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| Alternative names | مرقاز |
|---|---|
| Type | Sausage |
| Region or state | Maghreb |
| Associatedcuisine | |
| Invented | 12th century |
| Main ingredients | Lamb or beef |
| Ingredients generally used | Cumin and chili pepper or harissa |
Merguez (/mɛərˈɡɛz/) is a red, spicylamb- orbeef-based freshsausage inMaghrebi cuisine.[1][2] InFrance, merguez became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, as Algerian immigrants and thepieds-noirs of Algeria settled in the country and opened small shops and restaurants that served traditional dishes like merguez.[3][4][5][6] The popularity of merguez in France was also fueled by the rise of fast food chains likeQuick andMcDonald's, which began to offer merguez sandwiches and burgers to cater to their North African clientele.[7]
Merguez is asausage made with uncookedlamb,beef, or a mixture stuffed into a lamb-intestinecasing. It is heavily spiced withcumin andchili pepper orharissa, which give it its characteristicpiquancy and red color, as well as other spices such assumac,fennel andgarlic.
Merguez is usually eatengrilled. While not in traditional Maghrebicouscous, it is often used incouscous royal inFrance. It is also eaten in sandwiches and withfrench fries anddijon mustard.
There are several spellings in Arabic (مِركسmirkas, pl.مراكسmarākis;مِركاسmirkās,مَركسmarkas andمِرقازmirqāz). The hesitation betweenk andq probably reflects the pronunciation/ɡ/, for which there is no standard Arabic spelling; further confusing matters is that in some maghrebi dialects, Arabicqāf is sometimes pronounced as/ɡ/, as an allophone of/q/.[8] It is first attested in the 12th century, asmirkās ormerkās.[9]
The Arabic terminology for the food is also the origin of the Spanish names of the foodstuffsmorcon andmorcilla.[10]
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| Fresh sausage | |||||
| Dry sausage |
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| Smoked sausage | |||||
| Cooked sausage | |||||
| Cooked smoked sausage | |||||
| Precooked sausage | |||||
| Grilled sausage | |||||
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