Introduction

Some dishes have the taste of our childhood. Cooking is not only about nutrition, but also about culture. But some traditional recipes are being lost. We talk about one woman’s quest to preserve the food culture of her native Ghana in west Africa, and teach you related vocabulary along the way.

This week's question

Bangers and mash is a classic British dish. It’s easy to understand why mashed potato is called ‘mash’ - but how did sausages come to be known as ‘bangers’?

a) because ‘bang’ is an old-fashioned word for pork

b) because sausage-making machines used to make a banging noise

c) because sausages would explode in the frying pan, going ‘bang’

Listen to the programme to find out the answer.

Vocabulary

bangers and mash
(informal) sausages (bangers) and mashed potato, a common British meal

mortar and pestle
cooking equipment made up of a bowl (the mortar), and a heavy stone (the pestle) which is used to grind and pound ingredients together

pound
crush into a paste or powder

taken aback
feel shocked and surprised

know-how
the practical skills and knowledge of how to do something

document
record information about something by writing about it or taking photos of it

220707_6min_english_recipes.pdf