مرقز المغرب Merguez Al-Maghréb (Mutton and Beef)

Merguez is a red, spicy lamb or beef based fresh sausage in Maghrebi cuisine. The word Merguez comes from the word “mirqâs”, which indicated a sausage in medieval Berber-Muslim cuisine.

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.

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.

Merguez is a sausage made with uncooked lamb, or beef, but more generally a mixture of the two meats. The sausages are 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, garlic and Ras al Hanout ect.. .

Merguez is usually eaten grilled and it is often used in couscous in France. It is also eaten in sandwiches and with french fries and dijon mustard