All about bangers and much more

The great British sausage or banger as it is often referred to has had some bad publicity recently. It was seen as higher in fat and salt using poor quality meat with high levels of cheaper ingredients.

Sausages are sometimes called bangers because they can burst their skin while being cooked and make a loud sound. This is why we prick sausages with a fork before cooking so that this burst or splitting is less likely to take place.

The sausage is making a come back with suppliers doing one or more of the following:

• Using better quality meat sourced from the UK
• Putting more meat in the recipe
• Making different flavours like pork and leek, Lincolnshire (with more herbs) and smoky pork
• Changing the recipes and reducing the amount of fat and salt
• Making fresh sausages on the farm or at local butchers.

Sausages are most commonly made from Pork but they can be made with many different meats such as Beef and Lamb as well as less common meats including Venison and Wild Boar.

Making sausages started as a method of preserving meat. It dates back to hundreds of years BC and there is evidence that they existed in Greece, Italy and China.

The main ingredients of sausage are meat, cereals, seasoning and herbs. Cheaper sausages are made with less meat and more cereals. However, cereals have an important part to play as they add texture and retain fat which provides flavour. The most common herb found in sausages is sage but you can also use parsley, thyme, oregano, chives, marjoram, mint and rosemary.

All the ingredients are minced and ground together and then put into a skin to give it the traditional, long sausage shape. The sausage skin was originally part of animal intestines like sheep but more recently they have been made from collagen. This is formed, dried skin made from the hide of bovine or cattle and are often less chewy.

Most farmers have had to change or expand in some way in recent years. Some have turned to tourism such as providing farm holidays. Others such as dairy farmers now make their own ice cream and farmers have gone in to meat manufacturing such as making sausages and burgers from the meat they rear. They have tended to be better quality and can often be bought at local Farmers Markets and Craft Fairs.

Farmers Markets are co-operatives of farmers who bring their local produce for sale in nearby towns. This means a farmer can set their own prices and also add value by providing fresh and tastier produce. The food does not travel as far to get onto the plate and so it helps save money in transport costs and reduces pollution.

Sausages can be made fresh at any time of the year. So next time you are shopping look out for the wide variety of sausages that can now be bought at markets, fairs, butchers, farm shops and supermarkets.

Date

1/9/2007