🥪 The Mergwich
Serious Sandwich 04
Hello Sandwich Fans! It’s Thursday, which means it’s time to channel some BIG SANDWICH ENERGY. This newsletter is made possible by reader donations through Substack. This money enables us to work on Serious Sandwiches every week, buy ingredients and commission photographers and writers. If you have donated or subscribed, thank you! Your subscription supports us to keep writing this newsletter, and to bring world-class writing directly to your inbox. May all your toasties be evenly golden.
The newsletter for paid subs drops on Friday morning. All paid subscribers have access to the full archive of paywalled articles as well as The Sandwich Board. Subscription to the paywalled newsletter costs £3.50 per month or £35 per year (£2.92 per month).
You can also follow Serious Sandwiches on Twitter and Instagram. Thank you for your support!Â
It’s a wild card week here at Serious Sandwiches, which is something we’d intended to do once a month but have now decided we might only do occasionally, and at random. Who knows? Let’s all just stay on our toes.
The merguez is a north African sausage made with lamb; bold and spicy, she spits scarlet fat. Ideally. There seems to be a preference among some people nowadays for dry, crumbly, lean sausages, which is a travesty. We want to see pockets of fat agitated beneath the skin, blooping back and forth like a meaty spirit level. While The Merg is definitely on the skinnier, drier side (there’s a life lesson in here somewhere) it’s got enough going on to keep things interesting, by which we mean: harissa.
Either a flatbread or pitta is what you want here - the puffy, dimpled kind of pitta, ideally. Here’s a flatbread recipe, which is minimal effort and guaranteed to work. It’s hard to beat a warm flatbread, fresh off the frying pan. It’s the law to eat the first one while you make the others though - like a first pancake it’s always wonky anyway.
Flatbread recipe
Makes 4
250g plain flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
150ml warm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Combine the ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. Knead for 5 minutes until smooth and elastic (you could use a stand mixer with a dough hook if you have one).
Cover and let the dough double in size - this might take anything from 30 mins to an hour.
Preheat a griddle pan or frying pan until screaming hot.
Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll each one out on a lightly floured surface. Cook in the hot pan for 30 seconds or so on each side.Â
OK, so we haven’t actually used the sausage. It’s a lamb patty - or more accurately, a lamb fatty - all the sweet, adipose flesh of sheep mingled with a riotous blend of warm spices and energy-rousing capsicum.
There’s a salsa made with plump nuggs of pickle-brined apricots; there’s a crisp, limey, hot honey ‘slaw and there’s an electrifying zhug, full of sappy green chilli and herbs. Yes, we do regret not adding chips.Â
The Mergwich Lamb Fatty
Serves 4 An absolute belter to either cook indoors or on the BBQ.
Pickled apricot salsa
50ml rice vinegar
100ml tap hot water
1.5 tablespoons caster sugar
½ tablespoon sea salt
100g dried apricots, diced
½ small white onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons mint leaves, finely chopped
Combine the rice vinegar, hot water, caster sugar and sea salt and stir until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Add the apricots and leave to plump up for half an hour.
Drain the apricots, then combine with the diced onion and mint.Â
Zhug
1 bunch coriander
2 green chillies
4 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Seeds of 4 cardamom pods, crushedÂ
2 tablespoons pul biber
Combine all the ingredients in a small blender with a pinch of salt and whizz to a paste. If you don’t have a small blender you could bash the herbs and spices in a pestle and mortar, then add the olive oil and lemon juice.
Honey and lime coleslaw
1 tablespoon runny honey
2 tablespoons lime juice
¼ small white cabbage, cored and very finely shredded
¼ small red cabbage, cored and very finely shredded
¼ small red onion, very finely sliced
1 handful coriander leaves, choppedÂ
Combine all the ingredients with a pinch of salt and scrunch together with your hands.
Merguez spiced lamb patties
1 teaspoon cumin seedsÂ
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
400g minced lamb
50g harissa
2 cloves garlic, grated to a pasteÂ
2 teaspoons paprika
Pinch ground cinnamon
Cherry tomatoes on the vine, to cook at the same time as the patties
Yoghurt, to serve
Toast the whole spices in a dry frying pan over medium-low heat, moving them around so they don’t burn. Grind or bash to a powder.
Combine the spices with the minced lamb, harissa, garlic, paprika, cinnamon and some salt and pepper. Mix well. Divide into 8 balls, then shape into patties.
Heat a griddle pan, frying pan or BBQ and, once hot, cook the patties for 4-5 minutes each side, or until just cooked through. Nestle the tomatoes alongside and allow them to soften and char, too.
Assembly
This is obvious - shove it all in a flatbread and eat!
The Veggie Version
Serves 4 This would also be great with falafel.
2 medium aubergines, trimmed and sliced 1cm thick
50g harissa
2 teaspoons paprika
2 cloves garlic, grated to a pasteÂ
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground fennel
Pinch ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons neutral oil
Make the garnishes as per the previous recipe.
Preheat the oven to 220ºC.
Combine everything with a pinch of salt and mix well then spread over a baking sheet. Roast for around 30 minutes, flipping the aubergine slices once. They should be golden brown on both sides.