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I found today something new in the supermarket and decided to try it. They are called "traditional french merguez", and seem to be raw sausages made from lamb and beef, moderately spicy. I have no idea how to use them (except to use them just like any other sausage, but I think that it would be a missed opportunity). Is there a traditional way to prepare them, and what are the usual combinations?

I already found a ton of recipes on Google, but I'd prefer to hear some more on their traditional use, and also about combinations you have tried and found to work well.

Edit Having slept over the question, I think I can make it a bit more specific.

  • Preparation methods: Are merguez usually boiled, grilled, fried, roasted, or something else?
  • What are the typical combinations? Currently, I only know about couscous. Are they eaten with certain veggies, or herbs, or other things?
  • Eating occasion. Are they considered a snack, a breakfast, a main course, or something else?

I am aware that anything I listed is possible, but I am asking about the traditional way they are used. If the answers still tend to sound like "undefinable", "all of the above" and "any way the cook feels like", please vote to close the question.

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  • I don't think this is really a good question. The number of uses, as your googling suggests, is vast. Can you be more specific please?
    – daniel
    Mar 5, 2011 at 18:40
  • @daniel, changed it to ask about the most common and traditional ways to prepare them. Is this specific enough? I mean, you could use a Munich white sausage any way you like, but everybody in Germany knows that the "right" way is to eat them boiled with mustard and lye pretzels, and hoped to hear if there is something similar for Merguez
    – rumtscho ♦
    Mar 5, 2011 at 18:48
  • First google result: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merguez notes traditional ways of eating it.
    – daniel
    Mar 5, 2011 at 19:10
  • If the half-sentence "grilled or with couscous" exhausts the topic, feel free to close the question. I really don't know if there is more to be said on Merguez or if that's all there is.
    – rumtscho ♦
    Mar 5, 2011 at 19:46

3 Answers 3

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Favourably, we put them on the barbecue. You can also just fry them in the pan like a chipolata.

I wouldn't eat them in combo's where you use normal sausages. It doesn't go well with apple sauce for example. But this is of course a question of taste. I prefer them (when not on the BBQ) with food which doesn't contain a lot of spices, like lettuce and tomatoes with boiled potatoes.

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Like you'd use any other sausage. Omelets, toad in a hole, pigs in a blanket, etc.

Tranditionally speaking it's grilled. Served along side couscous or in a sandwich. I've had them served along side eggs spiced with cumin and harissa before as well.

Or they can be used as a component of a tagine, in which case they would not be grilled, but probably seared and then added to the stew as it cooks.

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From Wikipedia:

Merguez is usually eaten grilled or with couscous. Dried merguez is used to add flavor to tagines. It is also eaten in sandwiches and with french fries. In Germany, it is often grilled on a schwenker.

I would add that it would be good in a cassoulet.

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