One Hundred and One Mezze: 25. Nakanek


Nakanek, or Makanek as known in Lebanon and most Levantine restaurants around the world (maqaniq is an alternative spelling) is a small thin lamb sausage. It uses sweet fragrant spices as opposed to the hot spices used in Sujuk. Pine nuts is an essential ingredient in these sausages and adds a nice crunch and a subtle sweet flavour.

You can buy them in most Middle Eastern butchers and large supermarkets in London. I tried many different Nakanek from many different shops but my favourite remain the ones I buy from The Green Valley supermarket on Edgware Road.

You can prepare Nakanek in few different ways. I love them simply fried in a little bit of butter and served with a squeeze of lemon and a slice of tomato.


Here is a simple Nakanek recipe:

Nakanek 400g
Butter (or Ghee clarified butter) 1tbsp
Lemon
Tomato
Rocket leaves


Fry the Nakanek sausages in butter till they get a nice brown colour. Cover the pan and continue cooking for few minutes until cooked through. Don't over cook them, they dry up quickly.

Serve with lemon, sliced tomato and rocket leaves.

Alternatively you can grill the sausages on a hot griddle pan.


9 comments:

sheeshany said...

yummyyyyyyyyy :D

Anonymous said...

Sounds good. I used to be vegetarian, but always made an exception for Merguez, so maybe I should give Nakanek a chance as well...

Sarah

Maysaloon said...

Allah ysam7ak, now I feel like having some.

Kano said...

@Haitham Al-Sheeshany
Welcome to my blog. Are originally from Chechnya? My mother family are Chechen.

@Sarah
You should try this one then. I love all three types of "Arabic" sausages; Sujuk, mrguez and Nakanek. The latter is my favourite.

@Maysaloon
Go for it! You should buy some and cock them for dinner.

tasteofbeirut said...

Love makanek; ya Kano, I was hoping you could give us a homemade recipe!

Kano said...

@Joumana
I would have loved to but I don't have a recipe. I don't know of anyone who makes Nakanek at home. Not in Damascus for sure. We just buy them from the butchers!

Bethany said...

Oh I do love makanek! They are splendid!I'm gonna be in Leb come June and the first I'm doing is hunting down a recipe for these babies!

I can't remember if I ever got around to updating you re. Food Blogger Conference being held in London on June 4th, 5th & 6th 2010. We would love for you to join if at all feasible. It will be the perfect opportunity to network, learn and expand on relevant topics, eat delicious food and have a good laugh. We have some award-winning guest speakers and some lovely goodies.

For more information please visit http://www.foodbloggerconnect.com/

I really hope you can make it and look forward to meeting you.

All the best,

Beth

Anonymous said...

amoosh
I want some plez..
we have nakanek here in USA, but it doesn't look anything like those.
i miss the ones my grama used to make in syria :) ..
are these made in sham?

Kano said...

@Bethany
Unfortunately I don't think I will be able to attend this year either.

@Amoosh
These are made in London. They look good don't they!

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