Dave Grohl's Favorite Meal Is A British Staple

Plenty of American rock bands owe some credit to the influence of the 1960s British Invasion, when The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, and other English rockers hit American record stores. Perhaps by coincidence, some now-famous musicians who grew up hearing that music are fans of British food, too. Case in point, Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has been vocal about his favorite food, telling the rock and punk magazine Kerrang! in 2007: "An English breakfast — a good fry-up with bangers and beans. That's my favorite meal in the world."

If you think he was only naming a British food for a British music magazine, you'd be wrong, because he had brought the meal up a decade before. In an interview with NME back in 1997, Grohl similarly said that he looks forward to spending a day in London for a chance to eat some "bangers and beans," a very British way of saying beef sausages and baked beans. "You know how I swing when I come to London? Bangers and beans g*******t!" Grohl said. "I swear to God, on my life, that is my favorite meal in the world. I could eat it seven times a day for the rest of my life."

"Bangers and beans" is a simplified version of a full English breakfast, sometimes referred to in passing as the Full English. It includes sausages and baked beans alongside buttered toast, bacon, tomatoes, and eggs any style, although sunny side up is most common. The meal has existed for centuries, becoming popular with nobles around the 1300s and more common among working-class folks within the past century. It's popular because it's filling, heavy, and very savory. A sausage made from good ingredients will be made from pork shoulder or pork butt, although beef chuck is also popular. Sometimes an English breakfast will include blood sausage, also known as black pudding, which is a dark sausage made with blood. (Yes, British and American puddings are quite different.)

Besides fry-ups (U.K. slang for a dish of various fried foods), Grohl more recently told comedian Conan O'Brien that he enjoys a decidedly more American meal after a show. On a 2021 episode of the podcast, Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, Grohl mentioned that he likes to pair a bucket of KFC fried chicken with Champagne, and there was a time when the Foo Fighters were pairing the two foods together every night.