The nation has spoken. Britain’s favourite sausage sandwich calls for a grilled Cumberland sausage in a buttered plain white bap with ketchup and fried onions.
This is according to new research from Direct Line for Business, released in time for UK Sausage Week.
A speciality of the Cumbrian region for over 500 years, the Cumberland sausage, was voted the favourite banger for almost one in five (19%) people.
The Cumberland beat off stiff competition from the generic pork sausage (16%) and Lincolnshire (9%) variety. A vegetarian banger is the taste of choice for just 8% of the population. Meanwhile, Frankfurters only secured 3% of the vote.
When it comes to cooking up the perfect banger the preferred method was grilling (43%), followed by fried (23%) and oven baked (18%). An unusual 2% like their sausage microwaved, while 4% like their banger deep fried.
Sausage sandwich fans like to keep it simple and traditional with their choice of bread with 18% choosing a white bap to surround their sausage, followed by sliced white bread (15%), farmhouse white loaf (10%) and baguette (10%). Options such as brown farmhouse loafs (7%), brown bread (6%) and brown baps (5%) fared poorly. When it comes to preparing their bread people also like to keep it simple, voting to keep it plain (53%), compared to warm (29%) or toasted (18%).
Ketchup is the condiment king outranking all the other contenders by far. Almost half (46%) think nothing accompanies a sausage sarnie like ketchup, though one in five (20%) opted for HP sauce or English mustard (18%). Only 9% wouldn’t use any condiment on their banger sandwich. The perfect accompaniment, as voted by the nation, was fried onions, with a third (32%) adding them to the perfect sausage sandwich.
Matt Boatright, head of Direct Line for Business, said: “In an age of deconstructed small plates and gimmicky unicorn flavoured drinks, Brits highlighted their love of traditional hearty fare, preferring a classic sausage sandwich recipe with a white bap and ketchup. Millions of Brits rely on a sausage sandwich to fuel them through the day, from tradies to van drivers, this is the breakfast of choice.”
While one in six (17%) wouldn’t put anything other than a sausage in the perfect butty, others love unusual combinations. One in twenty (5%) would put baked beans in their sandwich and 6% would add raw onions. Other peculiar additions included pease pudding, homemade rhubarb chutney and pickle. Creating a mighty meat feast also proved popular, with a fifth (21%) adding bacon to the perfect butty, while 6% would add also add black pudding.
City statistics
The research also analysed city residents’ preferences for the perfect sausage butty. Bristol residents bucked the national trend, opting for a buttered baguette with a grilled Cumberland sausage, ketchup and fried onions, while residents of Edinburgh and Glasgow favour a grilled Lorne (square) sausage in a buttered white bap with ketchup and fried onions. London meanwhile shows itself as one of the least healthy cities as 9% of residents think the perfect banger for their sarnie should be deep fried.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
