How it works
What to eat with merguez sausage, lamb or beef: couscous or chickpeas under it, bread and fries beside it, harissa or mustard on it, and a cooked salad to cool the plate. 32 ideas in all.
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How merguez is usually eaten
Merguez is a red, spicy fresh sausage of lamb or beef in the cooking of the Maghreb, and it is usually grilled. It often goes into the Algerian couscous that France knows as couscous royal. It is also eaten in sandwiches, and with French fries and Dijon mustard. Some cooks add it to shakshouka, eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes and peppers.
Something plain, something sharp
The sausage brings its own chili, cumin and fat. Put something plain under or beside it to carry that (couscous, bread, fries), then one sharp or cool thing: a cooked pepper salad, preserved lemon or yogurt. Harissa goes on the table, not on the plate.
- Have the couscous, bread or fries ready before the sausages go on the grill, so the sausages are eaten hot.
Questions and answers
What to eat with lamb merguez sausage?
The same sides as any merguez. Lamb, beef and mixed sausages carry the same cumin and chili, so couscous, bread, fries and a cooked pepper salad suit them all.
What sauce goes with merguez?
Dijon mustard first. Harissa adds heat and yogurt with mint takes it away. Samurai sauce, mayonnaise mixed with ketchup and harissa, is one for the fries or the sandwich.
What vegetables go with merguez?
The cooked salads of North Africa: mechouia, of grilled peppers and tomatoes; zaalouk, of eggplant and tomatoes; and carrots with cumin. With couscous the vegetables come in the broth: carrots, turnips, zucchini and chickpeas.
What bread goes with merguez?
A split baguette makes the sandwich, with the fries inside or beside it. North African breads suit it too: kesra, a semolina bread cooked on a flat pan; msemmen, a layered flatbread; and batbout, a small thick bread that is eaten stuffed.
What do you drink with merguez?
Without alcohol: hot green tea with fresh mint after the meal, or a cold glass of lben, the fermented milk of North Africa, beside the couscous.