Bangers! - Tongue in cheek

My previous blog was blowing France s trumpet on being the basis for great food! I m not so fickle that in the space of the week I can change my mind, but I think it would be only fair to blow the trombone in Englands’ direction when it comes to bangers! Sausages to the more refined English mother tongue.

Us Brits have a few meals we consider traditional British fare and I think, bangers n mash must be one of them.

I love a good sausage!

History – The sausage is a cylindrical meat product usually encased in a skin made from intestine. That in itself would normally put me off, as like tripe, something I have written about in my FUGLY post, its best left as intestine, but for some reason, the sausage prevailed and I ve found a way to let it pass.

Not that I want to go on about my French counterparts, but guess what “This word came "...from Old North French saussiche (Modern French saucisse)".[1] The French word "saussiche" came "...from Vulgar (that must be the intestine bit) Latin *salsica "sausage," from salsicus "seasoned with salt," from Latin salsus [meaning] "salted". Bla bla those French have popped up again.

Sausage making is an outcome of efficient butchery according to Wikipedia and if you are to look into things in more detail, I think many would be amazed at what went into your sausage which you just devoured and craved another two! However, This blog is not to put you off sausages, but to show my gratitude for the great British banger. I m hoping that after reading you might indulge in some sausage making in your own home! Safest place some are thinking right now, but its fair to say that whilst travelling the world, sausage is one those most craved items. I m always willing to try international ones too, but in all honesty its rare that you find one that is a good as the traditional English banger.

Whilst in a country far and wide this last winter, my friend and I decided to try and make our own sausages. Discussed well in advance, the actual day that the molding of the perfect cylindrical product was finally here. Kitchen aid ready! Skins wet, filling ready! Gloves on, it seemed appropriate, only then did we watch you tube to make sure we knew what should be expected. The beauty of the international worldwide Web, is that there is always someone out there who has tried things before you at home.

Since we are then going to share said cylindrical products with friends on a fabulous terrace with unspoiled views and some chilled rose wine, it seemed sensible to spend the time watching the professionals at work whilst we made sure the pink stuff tasted ok.

And so it begins….

Firstly, skin tied and fed onto the thingy that was to hold the casing of our first sausage.

Second, whilst stuffing the top hole with the first steak hache & herbs, the machine on slow to start..”slow and steady wins the race”, I was already beginning to fend of the giggles.

Thrice, well it seemed like forever, we waited for said steak to push through into the skins. Of course, my impatients led me to switch the machine onto high and before we knew it, it was like a hose pipe filling with water. Rose was incredibly well accomplished at controlling said hose, and made the perfect coiled sausage in record time. I was by this time legs crossed and considering pampers as for some reason I had found the whole experience ridiculously funny, and watched as Rose then flipped and twisted the long appendage attached to the kitchen aid into several perfectly shaped Sausages. Next was my turn to handle the skins, and I m sure, since I m the cook in all this, I was expected to be good, if not great at this menial challenge. I need more practice. Lets say the end result for me was a bunch of less consistently sized sausages. I managed to invent the Lucky chipolata, cocktail and Cumberland out of one skin! Rose wins.

The whole production line was repeated three times with Roses varied fillings, and I can safely say I am not that great at handling chipolatas.

The guest list was picked with some thought and varied characters, all whom we, that being Rose and I, the sausage handlers, had decided may appreciate the effort made into processing the best banger. There were the two nannies, a force to be reckoned with, a man who feels safer on his sofa, although I m sure that is just not the truth, accompanied by his lovely better half. There was Frip, who all the way from Cornwall was sure to be a fellow connoisseur of a good sausage, but seemed to have distinct memory loss after eating a couple, and the very best neighbors you could ask for, who would have been party to the laughing and small talk when the production line had been in full swing earlier that day.

All in all, whilst there were some small advisory comments flying around about seasoning and more fat needed in some areas, I think it was a great success. Each and every sausage was far better than the American breakfast sausage which is skinny at best and therefore, I conclude that if your up for some fun, and feeling confident about handling skins, then sausage making could be for you.

I have left some recipe ideas on my site. www.caaa.london. Click on the first sausage photo and it will take you to the family Favs page. I hope you have as much fun reading this as we did making them.