# Bangers and mash, what sausage should I use?



## callahan9119

I can't get Cumberland sausage in Ohio, at least where I live. I've never had it before so I don't know what its closest analogue would be from among the products I can get here.

The sausage they make at my grocer is sweet or hot "Italian", bratwurst, chorizo and sometimes kielbasa. I won't use prepackaged factory sausages.

I've been interested in English food lately (strange I know) and would like to try and make a good bangers and mash with what's available here. The mashed potatoes and onion gravy are easy enough to put together, i just don't know what sausage would go best with it.


----------



## Andy M.

I think I'd go with a brat.  If that doesn't suit you, go for a kielbasa.  You need a mild pork sausage.


----------



## callahan9119

Yeah, I think I'll try the brat. I have no idea what a cumberland or other English sausage would taste like.

Thanks.


----------



## Andy M.

callahan9119 said:


> Yeah, I think I'll try the brat. I have no idea what a cumberland or other English sausage would taste like.
> 
> Thanks.




A Cumberland is a chunky coiled sausage that's heavy on black pepper.


----------



## callahan9119

Mmm, sounds good.


----------



## bakechef

If you could find a sausage that is a bit heavy on the garlic, that would work well too.


----------



## callahan9119

The Mexican chorizo is the "garliciest", but it's also got heat with it; I'm not sure it would work with the potatoes and onion gravy. Same with the fennel in both types of Italian stuff. The bratwurst is very rich...that's the knock on all of them I had trying to decide. 

The kielbasa is never there when I want it, they make a good one, nothing like those abominations Hillshire Farms et al make  

If only I was rich and lived next to Whole Foods.


----------



## Andy M.

OF course, you could try the dish with different types of sausage and decide which one you like best.


----------



## bakechef

Well chorizo isn't the only garlicy sausage out there, and it isn't even close to what you want for bangers and mash.

Around St. Patrick's day Trader Joe's carried Irish bangers, and they looked like this.  Real Irish bangers have some "rusk" or bread in them,






This was my finished dish.


----------



## callahan9119

That looks really good. Like I said though, I only have those options I listed, what our local grocer makes. Can you please tell me how you did your gravy?

I don't have a recipe. I was gonna saute some onion, add some flour, cook it a bit and then add some stock and seasoning.

Edit: Man that looks good, exactly how I want mine to look.


----------



## bakechef

I did, pretty much what you are saying.

In my skillet with a little oil, I browned my sausages on all sides and removed them to a plate.  I added a couple tablespoons of butter and a whole sliced sweet onion, I cooked them on medium low until they caramelized, I added a bit of flour to the onions, maybe a couple tablespoons, and cooked that for a minute.  I added some beef stock, probably 3 cups, and stirred until combined.  I added back the sausages and their juices from the plate along with a healthy dose of fresh ground pepper and a bit of salt, I let that all simmer until the sauce was a thickened and the sausages were cooked.

The sauce tasted like a nice rich french onion soup.  This is such a tasty and easy dish to make.  I also make the mashed potatoes with lots of butter!

I bet the brats or sweet Italian sausage would work well.

I didn't have a recipe, I was just trying to recreate the dish that I was served in an Irish pub downtown.


----------



## callahan9119

That sounds like exactly what I'll do, thanks.

I didn't know about this dish till I found it by a progression of clicks on Wikipedia; where you look up something and then find a hundred other interesting things...half hour later you're discovering B&M.

Same with fabada, which I bastardized into a weekly family meal.


----------



## 4meandthem

Whay not try making a batch of sausages.My buddy does it from time to time and he make several types when doing it. They freeze well and if you have a kitcheniad mixer they make a stuffer attachment or you can just make patties.


----------



## callahan9119

We are basically poor at the moment and we live in a small apartment. Even if I could afford an apparatus to do what I needed, I have almost no room for my pots and pans, let alone a new item.

That's why I'm not just trying the different kinds, sausage is like 5 - 6 dollars for a pack of 5, we use chicken thighs mostly for animal protein (10 dollars for 24 thighs), sausage is kind of a luxury ironically. 

I would if I could though.


----------



## 4meandthem

callahan9119 said:


> We are basically poor at the moment and we live in a small apartment. Even if I could afford an apparatus to do what I needed, I have almost no room for my pots and pans, let alone a new item.
> 
> I would if I could though.


 
You Can!
It is nothing more than ground pork that has been seasoned. Make patties and fry them.You can make them 1lb at a time if you want.

Here is a recipe. You could divide by 5 for 1 lb.  http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/English%20Bangers.pdf


----------



## callahan9119

Thanks actually for that recipe, but I don't have a grinder.


