Ingredient: Salamis - Chorizo (Spanish)
Category: Cured Sausages - Spanish
Season: All
Chorizo is not one but hundreds of different Spanish sausages.
Spanish chorizo is made from coarsely chopped fatty pork and usually seasoned with chilli, paprika and garlic.
The mild Spanish paprika used gives this sausage its characteristic flavour.
The Chorizo itself can be found as either picante (hot) or dulce (sweet). Only the spicy variety incorporates chiles guindillas secas (small dried hot chillies).
Some varieties are hung in cold dry places to cure, as happens with jamón serrano (ham).
It often contains varietal parts of the animal, such as cheeks, salivary glands or lymph nodes.
The Pamplona variety grinds the meat further.
In some regions of Spain, such as Extremadura, where the pork was for centuries basic for subsistence, a usual dish is “huevos con chorizo” (Spanish for "eggs with chorizo").
Huevos con chorizo consists of fried chorizos (in olive oil or pork fat) accompanied with deep-fried eggs.
The frying pan for the eggs must contain at least 3 centimetres (1 1/3 inches) of oil or melted fat, with a high temperature, i.e. when the oil starts to release smoke.
The chorizo used for this dish is less cured and cannot be eaten without being cooked.
The chorizo is also popular in Basque cuisine. |