If you know me, or even if you only read my blogs, you know I'm not a Frenchy food kind of guy. But when Carlos Muela told me a new French street food truck would be slangin' sausage sandwiches, I decided to check out the debut of France Délices at Muela's SoMa StrEat Food Park.
They had me at merguez.
I love the spicy Mediterranean sausage known as merguez. It's my favorite of all sausages, especially when made from my favorite of all meats, lamb. On my trips to Montreal, a well-dressed grilled merguez sausage sandwich on a french roll from An-Nasr at the Jean-Talon market trumps a medium fat from Shwartz's at the top of my must-eat list. A Montreal merguez sandwich, especially with its Lebanese twist, is probably not replicated anywhere else in North America, but I'm always ready to applaud a good stand-in, and here was a credible candidate staring me in the face.
France Délices' menu is simplicity itself. There are four choices of grilled sausage sandwiches: lamb merguez, chicken merguez, wild boar with apple and cranberries and one with -- wait for it -- my second favorite animal flesh, duck, somehow combined with figs. (The cunning bastards, they know I'll be back to try that one.) A sausage sandwich on a soft French roll with your choice of two toppings is $7.00. The truck also offers hand-cut frites (Freedom fries to you) served Euro-style in a large paper cone, with your choice of dips for $4.00. But wait! There's the "meal deal," which gets you a sandwich, fries and a drink (soda or bottled water) for a flat $10.00. That would be me, see?
I ordered my merguez sandwich with sauerkraut and sweet peppers as toppings. It did not disappoint. There were two decent-sized links of merguez sausage, and the spicing and texture seemed right on, compared to what I have become accustomed to. With a slightly firmer bun and some chopped green olives as a topping option, it would have been a pretty good facsimile of my beloved Montreal merguez sando. As it is, it was a winner of a sandwich on its own, and the fries went down well too, especially with the ailoi dressing I selected.
And by the way, France Délices folks, if you are listening, let me put a bug in your ear. Since you've already got the sauerkraut and four kinds of sausage going, how about putting together a nice robust choucroute garni platter for dinner service at SoMa? That, some cold beer and a Giants game on the telly would be a great way to while away a couple of hours on a not-too-chilly evening.
