Why we love merguez:

Here comes summer, the perfect grilling season. We always prefer cooking outdoors at this time of year and our menu often includes merguez, our favorite spicy sausage, grilled to perfection, juicy and delicious. John’s favorite culinary treat that he has written about often is grilled spicy merguez paired with my famous garlicy hummus and paired with a cold beer! Of course, our merguez sausage is perfect for a sandwich with grilled onions and peppers or as an appetizer with cold cucumber dip. There are so many ways to enjoy our ever popular sausage.

 

The story of how it all began….

                                                                                    Merguez

Sukey and I figure that we started making Merguez in the late 1990’s. It was really just a happenstance. Sukey and I were handing out samples of Lamb at The Book and the Cook event in Philadelphia. We had been developing various products to use up the shoulders and legs which were not selling on a regular basis at that time. We had created a Lamb Stew with our friend, Jean-Louis Palladin, a Lamb Barley Soup and a Lamb Pie which won an award at “The Fancy Food show” in New York City.

While these were starting to sell, we decided to try making sausage, hoping we would cover a broader market. This food show was in Eastern Pennsylvania after all, where everyone eats sausage, so we thought it would be a good venue for us. Our first attempt was a plain sausage which had sage in it which gave it a flavor similar to an American Breakfast Sausage. The second was a spinach and feta sausage with its obvious Greek influence. We worked over time developing these recipes and we thought we had two good sausages and a good line of handmade prepared products.

So there we were, smiling and happy, handing out samples of barley soup and both sausages talking with prospective customers, when two somewhat familiar faces in full Chef’s Whites were hurrying through the grid of serving station tables. As they started to pass by us, I recognized them and asked them to come over to try a sample. Sukey and I had known Jacques Pepin and Alain Sailhac from The International Association of Culinary Professionals. Both were there promoting The French Culinary Institute which was headed by Chef Sailhac. We were starstruck that they recognized us and decided to stop and sample some lamb.

Chef Pepin went straight to the sausages while I was talking to Chef Sailhac. I was trying to remain calm, talking with one chef who had been at Le Cirque in NYC for years, while nebbing in (as we say in Pittsburgh) to see how one of the most famous chefs in the country liked our sausage.

He tried a bite of both types and then turned to Sailhac, started speaking in French, but was obviously pleased. They were discussing something about the sausages but the only word that caught my ear was, “Merguez.” Chef Pepin then turned to me and said, “These are very good, but you must make Merguez.”

Merguez? So it started. We hadn’t even heard of Merguez as a sausage in this country. We had heard the name thrown about by Chefs which is why it had caught my attention when the two were talking. If French Chefs of this stature were interested, we had best check it out. So we researched it, studied it, consulted various sources and, with Chef Pepin’s suggestion, came to Paula Wolfert’s books, authority on all things Moroccan. Following her lead, testing and trying to match what we thought Merguez should taste like, we sent to a few of our French chef customers.

That’s when the fun started! We sent samples to Jean Joho in Chicago, Jean-Marie Lacroix in Philadelphia, Jean-Louis Palladin in D.C., and Jacques Pepin at his house in Connecticut. Within days I had great Gallic disagreement, with these chefs passionately pounding out the fine points of what “his,” Merguez should taste like. “More Sumac,” “Too much Paprika,” etc. We learned from their comments. We sent the “tweaked,” Merguez back to them.  Everyone was happy. We loved it…..and then Sukey ramped up the coriander, just a touch. Wow! That made it “just right!”

We created our own recipe and have been making our Merguez the same way for twenty plus years, long before it became popular in this country. We have always received compliments, especially from our customers who have spent time in parts of France and North Africa where Merguez is both a staple and a street food. It is made regularly by us from only our own lamb. We think it’s the best we’ve ever tasted.

A delicious way to enjoy merguez:

Fennel salad with merguez:

For salad:

1 head radicchio

2-3 Belgian endive

1 large fennel bulb

1 lb. merguez sausage- grilled or sautéed and cut into 1” lengths

1/2 cup coarsely grated parmesan cheese

 

For dressing:

3 T chopped fennel frond

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

3 teaspoon chopped shallot

2 T lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon honey

½ teaspoon coarse ground pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

 

Slice and chop salad mix into bite size pieces. Toss with parmesan cheese.

 

Grill or sauté merguez sausage until medium, just done. Slice into 1” lengths.

 

Prepare vinaigrette in mini blender. Place all ingredients except oil in blender. Pulse to combine. Taste for seasoning. Add oil at the end to emulsify. Add 1 teaspoon water if too thick.

 

Pour vinaigrette over vegetable salad. Plate salad, add merguez and sprinkle parmesan on top.

Sukey & John Jamison

Jamison Farm

www.jamisonfarm.com