----------



## Snip 13

Have you tried asking the butcher at your grocer? I often ask the butcher that works at my local grocer to make sausages for me and he's more than happy to do so.


----------



## Bolas De Fraile

callahan9119 said:


> I can't get Cumberland sausage in Ohio, at least where I live. I've never had it before so I don't know what its closest analogue would be from among the products I can get here.
> 
> The sausage they make at my grocer is sweet or hot "Italian", bratwurst, chorizo and sometimes kielbasa. I won't use prepackaged factory sausages.
> 
> I've been interested in English food lately (strange I know) and would like to try and make a good bangers and mash with what's available here. The mashed potatoes and onion gravy are easy enough to put together, i just don't know what sausage would go best with it.


Cumberland sausage is an EU protected product, I agree about English food the haven't got a clue compared to the Scottish,Irish or Welsh


----------



## Bolas De Fraile

bakechef said:


> Well chorizo isn't the only garlicy sausage out there, and it isn't even close to what you want for bangers and mash.
> 
> Around St. Patrick's day Trader Joe's carried Irish bangers, and they looked like this.  Real Irish bangers have some "rusk" or bread in them,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This was my finished dish.


authentic stuff BC, I also like some mushy peas with mine.


----------



## Snip 13

Bolas De Fraile said:


> Cumberland sausage is an EU protected product, I agree about English food the haven't got a clue compared to the Scottish,Irish or Welsh



If you go about it in the right way you can get any product anywhere! Just go to the supermarket armed with a good sausage recipe. Ask to speak to the butcher on duty making sure you checked what fresh sausages they do stock. Compliment some of them when speaking to the butcher and then ask if he would mind terribly to make up a batch of sausages for you 
When I do my monthly shop I phone the day before and when I get there my monthly requests are packed and waiting for me 
You can also ask the manager to order products for you that they don't have in store and they are always happy to help where possible!


----------



## Bolas De Fraile

Vaughan's Family Butchers - HomepageThese young guys opened their butchers shop in the nearest village to me Pen-y-fford.
I have not had to get my kenwood out to make sausages since they arrived.The village is very small with one pub, chemist and a small general store people come from England to buy his award winning sausages.
Ps you will notice it the annual British sausage week in NOV


----------



## Kayelle

Snip 13 said:


> If you go about it in the right way you can get any product anywhere! Just go to the supermarket armed with a good sausage recipe. Ask to speak to the butcher on duty making sure you checked what fresh sausages they do stock. Compliment some of them when speaking to the butcher and then ask if he would mind terribly to make up a batch of sausages for you
> When I do my monthly shop I phone the day before and when I get there my monthly requests are packed and waiting for me
> You can also ask the manager to order products for you that they don't have in store and they are always happy to help where possible!



It also helps to wear lipstick, and lots of mascara for eye batting.  Wait!  I think this person is a he.


----------



## Claire

Around here you can get brats in both fresh or smoked.  The bangers & mash I've had were fresh; but then I've never been to England (at least not as an adult), mine were in "English" style pubs in the US and in Hong Kong (yes, when it was the ends of the empire). Which means a _mild_ Italian sausage might do as well.

That said, while "authentic" can be a goal, I'm with those who say, go with what you like.

It isn't something I can imagine making with the chorizo I can get here.


----------



## Timothy

Kayelle said:


> It also helps to wear lipstick, and lots of mascara for eye batting.


 
If I also wore a mini skirt, would that be too much?


----------



## callahan9119

I made it, it was good, but too bratwursty. Potatoes are easy and I did really good on the onion gravy. I think it's just that nutmeg, allspice or whatever is in the mix they use, it was kinda overpowering. 

Thanks for the suggestion about having them make you stuff, but I'd be too embarrassed.


----------



## PrincessFiona60

Timothy said:


> If I also wore a mini skirt, would that be too much?



It's not the skirt...it's the 4 inch heels you want to wear.


----------



## PrincessFiona60

callahan9119 said:


> I made it, it was good, but too bratwursty. Potatoes are easy and I did really good on the onion gravy. I think it's just that nutmeg, allspice or whatever is in the mix they use, it was kinda overpowering.
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion about having them make you stuff, but I'd be too embarrassed.



Why embarrassed?  It's your money, you are the customer.  All they can say is no, they don't make it.  Customers need to speak up.  You are not there for them, they are there for you!


----------



## Snip 13

Kayelle said:


> It also helps to wear lipstick, and lots of mascara for eye batting.  Wait!  I think this person is a he.



Too true  Just one problem, my butcher bats for the same team. Maybe he just likes making sausages.


----------

