I was mortifyingly embarrassed three times last year, and to make things worse each incident was captured on film while I was in North Africa making a show for More 4. What's more, each of my failures involved the kind of dish that any local child would probably have found easy to prepare. Two featured those thin pastries, warka and brik, so popular in the region, though I made a complete hash of them; the other was when I tried my hand at makingmerguez and somehow managed to puncture and break every single sausage. The editor showed me some mercy by cutting this last incident from the edited film, but even so, the stinging sense of abject failure lingers to this day.
The only good thing that came out of my moments of shame is the huge sense of respect I gained for how certain foods are prepared. Merguez is now most definitely one of these. The speed and skill with which local experts stuff lamb's intestines with meat and then divide them into perfectly neat, segmented bundles is one thing, but the quality, and clever choice, of ingredients that go into the sausage is quite another still. This is not your ordinary banger. Proper merguez is made with minced beef or lamb, lamb fat, dried chillies or harissa, top-quality paprika, aniseeds or fennel seeds, garlic and possibly also preserved lemon, sumac or cumin. These flavours are seriously hard-hitting and can easily infuse adish – a stew, a soup, an omelette –with the most delectable aromas. For me, these are the true flavours of North Africa, instantly evoking memories of sun and sand and strolling through alleyways in ancient markets. But having said that, merguez can also feel at home much farther north, asshown by these takes on two quintessentially British favourites.
Merguez sausage rolls
I have yet to meet a carnivore who doesn't love a sausage roll. This version adds a spicy, aromatic edge but is essentially the same old trick. If you can't get lamb fat, substitute 100g of the beef for some non-lean lamb mince. To simplify the dish, use a few spoonfuls of harissa instead of the spices, chilli and preserved lemon. Makes eight rolls.
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium red onion, peeled and finely chopped
Salt
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
100g lamb fat, roughly chopped
2 tsp sweet paprika
¾ tsp sweet smoky paprika
¾ tsp cayenne
2½ tsp whole aniseeds (or 1½ tsp fennel seeds), toasted and lightly crushed
2 tsp whole cumin seeds, toasted and lightly crushed
2½ preserved lemons, flesh discarded, skin finely chopped (25gnet weight)
½ tsp caster sugar
2 tsp crushed ancho chillies (or chipotle if ancho are unavailable)
320g minced beef
375g all-butter puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten
Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add theonion and a quarter-teaspoon ofsalt, and sauté for six to eight minutes, until soft. Add the garlic, cook for 30 seconds, remove from the heat and set aside.
Put the lamb fat in the small bowl of a food processor with all the spices, preserved lemon, sugar,chillies and half a teaspoon ofsalt. Work together to a paste, addthe minced beef and the onionmix, then pulse once or twicemore,just to bring the mixture together.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly-floured surface to form a 35cm x 25cm rectangle that's 0.5cm thick. Cut this in two, lengthways, and useyour hands to arrange half the meat mix in a long sausage along thelong side of each rectangle. Rollthe pastry up and over the sausage, so it encloses it snugly – you don't want it to be at all loose – and stop rolling 2cm before the end of the roll. Egg wash this exposed border, then finish rolling and seal it up. Repeat with the other half of the pastry and meat mixture. Leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Cut each long roll widthways into quarters. Use asmall knife to make light diagonal incisions on top of each roll and then egg wash. Place on a wire rack, with a foil-lined baking tray below (the tray is for catching the fat released during cooking, and the rack will ensure that the pastry does not get soggy) and bake for 20 minutes, until golden-brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before eating.
Merguez bubble and squeak
Perfect comfort food from weekendleftovers. Add 200g scallops, quartered, to the mix forabit of surf-and-turf-and-squeakdecadence. The cavolo nerocan beditched in favour ofsavoy cabbage, if you prefer. Makes 12 patties, to serve four.
500g desiree potatoes (or other waxy variety), peeled and quartered
60g unsalted butter
50ml milk
Salt and black pepper
550g cavolo nero, stalks removed anddiscarded, leaves roughly chopped
150g merguez, cut into 1cm pieces
2 large garlic cloves, peeled andcrushed
25g piece fresh ginger, peeled andcoarsely grated
1 green chilli, deseeded and finelychopped
½ onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 lemon, quartered, optional
Bring a pan of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook for 15 minutes, until soft. Drain, return to the pan, add 25g of the butter, all themilk and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Mash well and transfer to alarge bowl.
Bring another large pan of water to a boil. Add the chopped cavolo nero leaves, blanch for two minutes, drain, refresh under cold water, drain again, dry with a tea towel and set aside.
Place a large frying pan on a medium heat. Add the sausage and cook for two to three minutes, stirring occasionally – you don't need any oil, because the fat that's released from the sausages will be enough. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli, and cook, stirring, for two minutes to soften, making sure the garlic doesn't burn. Remove from the pan and add to the potato bowl.
Put the pan back on a medium-high heat and melt 20g of the butter. Add the onion and cook for two minutes, stirring once or twice, then add the cavolo nero and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Cook for about five minutes, until the leaves take on some colour and start to crispen in places. Add to the potato and sausage, along with a grind of black pepper, and set aside.
When you're ready to serve, mix everything together well and shape into 12 patties around 8cm in diameter and 2cm thick. Heat half the oil and half the remaining butter on a medium-high heat. Place half of the patties in the pan and cook for about five minutes, turning once, until crisp on both sides. Keep somewhere warm while you repeat with the remaining oil, butter and patties. Serve at once, with asqueeze of lemon, if you like.
