Sausage

Sausage is a food preservation technique, because sausages are cured, dried or smoked, which extends the shelf-life of the meat.

I like bratwurst, bockwurst, British bangers, and Irish bangers. Bratwurst and bockwurst are German sausages."Brat" means "finely chopped meat," and "wurst" means "sausage." Bockwurst were invented in 1889 by a restaurant owner and are very popular. "Bock" means "buck" in German, but the sausage aren't made from venison. Instead, they are often eaten with bock beer (but not by me).

British sausage are called "bangers," because during World War II they used to contain so much water that they exploded when you cooked them. They don't, anymore. Bangers are part of the famous dish, "Bangers and Mash," which means sausage and mashed potatoes. This is one of my favorite dinners.

You can buy these sausages in the grocery store, usually pre-cooked, but they're not cheap (About $1.50 per sausage, or $6.00 for a pack of four). My mom found Irish bangers at Trader Joe's for St. Patrick's Day. They cost about $5.00 for six sausages, but they weren't pre-cooked. (She says to put them in a pan with a bit of water. Cover. Let cook for about 15 minutes. Remove the cover, then cook, occasionally turning them over, until brown on the outside.)

Regardless of the sausage, I like to eat them with ketchup. Other people may prefer them with brown sauce (a.k.a. steak sauce) or English mustard.