Serious Sandwiches: Merguez Frites
Photograph from the blog 'We Are Never Full'
In France, if you order a "sandwich américain," what you'll end up with is a chopped beef, hamburger-like substance, topped with french (ironic right?) fries, and stuffed into a baguette. It is unclear whether the name comes from the notion that french fries are now fully associated with America (rather than Belgium, where they are probably from), or whether the French just consider us gluttons—either way, I'm not ashamed to admit that the sandwich sounds amazing (and I'd be happy to shout that out while waving a giant American flag).
Even better though, is a variation on the sandwich américain, where the hamburger is replaced with merguez sausage, and served from a street cart. Vendors can be found dishing out the delicious merguez frites, as they're called, on the streets of Paris, from stalls at flea markets, or at the fireworks display in Carcassone, which is where Amy and Jonny from the blog We Are Never Full discovered this Moroccan inspired, French treat.
If you are here in the states, making your own is definitely easier and cheaper than flying to France in search of a street fair. The hardest part of the process is finding merguez, the spicy North African sausage that provides the sandwich its name. Desperate to re-create the experience in their Brooklyn apartment, here is the gist of Amy & Jonny's recipe.
About the author: Zach Brooks is the proprietor of Midtown Lunch, where he blogs about affordable lunchtime eats in Midtown Manhattan. The guy knows his sandwiches.
Merguez "Americain"
- serves 2 -
Recipe by We Are Never Full.
Ingredients
2 merguez sausages
1 leek, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Vegetable oil
2-3 potatoes, thinly sliced into french fries
2 French baguettes
Harissa or dijon mustard
Spicy ketchup
Procedure
1. On an indoor or outdoor grill, grill your merguez sausages, whole.
2. Toss the sliced leeks with the flour and cornstarch. In a pan, fry the leeks with some vegetable oil for about 1 minute.
3. In heated vegetable oil, double fry the sliced potatoes until golden brown. Allow to drain on some paper towels and sprinkle with salt.
4. In a fresh baguette, brush some harissa or dijon mustard and spicy ketchup on each side of the bread. Add your grilled sausages, nestle some french fries between the sausages and the bread, and then top with some fried leeks. ENJOY!
For a full podcast, and step by step photos of the process, go to http://www.weareneverfull.com
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13 Comments:
That actually looks good!
Hillary
Chew on That
Chew on That at 1:21PM on 05/07/08
Looks good.
In New Orleans French Fry po boys are are favorite with the locals.
eatorama at 1:48PM on 05/07/08
Looks like the best "hot dog" ever! Everything is better with french fries.
natalie2040 at 3:43PM on 05/07/08
I also found that many sandwiches in Turkey, Portugal, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia are served with fried potatoes right on the bread. It's quite common in Europe... and delicious!
Emsev333 at 4:13PM on 05/07/08
You can also find these up here in Harlem at an African owned patisserie call Les Ambassades (or something like that). Frederick Douglas around 119th.
chanbny at 5:55PM on 05/07/08
@chanbny - oooh... that's good to know
Zach Brooks at 6:35PM on 05/07/08
Yum. I'm hungry for this! Great photo
J'aime les Français
paris221966 at 10:23PM on 05/07/08
Those sandwiches saved my life a few times in France when I had it with bar sandwiches like the infamous jambon-beurre. I must say though that I have a weekness for the "grec" which is a similiar sandwich filled with gyro (yee-ro). And by gyro I mean the real stuff, not the gross meat-like substance that passes for it in the US and Canada.
Oh, now for some extrapolated reason I want and andouillette sandwich. Darn you, internet!
SqueezeBottle at 11:32AM on 05/08/08
Where can I get a good merguez sausage in Philadelphia?
JudyH at 2:00PM on 05/08/08
Gyros with fries are the perfect late-night food in Paris, when you only have one hand to spare for both your fries and your meat, and Middle Eastern vendors are the only places open. Putting Merguez sausage in there sounds amazing! I can't wait to try.
cupcakelust at 6:59PM on 05/08/08
Merguez rock. Reminds me of the Kosher sandwich place in Casablanca and their outstanding merguez sandwiches. Mmmmmm. I've found merguez in middle-eastern markets around the DC area, if you live in a big American city you just have to hunt down a Lebanese or Moroccan and ask them where they shop...
seadkdc at 8:54PM on 05/08/08
Having to see the picture for this entry makes me overcome with sadness because I WANT THAT SANDWICH.
lethargarian at 3:08PM on 05/13/08
in holland a broodje americaan is filled with raw ground meat. ugh
jerkfaceirl at 12:56PM on 06/11/09