‘Gourmet’ is not normally a word you would use to describe sausages, as it tends to conjure up thoughts of something rich or expensive, whereas sausages or ‘bangers’ (or dogs, as my husband will persist in calling them) are the exact opposite.

Some people, myself included, are under the impression that ‘banger’ is an English colloquial name, but according to John Ayto’s Gourmet’s Guide, the word actually originated in Australia just after World War I.

Apart from the standard pork or beef, there are now several varieties of regional British sausages to be found in Malta, particularly in the freezer shops. Butchers are starting to make more varieties too, using pork, beef, lamb and chicken, seasoned with different combinations of herbs and spices.

But whether they are British bangers, Maltese zalzett, Italian salami, Spanish chorizo or German frankfurters, I think most people, with the exception of vegetarians, love sausages, although there is even a variety for them – Glamorgan sausages made with cheese.

Sausages appear quite frequently on our dinner table during the winter months, and it’s amazing what you can do with them, in or out of their skins! So, here are a few ‘gourmet banger’ suggestions.

I like Maltese zalzett, but when I think of sausages, I suppose I automatically think of British varieties, so I don’t use them often enough, but one dish featuring fresh zalzett is a sausage and lentil pie. I usually cover it with sliced parboiled potatoes, but a topping of mashed potatoes is equally good. Either way, it’s easy, it’s economical and, more importantly, it’s really tasty.

Chestnuts are still in the shops, and sausages with chestnuts, shallots and a slightly sticky red wine sauce make a real gourmet meal.

I know fresh chestnuts are an absolute pain to peel, but I do think they are so much better than the dried ones.

As with garlic, I learned to use lots of chorizo sausage when we lived in Spain, and now that both hot and mild varieties have become familiar ingredients here, I find I’m using it almost as much as I did then. I like to add it to some diced chicken thighs and chickpeas, then serve it on rice. Or you could swap the rice for couscous or pasta.

When it comes to comfort food, toad in the hole, in our house anyway, is way up there with things like shepherd’s pie and beef stew and dumplings. I make what I used to call mini toads, until one of my sons christened them ‘tadpoles’, and since then tadpoles are what they have always been!