obliged to put up with food that is far from ideal (and, like others, are fooled into eating fashionable shit peddled by foreign multi-nationals); but times, as other people have already pointed out, are changing.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 09:31 PM

Once I went on a home-made sausage kick, and I made some bangers from a recipe in a magazine. They were delicious. Yes, they were spicy.

Later I ordered bangers & mash in a British-themed bar.   They were awful - like those cheap Vienna sausages that come in cans. Bleah!

Moral - roll your own.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Once Famous
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 10:16 PM

This stuff sounds like the ultimate in trafe.

Also for the guy above who asked, all American hot dogs are far from created equal.

Though none of them are for sure top sirloin, the kosher dogs have no pork, and are generally a higher quality of all-beef. They are also made under the strictest of kashruth conditions.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 10:26 PM

The bangers I've eaten were very mild....and so was the recipe I made for them from. NOTHING like our American breakfast sausage. Let me see if I can find a recipe...brb.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Sorcha
Date: 01 Jun 05 - 10:28 PM

OK, recipe here. There is another at the same site.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: ossonflags
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 12:22 AM

Snorkers !! Good - Oh !!!!!!!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Avril Betts
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 03:37 AM

People have sometimes referred to me as an old banger. I've always assumed that they're referring to the fact that I've been playing the bodhran for quite a long time now.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Davetnova
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 03:55 AM

An old sailor told me of a one of their on board pastimes, seagull hunting. Apparently you pushed a banger(firework type) into a piece of bread, lit it and threw it into the air at the stern of the ship.
Minutes of endless amusement.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 05:03 AM

The British have three main sizes of sausage:

1. The chipolata - a stringy, thin thing about 1/2 an inch in diameter;
2. The 'banger'- a more robust sausage, usually an inch or more across. Lengths on both sausage and chipolata can be variable but the standard is about 4 inches.
3. The jumbo sausage - the same as a banger but twice the length.

The best sausages are firm to the touch and don't have great rolls of skin at the end.

They were called bangers after the habit of the skin splitting as the insides expanded when hot. The introduction of artificial casings stopped this happening but make them taste different. Most good sausage manufacturers will use a natural skin and have room for expansion (Although the idea of mincing up an animal and stuffing it in its own intestines does make a few people reach for the veggieburgers).....

The adverts at the bottom here are interesting:

Sausage Making Supplies
Everything for the sausage maker; stuffers, casings, forum, recipes. and;
Sausage Making Kits
Make your own sausage, just add your own choice of meat.

Can I get a job as a stuffer please?

Artificial casings are made from collagen (from cows feet) or even plastic (avoid them).


LTS

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 06:34 AM

Of course Lincolnshire is the real home of great sausages in England.

A good Lincolnshire sausage has very strong herbs in it - you can't get them very easily. A lot of sausages call themselves Lincolnshire sausages, but they're bland.

that's the best sort of banger.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: GUEST,Paul Burke
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 07:37 AM

LTS said "The best sausages are firm to the touch and don't have great rolls of skin at the end."

That would appear to rule out pork sausages.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 07:47 AM

Tam, isn't the square sausage called 'Lorn Sausage'?
S:0)

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Davetnova
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 08:38 AM

Lorne sausage,mmmhhh. No breakfast is complete without it. Perfectly shaped for roll or sandwich, a sutble blend of tastes to perfectly complement Daddies sauce.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Flash Company
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 10:58 AM

Try 'Mr Kittow's Famous Sausages' from Fowey in Cornwall. he has a website somewhere, and also advertises in 'Good Hosekeeping'

FC

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 11:14 AM

It's no coincidence that "British" and "bland" both begin with a "b".

So how come the best, and hottest curries in the Western Hemisphere come from Birmingham. There was a thread on the subject that seems to have dissappeared.

How about Tom Archers Ambridge organic sausages? I hear they're widely available in the US....

