Sausages were invented out of necessity thousands of years ago, making use of every last scrap of butchered meat and preserving it by smoking and salting.
Evidence for bangers goes as far back as Mesopotamia pre-2000 BC and Greek epic poet Homer wrote about a kind of blood sausage in the Odyssey, penned in around the 8th century BC.
Today, the sausage is a much-loved global staple, with thousands of varieties ranging from Vigan longganisa to vegetarian and saveloy to sobrassada.
While coronavirus means international travel is off limits, we can still lick our lips and dream of the planet’s tastiest meaty treats.
After all, what’s the wurst that could happen?
1. Currywurst - Germany
Say “danke” to Herta Heuwer for this tangy fast-food joy dating from 1949.
The story goes that in post-war Berlin the 36-year-old got some tomato ketchup from occupying British soldiers, mixed it with spices, poured it over chopped, grilled bratwurst pork sausages and started selling them as cheap, filling snacks at a street stand in the Charlottenburg district of the German capital.
Construction workers rebuilding the shattered city loved them... and so do millions of locals and visitors today.
You are usually served your currywurst together with fries on a paper plate with a little wooden fork – simple, cheap and absolutely delicious.
The now-closed Deutsches Currywurst Museum estimated that 800 million currywursts are eaten every year in Germany, with 70 million in Berlin alone.
- Best place to try: Curry 36 in Kreuzberg is legendary.
- Tourist info: germany.travel
2. Chorizo - Spain
Tapas is surely a highlight of any trip to Spain and this rich, red, smoky sausage is a key player that comes in hundreds of varieties.
Spanish chorizo usually contains pork, garlic, smoked paprika and salt and it can be smoked, unsmoked, sweet or very spicy.
Even better, there are two main types – a larger dried one that is sliced like salami and a smaller, fresh one that is cooked before eating.
Which one do you prefer? In fact, why not have both?!
- Best place to try: Granada in Andalusia, where they traditionally come free with your rounds of drinks.
- Tourist info: spain.info
3. Sucuk - Turkey
A spiced sausage traditionally served for breakfast cooked in a pan with eggs, then eaten with bread. The tangy flavour comes from cumin, garlic, red pepper and salt and the sausages are allowed to dry for several weeks.
- Best place to try: Yeni in Beyoglu, Istanbul, has a good reputation.
- Tourist info: goturkey.com
4. Boerewors - South Africa
A braai (barbecue with charcoal or wood, never gas) is a near-religious social experience for South Africans and the spiral boerewors is a traditional ingredient for any good gathering.
The name translates from the Afrikaans for “farmer sausage” and it must contain at least 90% meat and always beef, as well as lamb and pork or a mixture of both, plus spices. No more than 30% of the meat content can be fat and there should be no offal or any “mechanically recovered” meat pulp.
Crack open a can of cold Castle and get grilling.
- Best place to try: get an invite to a braai.
- Tourist info: southafrica.net
5. Black pudding, Britain
There’s no disguising this... it’s a banger made from blood.
The ingredients are usually pig’s blood, pork fat, barley, oatmeal and aromatic herbs such as pennyroyal.
Animals are generally bled at slaughter and, as it does not keep, making a pudding with it is one of the easiest ways of stopping it going to waste.
One of the most famous makers is Chadwick’s in Bury, Lancashire, who have a secret recipe dating from 1865 and who have sold black puddings at the town’s award-winning market since 1929.
Queue up to buy them hot at the stall, served with their formidable home-made English mustard.
- Best place to try: Bury market, of course.
- Tourist info: visitbury.com
6. Hot dogs - USA
Less of a food, more of an art form, hot dogs come in an incredible variety across the country, with toppings including anything and everything from macaroni cheese, baked beans, chorizo, coleslaw, olives, satay sauce and cream cheese (not usually all at once).
Chicago-style ones take some beating – mustard, chopped onions, pickle relish, dill pickle slice, tomatoes and chillis – and they are said to be “dragged through the garden” due to the many additions.
The sausage used is the wiener (Vienna sausage) or frankfurter and both arrived with German immigrants and became working-class street food sold at stands and carts, and closely associated with baseball.
- Best place to try: any Major League baseball stadium.
- Tourist info: visittheusa.co.uk
7. Andouille - France
If you don’t know what pig chitterlings are, then maybe don’t Google them as you might not want to know!
In France, particularly Brittany, they’re a key ingredient of the grey tinged andouille, along with tripe, onions, wine and seasoning and they give it a more chunky texture (and aroma).
In America, andouille is a popular part of Louisiana’s Cajun cuisine but is much more spicy than the Breton version and twice smoked.
- Best place to try: In central Brittany, Guemene-sur-Scorff is the spiritual home of andouille.
- Tourist info: uk.france.fr
8. Sundae - South Korea
Let’s face it, this is not a good-looking sausage.
As far from an ice cream as you can get, this sundae is a popular street food in North and South Korea and normally consists of steamed cow or pig’s intestines stuffed with blood, minced meats, rice and vegetables.
After the Korean War, when meat was scarce, dangmyeon noodles made from sweet potato starch were substituted.
- Best place to try: Yaksu Sundaeguk in Jung-gu, central Seoul, draws the crowds.
- Tourist info: english.visitkorea.or.kr
9. Lorne - Scotland
Named after the region of Lorne in Argyll? Or, as some would have it, after the 1920s Glasgow music hall comedian Tommy Lorne?
Adverts for the square flat sausage have been found in newspapers as early as 1896, which pre-dates him.
It’s usually made from minced pork and beef, rusk and spices and is an integral part of a traditional
Scottish cooked breakfast, which is (almost) guaranteed to combat any whisky hangover.
- Best place to try: A Scottish hotel or B&B breakfast.
- Tourist info: visitscotland.com
10. Merguez - Algeria/Morocco
One of the tastiest sausages on the planet.
The meat is lamb and the rich, spicy flavour comes from cumin, coriander, cayenne, fennel, paprika, garlic, salt, with harissa adding fire and the red colour.
Serve with peppers, tomatoes, pitta bread and herbed yogurt for one of the best banger dishes money can buy.
- Best place to try: Ideally, get yourself invited to a family dinner in Algiers or visit the stalls at the fabled Jemaa el Fna square in Marrakech.
- Tourist info: visitmorocco.com
11. Kielbasa - Poland
A staple of Polish cuisine, which comes in dozens of varieties: smoked, cured or fresh, made with pretty much any kind of meat, both ground or scraps.
Flavourings include juniper, garlic, and marjoram and the sausages can be baked, boiled or grilled.
Popular types include starowiejska (smoked with pepper, garlic, mustard seeds and sugar) kabanosy (caraway), krakowska (hot-smoked with pepper and garlic), wiejska (marjoram and garlic) and kaszanka (a black pudding).
- Best place to try: tourists and locals flock to stalls at the main square in Krakow Old Town.
- Tourist info: poland.travel
12. Falukorv, Sweden
Scandinavian multipurpose efficiency means the cooked Falukorv can be eaten without any further preparation, hot or cold.
The ingredients are a mix of pork, or veal with potato starch flour, mild spices such as coriander and nutmeg, onions and salt.
A popular dish is to bake it with cheese, mustard, onions or apples, served with roast or mashed potatoes.
- Best place to try: It’s said to have originated with German workers at the Falun copper mine during the 16th and 17th centuries. So Falun, northwest of Stockholm, it is!
- Tourism info: visitsweden.com
How many have you tried from this list? Let us know in the comments below.
