 Curingchorizos | |
| Course | Side dish |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Spain[1] andPortugal |
| Region or state | Iberian Peninsula,Latin America,East Timor,Philippines,Goa (India) |
| Serving temperature | Hot or room temperature |
| Main ingredients | Pork,paprika |
| |
Chorizo (/tʃəˈriːzoʊ,-soʊ/chə-REE-zoh, -soh,[2][3]Spanish:[tʃoˈɾiθo,tʃoˈɾiso]; Portuguese:chouriço[ʃo(w)ˈɾisu]) is a type ofporksausage originating from theIberian Peninsula. It is made in many national and regional varieties in several countries on different continents. Some of these varieties are quite different from each other, occasionally leading to confusion or disagreements over the names and identities of the products in question.
InEurope,Spanishchorizo andPortuguesechouriço is afermented,cured,smoked sausage which gets its smokiness and deep red color fromdried, smoked, red peppers (pimentón/colorau); it may be sliced and eaten without cooking, or added as an ingredient to add flavor to other dishes. Elsewhere,chorizo may not be fermented or cured, requiring cooking before eating. InMexico it is made with chili peppers instead of paprika.
Iberianchorizo is eaten sliced in asandwich,grilled,fried, orsimmered in liquid, includingapple cider or strongalcoholic beverages such asaguardiente. It is also used as a partial replacement for ground (minced)beef or pork.[4]
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According to theEU geographical indications register,[5] in 2023, there were 8 recognized varieties in Portugal:Chouriço de Ossos de Vinhais, Azedo de Vinhais, Mouro de Portalegre, Abóbora de Barroso-Montalegre, Portalegre, Carne de Estremoz, Estremoz e Borba, anddo Baixo Alentejo. In Spain there are two varieties recognized:Chorizo Riojano, andChorizo de Cantimpalos.
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Generally, Spanishchorizo is made from coarsely chopped pork and pork fat, seasoned with garlic,pimentón (a smokedpaprika) and salt. It can be classed as eitherpicante (spicy) ordulce (sweet), depending upon the type ofpimentón used. There are hundreds of regional varieties of Spanishchorizo, some smoked and some unsmoked, that are each made somewhat differently and may include herbs and other ingredients.[6] For example,chorizo de Pamplona is a thicker sausage with the meat more finely ground. Among the varieties ischorizo Riojano from theLa Rioja region, which hasPGI protection within the EU.
Chorizo is made in short or long and hard or soft varieties; leaner varieties are suited to being eaten at room temperature as an appetizer or tapas, whereas the fattier versions are generally used for cooking.[7] A rule of thumb is that long, thinchorizos are sweet, and shortchorizos are spicy, although this is not always the case.[8]
Spain produces many other pork specialties as well, such aslomo embuchado andsalchichón, that are cured and air-dried in a similar way.Lomo is a lean, cured meat, served in slices rather than for cooking, made by marinating and air-drying a pork tenderloin.Salchichón is another cured sausage without thepimentón seasoning ofchorizo, flavoured with black peppercorns instead.[9]
Depending on the variety,chorizo can be eaten sliced without further cooking, for example in a sandwich, or can be grilled, fried, or baked alongside other foodstuffs, and is an ingredient in several dishes where it accompanies beans, such asfabada orcocido montañés and can be served as a tapa, such as "Chorizo in Red Wine sauce".[10]
Versions of these dishescon todos los sacramentos (with all the trimmings, literally "sacraments") include other preserved meats such astocino (cured bacon) andmorcilla (blood sausage) along with thechorizo.
Portuguesechouriço orchouriça, the latter usually denoting a larger or thicker version, is distinct from Spanishchorizo. The base ingredients are pork, fat, paprika, garlic, and salt. Wine and hot peppers are also common in some regions. It is then stuffed into natural casings from pig or lamb and slowly dried over smoke.[11] The many different varieties differ in color, shape, spices and taste. White pepper, piri-piri, cumin and cinnamon are used in some varieties. Many dishes ofPortuguese andBrazilian cuisine make use ofchouriço, includingcozido à portuguesa andfeijoada.[12][13]
A popular way to preparechouriço is slicing it part-way through and cooking it over an alcohol flame at the table (sometimes calledchouriço à bombeiro,[14] but more commonly justchouriço assado) in purpose-made glazed earthenware burners.
