chorizos in Spain

Chorizo is the most traditional sausage in Spain. It is made up of chopped pork meat and pork fat and then paprika, either sweet or spicy, is used in the mixture to give it that rich red colour and wonderful smoky flavour. Other ingredients used in Spanish chorizo are garlic, olive oil, wine, salt and perhaps oregano or other spices.

There are many different varieties of chorizos in Spain. The cured dried chorizos can be eaten cold but the fresh sausages need to be cooked before eating.

These are made with meat and fat from the Iberian pig as opposed to the white pig commonly used for the other types of Spanish sausages. It is slightly less fatty than other chorizos since it is made up of 80% meat and 20% fat. It has a very rich red colour and it takes between 3 to 4 months to mature. These are by far some of the best quality chorizos in Spain.

Chorizo can be a fresh sausage, in which case it must be cooked before eating. In Europe, it is more frequently a fermented, cured,smoked sausage, in which case it is often sliced and eaten without cooking, and can be added as an ingredient to add flavor to other dishes. Spanish chorizo and Portuguese chouriço get their distinctive smokiness and deep red color from dried smoked red peppers. Due to culinary tradition and the cost of imported Spanish smoked paprika, Mexican chorizo is usually made with chili peppers, used abundantly in Mexican cuisine.

In Latin America, vinegar also tends to be used instead of the white wine usually used in Spain. Traditionally, chorizo is encased in natural casings made from intestines, a method used since Roman times.

Some types of chorizo can be eaten without further cooking it is sometimes sliced or in a sandwich. Chorizos can be grilled, fried, or simmered in liquid, including apple cider, other strong alcoholic beverage. It also can be used as a partial replacement for ground (minced) beef or pork.

Depending on the variety, chorizo can be eaten sliced without further cooking, sometimes sliced in a sandwich, or barbecued, fried or baked alongside other foodstuffs

Chorizo comes in short, long, hard and soft varieties; the leaner varieties are suited to being eaten at room temperature as an appetizer or tapas, whereas the fattier versions are generally used for cooking.

By: Myra Dela Cruz