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Harissa and Merguez


idun
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Wanting to make a couscous, I searched the shops around here, in NE England for harissa and for merguez.

Tesco and Morrisons both sell Harissa Paste in jars. The merguez, I couldn't find at all in this bit of NE England. However, Tesco do some chorizo chipolata sausages (made with pork), and they were nice and spicey and went well with the couscous.

If merguez are available in the UK, I'd rather like to know where, but I have found a half decent substitute, if they are not. Any ideas anyone, please.

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Idun, I feel your pain...[:D]

As you can imagine, I have no idea where you could possibly get merguez in NE England. Some years ago, someone told me merguez were (partly) made with old donkey's meat - no idea if it was true!

Interesting that harissa is so readily available in England now, I remember bringing back tubes and tins of it when I was coming back from France to England.

To me, a good couscous is just as French than steak-frites, and one of the foods that I missed a lot when I was living in England. The lack of merguez was cruelly felt when I attempted to make couscous just like "at home"[:P]. And now look at what you are making me do: as soon as I am dressed, I will walk to our butcher and get some his homemade merguez - pity I can't send you any!

Although I am sure your couscous was yummy with the chorizo chipolatas, probably a great substitute for those who eat pork.

 

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It is fairly easy to find in the South-East, have seen merguez in all the supermarkets. Do you have Ocado so that you could get them delivered? If not, then I remember getting a local sausage maker in Dorset to do them for us about 25 years ago, so could you take the harissa and a recipe to a local butcher? We had to get them to make quite a lot and then we froze them.

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As long as you have the spices and the harissa you can make a couscous with lamb, chicken or even fish.

(Have you seen the great film of the same title set in Sète near me?)

As you know the couscous is in fact the semoule, and the other two parts are the sauce in which the vegetables have been cooked and the vegetables themselves.

After that the condiments mmmm

I have had spiced raisins, almonds

This video is not about couscous as such, but she does talk quite a bit about the spices etc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW4YRXC_wU4&feature=related

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I loved that movie too: "La graine et le mulet", http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0487419/ All couscous lovers should see it!

Norman, although there are many types of couscous (the dish, as opposed to the semoule), and they do vary a lot depending on whether they are Algerian, Tunisian, Moroccan etc., merguez is still (to me) the quintessential ingredient of franco-maghrebin couscous, so I feel as if I know where Idun is coming from...[:D]

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I ate some wonderful merguez from my 2nd-favourite buthcher over the weekend.

We had the last ones last night, oven-baked with quartered potatoes...

When I lived in Sussex, I used to buy all sorts of sausages from O'Hagan Sausage Shop. We never found anything to beat them on taste or quality.

They have been going locally for donkey's years (but they don't use donkey meat!).

They deliver all over the UK and I highly recommend their Merguez as well as their Toulouse sausages.

I so wish they could deliver in France... [:(]

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Thankyou for the links.......[:D]

NH it drives me mad when they call the semoule, 'cous cous' here. I keep telling them that it is the dish, rather than the semolina...... the name of which seems to put some off. It winds me up as much as french people calling sweat shirts 'sweet'.

We really enjoyed our couscous, I made it for friends who had never had it before. I don't eat merguez, never have, but my husband loves them and certainly all the guests were raving about these substitute chorizo chipolatas that I put out....... wonder what they would have made of merguez! They probably would have liked them too.

It is a great meal to cook for a lot of people.

 

 

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I am in the UK at the moment and brought a tray of merguez with me, must cook them soon, now I see that they are available from Tesco's, allegedly as the link wont work for me.

Do you know what I will be taking back to France with me? Harissa thats what as its far stronger than the toned down stuff they sell in France and available in larger tins and much cheaper from my local world food shop.

Talk about coals to Newcastle, its always a wind up subject with my French pals that I scorn what they think is hot, I once swallowed  a gobfull of raw harrissa just to take the wind out of their sails whilst inwardly choking I might add, I cant wait to see their reaction when they try some "weakened for the UK market" harissa!

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I got merguez sausages by mistake from our butcher in Toulouse and I find them horrible! just hard tasteless meat and watery red stuff.

How do you cook them ?

And spices for couscous etc - I bought some tiny packets of spices containing piments doux,  curcuma,  mélange d'épices diverses, colorants, safran.  Called Spigol. There are are lots of people from N. Africa in Toulouse and they like spicy food.

But when I make couscous I just make some vinaigrette and mix the quickly soaked grains into this. Then later add bits and pieces like nuts and raisins, sweet corn etc.

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They should be nice and spicy, but see Chancer's comments. I get them from one of the many North African butchers in town and they are far from tasteless.

You can cook them like chipolatas, grilled or fried. I sometimes fry them with red peppers and potatoes in olive oil to give a rather fattening bit tasty Spanish/North African feeling dish.

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We barbecue them, Patf. We like them, but wouldn't have just merguez on their own, we normally do them as one variety of sausage amongst two or three. I tend to stock up on spices in the UK as I find they are much cheaper and I love couscous aux sept legumes.
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In my couscous veg  the other day when I used a big gammelle, one of those fait tout ones, I use some ground coriander a good teaspoon full, tumeric another good teaspoon full and what I can only call boat loads of cumin, starting with maybe 4 tablespoons and kept adding during the cooking process, maybe up to 7 or 8. I go by the taste, quite simply, I know what I want. That on top of some chilli and garlic.  In France it went down well with everyone and I was asked to cook it when we had a do, so I can only imagine that what I think is the 'right' taste, is. And we like it.

Chancer these sausages are not merguez, not the ones I used, they are chorizo chipolatas.

I made far too much, but the good thing is that the veg freezes well. I served chicked with ours the other day too.