InJohannesburg, South Africa, the many Portuguese immigrants in the 1960s from Portugal andMozambique tended to settle in a suburb called La Rochelle (Little Portugal).[15] Most of them either returned to Portugal or moved on to more affluent suburbs in the city, but restaurants in the area and the very well-supported annual "Lusitoland" fundraiser festival havechouriço on the menu.[16]
In the heavily Portuguese counties in the US states ofRhode Island and southeasternMassachusetts,chouriço is often served with little neck clams and white beans.[17]Chouriço sandwiches on grinder rolls, with sautéed green peppers and onions, are commonly available at local delis and convenience stores. Stuffedquahogs (also known as stuffies), a Rhode Island specialty, usually includechouriço.[18]
In Portugal,chouriço can be made with blood, similar toblood sausage orblack pudding and is calledchouriço de sangue (bloodchouriço) ormorcela. Other types ofchouriço includechouriço de vinho,chouriço de cebola,chouriço fumado,chouriço de ossos,chourição andchouriça de vinha d’alho.
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Based on the uncooked Spanishchorizo fresco (fresh chorizo), the Mexican versions ofchorizo are made not only from fatty pork, but alsobeef,venison,chicken, andturkey.Kosher andvegan versions are also available. The meat is usually ground (minced) rather than chopped, and different seasonings are used. Due to the historically high cost of imported Spanishpaprika, Mexicanchorizo is traditionally made with native cultivars ofthe same species ofchili pepper used in Spain, making the Mexican version spicier than the Spanish one.[19] Mexicanchorizo also typically uses vinegar, instead of the white wine normally used in Spain.[citation needed]
This is the main type ofchorizo known in Mexico and other parts of the Americas, including most of the United States, but is not frequently found in Europe.
The area aroundToluca specializes in "green"chorizo, made with some combination oftomatillo,cilantro,chili peppers, andgarlic. Most Mexicanchorizo, though, is a deep reddish color. It is often available in two varieties, fresh and dried, though fresh is much more common.[20] Some of the cheapest commercialchorizos useoffal stuffed in inedible plastic casing to resemble sausage links, rather than muscle meat.[21] Before consumption, the casing is usually cut open and the sausage is fried in a pan and mashed with a fork until it resembles finely minced ground beef. Somechorizo is made without any casings. Pork and beef are cured overnight in vinegar andchili powder. Served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it has the finely minced texture mentioned above, and is quite intense in flavor.[citation needed]
In Mexico, restaurants and food stands make tacos,queso fundido (orchoriqueso),burritos, andtortas using cookedchorizo, and it is also a popularpizza topping.Chorizo con huevos is a popular breakfast dish in Mexico and areas of the United States with Mexican populations. It is made by mixing friedchorizo withscrambled eggs.Chorizo con huevos is often used in breakfast burritos, tacos, andtaquitos. Another popular Mexican recipe is friedchorizo combined with pinto or blackrefried beans. This combination is often used intortas as a spread, or as a side dish where plain refried beans would normally be served. In Mexico and the southwestern United Stateschorizo is also used to makechorizo con queso (orchoriqueso), a popular appetizer consisting of small pieces ofchorizo served with melted cheese and eaten with smallcorn tortillas or tortilla chips. In heavily Mexican parts of the United States, a popular filling for breakfast tacos ischorizo con papas, diced potatoes sautéed until soft withchorizo mixed in.
InPuerto Rico,Panama, and theDominican Republic,chorizo andlonganiza are considered two different types of meat. Puerto Ricanchorizo is a smoked, well-seasoned sausage nearly identical to the smoked versions in Spain. Puerto Rican and Dominicanlonganizas have a very different taste and appearance. The seasoned meat is stuffed into a pork casing and is formed very long by hand. It is then hung to air-dry.Longaniza can then be fried in oil or cooked with rice or beans. It is eaten with many different dishes.
Salvadoreanchorizo is short, fresh (not dried) and tied in twins.
