Makanek

Ingredients

Sausage

• 800 glamb shoulder, minced
• 200 glamb fat, chopped small
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 tspground allspice
• ½ tspground nutmeg
• ½ tspground cloves
• 1 tspblack pepper
• 2 tspsalt
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 60 gpine nuts, toasted
• 2 tbspred wine or pomegranate molasses
• narrow natural lamb casing, about 2 m

To finish

• 2 tbspghee or oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsppomegranate molasses
• pomegranate seeds and parsley, to serve

Directions

1. Mix the lamb, fat, all the spices, salt, garlic, pine nuts and wine thoroughly with your hands. Cover and refrigerate overnight — the warm spices need that time to spread through the meat.
2. Fry a spoonful the next day and taste. Makanek should taste emphatically of cinnamon and allspice; a cautious hand makes an ordinary lamb sausage.
3. Fill the narrow casing and twist off into very small sausages, about 5 cm long. The size is part of the dish — they are mezze, eaten several at a time.
4. Prick each one once and leave them uncovered in the fridge for a few hours so the surfaces dry.
5. Heat the ghee in a wide pan over medium heat and fry the sausages, turning often, for 10 to 12 minutes until browned all over and cooked through.
6. Pour off most of the fat, then add the lemon juice and pomegranate molasses to the hot pan and toss the sausages in it for a minute so they glaze.
7. Some cooks flame them with a splash of arak at this point, which is showy and does very little to the flavour.
8. Scatter with pomegranate seeds and parsley and serve hot with flatbread as part of a mezze.

Technique

• Small sausages. Full-sized links are a different dish.
• The lemon and molasses go in at the very end, off the direct heat. Added earlier they burn and turn bitter.
• A fresh sausage — refrigerate and eat within two days, or freeze.

Substitutions

• Beef and lamb half and half, which is common.
• Walnuts in place of pine nuts.
• Sheep casings from a butcher; collagen casings work but do not brown as well.

Variations

• Sujuk is the drier, spicier Levantine cousin, air-cured rather than fresh.
• Served in a wrap with pickles and garlic sauce as street food.

History

Mezze and breakfast sausages spiced with cinnamon and pine nuts, often flamed at the table.

Frequently asked questions

What is Makanek?

Makanek is a charcuterie & cured from Lebanon: small lamb sausages fried with lemon and pomegranate molasses. Mezze and breakfast sausages spiced with cinnamon and pine nuts, often flamed at the table.

How long does Makanek take to make?

Makanek takes 40 min plus overnight resting of preparation and 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 30 small sausages, serves 6. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Makanek?

Yes, within limits. Beef and lamb half and half, which is common. Walnuts in place of pine nuts. Sheep casings from a butcher; collagen casings work but do not brown as well.