Merguez substitutes

By a wide margin the closest, and no casing or sausage-making equipment required.

Best for

couscous royale and tagines, shakshuka and one-pan egg dishes, sandwiches and grilled skewers

Per pound of ground lamb: one tablespoon harissa, or two teaspoons paprika plus half to one teaspoon cayenne, plus two teaspoons ground cumin, one teaspoon ground coriander, three minced garlic cloves, one teaspoon salt and half a teaspoon ground fennel or caraway. Mix, rest thirty minutes in the fridge for the spices to bloom, then roll into fingers or fry as crumbles. The only thing missing is the snap of the casing.

The nearest thing in an American supermarket: fresh, red, chilli-heavy and it renders coloured fat.

Best for

shakshuka and egg dishes, stews and one-pot rice, when time is short

It is pork rather than lamb, so it is sweeter and much less gamey, and the cure gives it a vinegary tang merguez does not have. Add a teaspoon of cumin per half pound and it lands close. If the dish is being served at a mixed or halal table, choose the lamb option instead.

Cured beef sausage, heavy on garlic and cumin, which renders the same red spiced fat.

Best for

shakshuka and menemen, stews and bean dishes, flavour accuracy above all

Of the ready-made sausages this is the closest in aroma, since cumin and garlic dominate both. It is cured rather than fresh, so it is firmer, considerably saltier and it never breaks down into soft crumbles. Slice it thin, fry it first, and salt the dish at the very end.

Right texture and right fat content, entirely the wrong spice cabinet.

Best for

when the shop has nothing else fresh and spicy, crumbling into stews and sauces, grilling

Squeeze it out of the casings, break it up and cook it with a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of paprika and half a teaspoon of cayenne per half pound to redirect the seasoning. Left as it is, the fennel and black pepper make the dish read Italian, which fights a tagine badly.

The same meat and much of the same spicing, formed into meatballs instead of sausages.

Best for

tagines and couscous royale, serving to people who dislike heat, grilling on skewers

In a couscous or a tagine this is a genuinely fair swap, because the lamb and cumin overlap almost completely. It is milder, and it is usually mint and parsley forward rather than chilli hot, so the dish comes out fresher and much less fiery. Add harissa separately if you miss the heat.

Good food, and a real change of dish, because it is cured and smoked rather than fresh and raw.

Best for

stews, bean dishes and rice, when nothing fresh is available, long-keeping store cupboard cooking

It brings smoked pimenton where merguez brings harissa, and being cured it stays firm and slices rather than browning into soft crumbles. Add it later in the cooking, since it needs no cooking through. The result tastes convincingly good and unmistakably Spanish.

The vegetarian route, which cannot imitate the meat but can do the sausage's actual job.

Best for

vegetarian shakshuka and vegetable tagine, vegetarian couscous, cutting the meat without losing the flavour

Per cup, add a tablespoon of harissa, a teaspoon of cumin, a teaspoon of paprika and two tablespoons of olive oil, and fry until the edges catch. Nobody will mistake it for sausage. What you do get is the heat, the cumin and garlic aroma and the red spiced fat, which is most of what merguez contributes to a shakshuka.