In contrast to Spanishchorizo, in the United States the term generally refers to a sausage that is never dried, has a fattier filling, and is very spicy. It is most popular in areas with large Cuban, Dominican, or Puerto Rican populations or near the Mexican border, especially in the Southwest nearChihuahua,Sonora, andNuevo León. It is also found further north in places likeAustin, Texas orSanta Fe, New Mexico, where its earliest evidence dates to well before theWild West.[22][23] It is most commonly eaten for breakfast on its own, or mixed with a local version ofmigas.[24][better source needed]
In Louisiana, Creole andCajun cuisine both feature a variant ofchorizo calledchaurice, which is frequently used in the Creole dish ofred beans and rice.[25] As with its cousin to the west,[which?] smoking this variant is an acceptable practice in local cuisine.
InEcuador, many types of sausage have been directly adopted from European or North American cuisine. All sorts of salami, either raw or smoked, are known just as salami. Most commonly known are sorts from Spanishchorizo, Italianpepperoni, and wiener sausages; wieners are the most popular. Some local specialities includemorcilla,longaniza, andchorizo.Morcilla, as in most Spanish-speaking countries, is basically cooked pork blood encased in pork intestine casing (black pudding in English).Longaniza is a thin sausage containing almost any mixture of meat, fat, or even cartilage, smoked rather than fresh.Chorizo is a mixture of chopped pork meat, pork fat, salt, whole pepper grains, cinnamon,achiote, and other spices, which produce its characteristic deep red color. A traditional dish consists of fried egg, mashed potatoes, avocado, salad, and slices of friedchorizo.
In Argentina,[26] Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela,chorizo is the name for any coarse meat sausage. Spanish-stylechorizo is also available and is distinguished by the namechorizo español ('Spanish chorizo'). Argentinechorizos are normally made of pork, and are not spicy hot. Some Argentinechorizos include other types of meat, typically beef.[27] In Argentina, Bolivia,Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru, freshchorizo, cooked and served in a bread roll, is called achoripán. In Colombia,chorizo is usually accompanied byarepa.
In Brazil,chouriço is the word used for what in the rest of Latin America ismorcilla; meat sausages similar to thechorizos of other Latin American countries are calledlinguiça. Many varieties of Portuguese-stylechouriço andlinguiça are used in many different types of dishes, such asfeijoada.
InBolivia,chorizos are made of pork, fried and served with salad (tomato, lettuce, onion, boiled carrots andquirquiña),mote, and a slice of bread soaked withchorizo fat.Chorizosandwiches, withoutmote, are also eaten.
Chouriço is made inEast Timor. It was introduced by the Portuguese, with their colonization of East Timor.
InGoa, India, which was ruled by the Portuguese for 450 years and has a large percentage ofGoan Catholics,chouriço is made from pork that is marinated in a mixture of vinegar, red chilies, and spices such as garlic, ginger, cumin, turmeric, cloves, pepper, and cinnamon, and stuffed into casings.[28] They can be raw (wet), smoked or cured through salting and air-drying. These are enjoyed either with the local Goan Portuguese-style crusty bread, or pearl onions, or both. The sausages are also used, cut into chunks, as the meat ingredient in ricepilaf.
Three kinds ofchouriço are found in Goa: dry, wet, and skin. Drychouriço is aged in the sun for long periods (three months or more). Wetchouriço has been aged for about a month or less. Skinchouriço, also aged, is rare and difficult to find. It consists primarily of minced pork skin along with some of its subcutaneous fat. All threechouriços are made in variations such as hot, medium, and mild. Other variations exist, depending on the size of the links, which range from 1 to 6 inches (2.5–15 cm). Typically, the wet varieties tend to be longer than the dry ones.
Goanchouriços should be distinguished from Goanfrankfurters, which look similar to equivalents in the United States, but have a predominantly peppercorn flavor.
Longaniza (Tagalog:longganisa;Visayan:chorizo,choriso,soriso) arePhilippinechorizos flavored with indigenous spices, and may be made of chicken, beef, or even tuna. While the termlonganiza generally refers to fresh sausages, it is also used in the Philippines to refer to cured sausages. Philippinelongganisa are often dyed red withachuete seeds. There are dozens of variants from various regions in the Philippines.[29]
Chorizo at the Wikibooks Cookbook subproject| Overview |  | ||||
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| Fresh sausage | |||||
| Dry sausage |
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| Smoked sausage | |||||
| Cooked sausage | |||||
| Cooked smoked sausage | |||||
| Precooked sausage | |||||
| Grilled sausage | |||||
| Related articles | |||||