 

For the harissa sauce, I mix some of the juice from the veg with the harissa and if I think it needs it, more chilli powder. The good thing is that the 'hot' sauce is put on by the individuals. Some like it hot and others only a little. So they take what they want and like. I always warn everyone that the sauce is hot.

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[quote user="Chancer"]

I am in the UK at the moment and brought a tray of merguez with me, must cook them soon, now I see that they are available from Tesco's, allegedly as the link wont work for me.

[/quote]

Asda, actually, Chancer. And they're the only ones that do them.

I have to hold my hand up to a fairly strong dislike of Couscous in all its forms. This, despite spending an inordinate amount of time in Morocco, Tunisia AND Algeria back in the day. AND despite my best friend in France being married to a Tunisian whose family are all either traiteurs or butchers...her M-i-L's couscous was legendary, but it still didn't really convert me. Now, give me a nice Brik...

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[quote user="Patf"]I got merguez sausages by mistake from our butcher in Toulouse and I find them horrible! just hard tasteless meat and watery red stuff.

How do you cook them ?

And spices for couscous etc - I bought some tiny packets of spices containing piments doux,  curcuma,  mélange d'épices diverses, colorants, safran.  Called Spigol. There are are lots of people from N. Africa in Toulouse and they like spicy food.

But when I make couscous I just make some vinaigrette and mix the quickly soaked grains into this. Then later add bits and pieces like nuts and raisins, sweet corn etc.

[/quote]

Merguez are made with lamb or mutton meat. They smell of it, as well as of the spices they contain.

I grill them on the BBQ or oven-bake them. I learnt the hard way not to grill them indoors (way too much smoke!)

Couscous (picture) is a dish made form a variety of meat (or fish), depending on the country, cooked with vegetables in a spicy broth. The grain (semoule de couscous) is traditionally steamed above the broth in a special colander.

The dish  is best cooked in a couscoussier (Picture).

The salad-type dish you describe sounds like a version of tabbouleh (picture).

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Like Betty, I am also not a big fan of couscous.

But, I do like tabbouleh, as per Clair's post above.  The trick to making tabbouleh, in my opinion, is not to use the grains they call couscous (the name on the box) but to use bulgar wheat grains (I think it's spelt bulgour in French but I stand to be corrected).

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Clair - many thanks for the recipes for couscous and tabbouleh.

So couscous is a sort of large composite dish, rather than a side salad as I've been making. I can see the sense of this , as it's ideal for soaking up flavours from other foods.

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Patf,

Couscous, as I was served it in France was:-

The semoule was put on the plate much as rice would be. It could have some fruits in it, ie apricots and sultanas.

Then the main sauce, which is a stew. This can have meat in it or not and that is put on the plate, next to or on top of the grains.

 

Then I would serve the sausages and the meat, probably to one side of the plate.

 

The Harissa would go onto whereever people wanted it, but I like many others like to put it on the stew and mix it in a little.

 

 

And that for me is a couscous.

 

I have been told that because the of all the veg including the chick peas, when eaten with the semoule becomes a first class protein, as per, baked beans eaten on wholemeal toast. 

 

 

How have you been serving it? I would serve tabbouleh as a side dish, but not just the grains.

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At this time of the year it's too hot for stews and roasts etc so we have cold cooked meat, chicken or fish with different side salads.

I don't like to have potatoes every time for the "filler" so I make a salad with rice, or pasta, or couscous or other grains.

I make a lot and it lasts a few days (except rice which doesn't keep very well in this weather.)

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[quote user="Patf"]So couscous is a sort of large composite dish, rather than a side salad as I've been making. I can see the sense of this , as it's ideal for soaking up flavours from other foods.[/quote]

I've always been served couscous from a main serving dish placed in the centre of the table, with the grain would be piled up in the centre of the platter, topped with the meat and sausages, and surrounded by the veg and broth. Harissa would be served separately, diluted in some of the broth.

The veg in the couscous I have had have always included chickpeas, carrots, courgettes and turnips, and the meat would vary... Sometimes chicken, sometimes lamb or mutton, and always with Merguez.

The uncooked grain was tightly wrapped inside a clean tea towel and the tea towel would be set inside the "colander" of the couscoussier, above the cooking veg and meat. It would absorb the flavour as it steamed.

The "colander" of the couscoussier is deep and its bottom sits inside the main pan, rather than on top, as with a steaming pan.

There was always a palava about rolling the grain in oil or butter to separate it after it was cooked.

The person who taught my mother to cook it was a Pied Noir from Oran, so her couscous would be different from a Tunisian couscous for instance.

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I never thought of rolling the grains after  they had been steamed as they can stick together. I use the method I use to rub in pastry and lift it into the air small amount by small amount and gently rub it between my fingers. I love fluffy semoule, so it is worth doing.

Patf, as with curries, I like couscous in hot weather.

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Hi Folks

Save your money and make your own Harissa, this is a typical recipe, there as many different "recipes" as Algerians :)

10-12 dried red chili peppers or fresh (then omit the soaking)

3 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

Preparation:

Soak the dried chilies in hot water for 30 minutes. Drain. Remove stems and seeds.

In a food processor combine chili peppers, garlic, salt, and olive oil. Blend.

Add the remaining spices and blend to form a smooth paste.

Store

in airtight container. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil on top to

keep fresh. Will keep for a at least month in the fridge or use then freeze the rest .

If you want it Hotter use more chillies.

Bonne chance

Stephen

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Like Sweet17, I won't be making it either. Although I usually make most things. I just do not like handling chillis.

I have a recipe and it also has rose, petals or oil in, I cannot remember now without looking it up.

 

Still there are braver souls than me, so it's good you posted it.

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