Group · Meat
Merguez
Merguez is a North African sausage of beef and mutton, spiced with chilli, cumin and paprika, stuffed into a thin sheep casing. Its red colour comes from the spices, not from a colouring.
As for nutrition facts, raw: 315 kcal per 100 g, with 27.6 g of fat and 14 g of protein. It contains 1.58 g of salt per 100 g, which is moderate for a cold meat, but the fat dominates by a wide margin.
Macronutrient breakdown
Nutrition table per 100 g
| Calories | 315 kcal |
| Kilojoules | 1300 kJ |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Carbohydrate | 2,8 g |
| Fat | 27,6 g |
Tips
27.6 g of fat for 14 g of protein: the ratio is unfavourable. It is a sausage, and the fat is structural: it carries the spices and stops the meat drying out on the barbecue.
It loses a lot in cooking, and that is useful. Grilled, a merguez releases a notable part of its fat. On a grill rather than in a pan, that fat does not end up back on the plate.
Two merguez weigh 120 g. That is 378 kcal: a normal barbecue portion, to be balanced with grilled vegetables rather than a second meat.
Do not prick it. The sheep casing is very thin: pierced, it lets the fat escape and the sausage dries out. Medium heat, turning often.
Quality shows in the percentage of meat. Industrial merguez sometimes falls below 70%, the rest being water, fat and additives. At the butcher’s, the composition is visible and the result is incomparable.