Merguez

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Merguez" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Merguez

Alternative names	مرقاز
Type	Sausage
Region or state	Maghreb
Associated cuisine	Algeria Libya Tunisia
Invented	12th century
Main ingredients	Lamb or beef
Ingredients generally used	Cumin and chili pepper or harissa
Media: Merguez

Merguez (/mɛərˈɡɛz/) is a red, spicy lamb- or beef-based fresh sausage in Maghrebi cuisine.^[1][2] In France, merguez became popular in the 1960s and 1970s, as Algerian immigrants and the pieds-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 like Quick and McDonald's, which began to offer merguez sandwiches and burgers to cater to their North African clientele.^[7]

Merguez is a sausage made with uncooked lamb, beef, or a mixture stuffed into a lamb-intestine casing. It is heavily spiced with cumin and chili pepper or harissa, which give it its characteristic piquancy and red color, as well as other spices such as sumac, fennel and garlic.

Merguez is usually eaten grilled. While not in traditional Maghrebi couscous, it is often used in couscous royal in France. It is also eaten in sandwiches and with french fries and dijon mustard.