[Sca-cooks] 13th c. Andalusian Mirkas / Merguez

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

ORIGINAL
13th C. Anonymous Andalusian Cookbook
Translated by Charles Perry, with assistance from a number of SCAdians...

Recipe for Mirkas

It is as nutritious as meatballs* (banadiq) and quick to digest,
since the pounding ripens it and makes it quick to digest, and it is
good nutrition. First get some meat from the leg or shoulder of a
lamb and pound it until it becomes like meatballs. Knead it in a
bowl, mixing in some oil and some murri naqi, pepper, coriander seed,
lavender, and cinnamon. Then add three quarters as much of fat, which
should not be pounded, as it would melt while frying, but chopped up
with a knife or beaten on a cutting board. Using the instrument made
for stuffing, stuff it in the washed gut, tied with thread to make
sausages, small or large. Then fry them with some fresh oil, and when
it is done, and browned, make a sauce of vinegar and oil and use it
while hot. Some people make the sauce with the juice of cilantro and
mint and some pounded onion. Some cook it in a pot with oil and
vinegar, some make it rahibi with onion and lots of oil until it is
fried and browned. It is good whichever of these methods you use.

ANAHITA'S VERSION

2-1/2 lb. ground lamb
(Oil - oops, i neglected to add a little to the ground meat)
1/2 c. murri
1 tsp. ground white pepper
2 Tb. ground coriander seed
1 Tb. lavender buds
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. salt - not called for but needed
12 cloves garlic, pounded - modern Moroccan recipes call for this, so
i added it
(FAT 1.875 lb =1 lb & 14 oz = 1-7/8 lb)
(Washed sausage casings - this is tricky, because most available i've
found are pig intestines - and you shouldn't be using these for
Muslim food - try a halal butcher or a kosher butcher for alternates)
(Oil for frying)
red wine vinegar

A. The day or evening before you will cook these, buy the fresh meat
and season it.

1.  Wash your hands and scrub under your nails BEFORE starting -
especially scrub under your nails.
2. Get all ingredients together on the counter. You do not want to be
looking for them after you get raw meat all over your hands.
3. Measure out the ingredients into small bowls - the murri in one,
the pounded garlic in another, and the various spices and herbs in a
third. You do not want to be handling them after you get raw meat all
over your hands.
4. Knead seasonings little by little into meat by hand, tearing up
the meat, and moving it around so the seasonings are well
distributed. Making sure it's fairly evenly distributed takes some
effort.
NOTE: Oops, i forget to knead in a little oil... i'd use olive here.
5. Wash your hands well, and scrub under fingernails - there will be
meaty bits under there and you REALLY need to get them out.
6. Cover bowl of seasoned meat tightly and put it in the 'fridge,
letting it stay there a couple hours.
7. Pan cook a small spoonful to test seasonings.
8. Taste it and adjust seasonings in raw meat as desired. I added
more garlic and more salt than in my first run (the amounts above are
adjusted to reflect this), but you may want to adjust further.
9. Cover and refrigerate over night.
NOTE: I did not add the chopped fat. If i'd been stuffing sausage
casings, i would have. Maybe next time...

B. The day of the meal

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Cover with aluminum foil the bottom of a large flat baking sheet
with low sides. Sides are important. In case your lamb is fatty, you
don't want hot grease pouring off a sideless cookie sheet into the
bottom of your oven and possibly onto your gas flame and causing a
fire...
3. Take the covered container of meat out of the refrigerator.
4. Again, wash hands and scrub under fingernails well.
5. In your hands, roll a few tablespoons of meat into a long narrow
shape, something like a breakfast sausage in dimensions - around
3-1/2 inches long and 3/4 of an inch in diameter. These don't have to
be exact. I wanted them small so they'd cook through and evenly and
fairly quickly.
6. As you shape each one, place it on the prepared baking sheet,
making sure they are evenly spaced. I made twenty of the little guys.
7. Put the pan in the oven and bake until done. I didn't really watch
the time, but they will become fragrant as they cook. I suspect it
took about 15 minutes. I took one out, and broke it in half and it
was cooked through, but i didn't notice the elapsed time. A tiny bit
pink inside is probably ok if you like them like that.
NOTE: I did not fry them in oil - i had enough going on top of the
home electric stove (i can't help what folks have in their kitchens),
so i figured baking was less stressful. Maybe next time...
8. Remove from the baking pan onto a flat serving dish and serve hot
sprinkled WELL with red wine vinegar (the kind with no added herbs),
or with sauce as desired.

NOTE: I didn't make a separate sauce. I had a lot going on as solo cook.
First, even though i'd made most of the 9 dishes in the Bawarid and
put them in serving dishes ahead of time, i was making the Bissara,
as i'd run out of time at home. Second, although I had pre-cooked the
lamb with the spices until tender, i was finishing it up on top of
the stove, adding the soft commercial prunes and the honey and
adjusting the seasoning. Third, I was boiling water for the couscous,
and cooking the Chicken Thumiyya (easy, just dump the prepared
ingredients into the pan and cook til done - i HATE the taste of
reheated chicken), and i don't remember what else...
The hostess helped me with some of the stuff, she had offered to, as
part of the original arrangement. But she was the hostess, after all,
and i wanted to have things so that i wouldn't need her much and she
could stay with the guests. I mostly needed her to show me where
certain pots and utensils were as i needed them, since i'd never been
in her kitchen before and she lived in another Principality, such as
her blender or some basic cooking utensils. I did bring a lot of my
own stuff. Her kitchen had rather limited counter space, so i didn't
want to drag a bunch of stuff out until i needed it.

Anyway, i think the sauce mentioned in the original recipe of pounded
fresh cilantro and fresh mint and onion with vinegar would be quite
good with this.

This is actually a very simple and easy recipe. The trickiest part
(other than stuffing sausage casings, which i've never done) is
making sure the seasonings are evenly distributed in the meat the
evening before.

Also, i generally dislike the taste of lamb (and don't get me started
on goat, whew! And, yes, i have eaten goat, in Indonesia in a very
spicy sauce) but i found these sausages tasted just fine (especially
after adding the vinegar).

I WILL make these again, probably pan fry them at a camping event -
but then that's what we do a lot out here.