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 11:23 AM

So Ricky Martins song was all about sausage making eh? ;-)

Agree wholeheartedly with Malcolm D on this one. A good British sausage is indeed a culinary delight. Try Cumberland sausage or Bury black pudding before proclaiming that British food is bland! Better still try them with some of the excelent beers to be had and then compare them to a Big Mac washed down with Budwieser...;-)

It is a shame the the mass production market, from both sides of the big pond, still pander to the lowest common denominator and serve up the bland, unhealthy rubbish that the ad men tell us we like:-(

And concurring that a banger is just another name for a sausage. They can be eaten at anytime of day or night:-)

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Once Famous
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 11:55 AM

I just want to bang her.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 01:15 PM

re: serve up the bland, unhealthy rubbish that the ad men tell us we like

Food can be bland and still be good. French food rarely has strong spices, yet it's very good.

In my opinion, the things that make for food are cheap ingredients and the need for a long shelf-life.

However, if I were a manufacturer and I had to choose between long shelf-life and putting at people at risk of eating spoiled food, I would go for the shelf life.

Sorcha: thanks for the link to the recipe. I believe I'll try making bangers again.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 01:33 PM

Try Cumberland sausage or Bury black pudding before proclaiming that British food is bland!

Was this humour? I've checked out recipes and I sdon't think I have ever seen sausage recipes with LESS seasonings then the cumberland sausage recipes. the Bury Black Pudding recipes look tasty though.

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 02 Jun 05 - 06:18 PM

Just try 'em Leo

:D

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: ossonflags
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 03:03 AM

They were called bangers because if you did not prick them when they were put in the pan they'd expand with the heat and go.......Bang!!!!!

Subject: Lyr Add: SAMMY BELL (Alex Glasgow)
From: GUEST,Paul Burke
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 03:54 AM

Song on the topic:

SAMMY BELL
Alex Glasgow

1. Well, a little tale I'll tell of a chap called Sammy Bell, who lived down our street.
Well, he laboured night and day for his pain making sausages for you to eat,
But unlike you and me, he was always full of glee as he slaved along,
And every night as he cleaned his machine, he sang this simple song:

CHORUS: I love my work and I love my wages.
I love my boss and he loves me too.
Oh, my lovely line of sausages,
I'll surely die for the love of you.

2. Well, Sammy never shirked as he laboured at his work on the sausage machine.
He regarded every shift as a Cinderella gift from a fairy Queen.
His devotion was religious. His production was prodigious. He was uncrowned king.
In the land of Saveloys, amongst the top Polony boys, you could hear him sing: CHORUS

3. One day a little man, with a stopwatch in his hand, came to see our Sam,
And he said, "Well, I'll be damned! He's a sausage superman, for a piecework plan."
He began to calculate a copper-bottomed banger rate for all the men,
But when he put it to the test, they were quota'd from the rest, but our Sam began to sing again: CHORUS

4. The shop steward said to Sam, "Our wages have been lowered due to your mad pace.
It is not to be endured. Won't you move a little slower for the piecework rate?"
But our hero Sammy Bell said, "You can damn well go to hell and the union too.
There's a quota to be met, and I won't let it be wrecked by the likes of you!" CHORUS

5. So the shop steward called a strike, and at the factory that night, Sam was all alone,
And to meet the bosses' needs, his machine increased its speed to a high-pitched drone.
On a sausage skin Sam slipped, by the mincer he was gripped, and it didn't take long.
Before the sausages came out the other end, and they were singing Sam's song. CHORUS

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Torctgyd
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 06:53 AM

MMario, you said "Was this humour? I've checked out recipes and I sdon't think I have ever seen sausage recipes with LESS seasonings then the cumberland sausage recipes". If the meat is good quality then you don't need much, if any, seasoning. One reason why the British generally didn't use excessive amounts of seasoning or smothered the meat in sauce was that the meat was of a much higher quality than on the continent (also if you could afford the spices etc you could afford the best meat which didn't need the spices!).

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 07:12 AM

I had a go at a parody once based on the Cumberland sausage -

For one more time I would taste the North West Sausage...

There was a lot more but the rest was crap;-)

Cheers

DtG

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Lanfranc
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 08:08 AM

Round here (Hertfordshire/Essex borders, UK) the best sausages come from Hatfield Broad Oak. http://www.broadoakfarm.com

The website was created by a lady from Chicago, married to a Broad Oak employee, hence some US spellings and things!

Please salivate thoughtfully.

Alan

Subject: RE: BS: What's a British Banger ?
From: Lanfranc
Date: 03 Jun 05 - 08:10 AM

Broad Oak Farm Sausages

Sorry, mispasted the clicky!

Alan