Colonialism and Kebab

Merguez kebab, prepared in Great Britain, created in Algeria, imported by France.

If the French brought frosting with them to Algeria and left in behind, the exchange is almost certainly bilateral -- for Algerian food has been exported to France at if not an equal rate, a significant one, especially in the years following decolonization and the beginning of the Civil War, with the migrant crisis spurring a surge of food importation with its roots in historical power dynamics, gender relationships, and of course, seasonings. It is food, after all, and no matter how diverse its background or complex its exchange history, the core of its acceptability and appreciability will remain its taste. This is where the story of merguez comes into play, an odd and perhaps niche enclave in the grand scheme of North African food traditions, but a particularly revealing case study in the export of Algerian food to France and the West as a result of its colonial history. Merguez is, by nature and definition, nothing more than a specific variety of beef sausage. It has a far-reaching history as a staple of traditional Amazigh cuisine, such that even its name is disputed by Algerian Arabic speakers, and its origins remain shrouded in mystery. Produced in a manner identical to that of most other sausage, with its seasoning distinct and often utilized in more “exotic” Algerian dishes, it remained in relative obscurity until the French encountered it. As most culinary encounters go, it consisted of some individuals trying a new food, liking it, and telling their friends. Merguez rose from a particularly-seasoned sausage of relative obscurity to a star of French cuisine in a matter of decades. Such things are commonplace in the food world. In the case of merguez, however, its commercialization and incorporation into French cuisine and culture carries echoes of a particular colonial past which suggests there is more to the late-twentieth-century French food obsession than meets the eye, or, in this case, the mouth.

Despite its export, merguez has diminished little in its popularity among Algerians, and the French use of the sausage has consistently touted it as distinctly exotic, decidedly other and never fully integrated into the wider fold of French cuisine. From the butchers, predominantly fathers and sons, to the women who prepare and serve it, merguez’s appeal derives from its nature as Algerian. It is less a fusion food than it is a direct import, even as certain French and European chefs incorporate it in different ways. Many authors and chefs have also remarked that its primary popularity is limited to France, whereas elsewhere in Europe it seems to disappear from the shelves. This colonial connection, developed, challenged, and destroyed countless times throughout modern history, has not contributed so much to food culture of fusion as a food culture of importation and exportation. It is colonial commerce rather than integration, as the former power takes once again what it wants while the formerly-dominated society retains the actual bonds to the food itself. If the Algerian bakery was transformed by the French, the French butchery went untransformed by Algeria -- but it did expand.