Chorizo

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Chorizo
Curing chorizos
CourseSide dish
Place of originSpain[1] and Portugal
Region or stateIberian Peninsula, Latin America, East Timor, Philippines, Goa (India)
Serving temperatureHot or room temperature
Main ingredientsPork, paprika

Chorizo (/tʃəˈriːzoʊ, -soʊ/,[2][3] from Spanish [tʃoˈɾiθo]; Portuguese chouriço [ʃo(w)ˈɾisu]) is a type of pork sausage originating from the Iberian 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.

In

cured, smoked sausage which gets its smokiness and deep red color from dried, 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, and require cooking before eating.

Iberian chorizo is eaten sliced in a sandwich, grilled, fried, or simmered in liquid, including apple cider or strong alcoholic beverages such as aguardiente. It is also used as a partial replacement for ground (minced) beef or pork.[4]

Names

The word chorizo probably comes from the

doublet of the Spanish word salchicha 'sausage', which was transmitted through Italian salsiccia.[5][6]

In English, chorizo is usually pronounced

[θ] sound is used: /tʃəˈriːθoʊ/
.

Pronunciation and spelling vary slightly among the

Iberian languages
:

Varieties by region

Europe

According to the EU geographical indications register,[8] 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, and do Baixo Alentejo. In Spain there are two varieties recognized: Chorizo Riojano, and Chorizo de Cantimpalos.

Spain

String of chorizo de Cantimpalos

Generally, Spanish chorizo is made from coarsely chopped pork and pork fat, seasoned with garlic, pimentón – a smoked

PGI
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.[10] A rule of thumb is that long, thin chorizos are sweet, and short chorizos are spicy, although this is not always the case.[11]

Spain produces many other pork specialties as well, such as

lomo embuchado and salchichón, 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 the pimentón seasoning of chorizo, flavoured with black peppercorns instead.[12]

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 as

fabada or cocido montañés and can be served as a tapas, such as "Chorizo in Red Wine sauce".[13]

Versions of these dishes con todos los sacramentos (with all the trimmings, literally "

morcilla
(blood sausage) along with the chorizo.

Portugal

A variety of Portuguese chouriços

Portuguese chouriço or chouriça, the latter usually denoting a larger or thicker version, is distinct from Spanish chorizo. 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.[14] 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 of Portuguese and Brazilian cuisine make use of chouriço, including cozido à portuguesa and feijoada.[15][16]

A Portuguese charcutaria display

A popular way to prepare chouriço is slicing it part-way through and cooking it over an alcohol flame at the table (sometimes called chouriço à bombeiro,[17] but more commonly just chouriço assado) in purpose-made glazed earthenware dishes with a lattice top.

In

Johannesburg, South Africa, the many Portuguese immigrants in the 1960s from Portugal and Mozambique tended to settle in a suburb called La Rochelle (Little Portugal).[18] 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 have chouriço on the menu.[19]

In the heavily Portuguese counties in the US states of

quahogs (also known as stuffies), a Rhode Island specialty, usually include chouriço.[21]

In Portugal, chouriço can be made with blood, similar to

chouriço de ossos
, chourição and chouriça de vinha d’alho.

Americas

Mexico

enchiladas as part of a breakfast in Tlaxiaco
, Oaxaca

Based on the uncooked Spanish chorizo fresco (fresh chorizo), the Mexican versions of chorizo are made not only from fatty pork, but also

vegan 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 Spanish paprika, Mexican chorizo is traditionally made with native cultivars of the same species of chili pepper used in Spain, making the Mexican version spicier than the Spanish one.[22] Mexican chorizo also typically uses vinegar, instead of the white wine normally used in Spain.[citation needed
]

This is the main type of chorizo known in Mexico and other parts of the Americas, including most of the United States, but is not frequently found in Europe.

Valle de Toluca, and is claimed to have originated in the town of Texcalyacac
.
Chorizo from Oaxaca
San Cristobal de las Casas

The area around

cilantro, chili peppers, and garlic. Most Mexican chorizo, though, is a deep reddish color. It is often available in two varieties, fresh and dried, though fresh is much more common.[23] Some of the cheapest commercial chorizos use offal stuffed in inedible plastic casing to resemble sausage links, rather than muscle meat.[citation needed] 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. Some chorizo is made without any casings. Pork and beef are cured overnight in vinegar and chili 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 (or choriqueso), burritos, and tortas using cooked chorizo, and it is also a popular pizza 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 fried chorizo with scrambled eggs. Chorizo con huevos is often used in breakfast burritos, tacos, and taquitos. Another popular Mexican recipe is fried chorizo combined with pinto or black refried beans. This combination is often used in tortas as a spread, or as a side dish where plain refried beans would normally be served. In Mexico and the southwestern United States chorizo is also used to make chorizo con queso (or choriqueso), a popular appetizer consisting of small pieces of chorizo served with melted cheese and eaten with small corn tortillas
or tortilla chips. In heavily Mexican parts of the United States, a popular filling for breakfast tacos is chorizo con papas, diced potatoes sautéed until soft with chorizo mixed in.

Central America and the Caribbean

Salvadorean-style chorizo

In Puerto Rico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic, chorizo and longaniza are considered two different types of meat. Puerto Rican chorizo is a smoked, well-seasoned sausage nearly identical to the smoked versions in Spain. Puerto Rican and Dominican longanizas 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.

Salvadorean chorizo is short, fresh (not dried) and tied in twins.

United States

In contrast to Spanish chorizo, 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 near

better source needed
]

In Louisiana, Creole and

which?
] smoking this variant is an acceptable practice in local cuisine.

South America

Argentinian chorizos in an asado

In

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 fried chorizo.

In Argentina,[28] Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela, chorizo is the name for any coarse meat sausage. Spanish-style chorizo is also available, and is distinguished by the name chorizo español ('Spanish chorizo'). Argentine chorizos are normally made of pork, and are not spicy hot. Some Argentine chorizos include other types of meat, typically beef. In Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and Peru, fresh chorizo, cooked and served in a bread roll, is called a choripán. In Colombia, chorizo is usually accompanied by arepa.

In Brazil, chouriço is the word used for what in the rest of Latin America is morcilla; meat sausages similar to the chorizos of other Latin American countries are called linguiça. Many varieties of Portuguese-style chouriço and linguiça are used in many different types of dishes, such as feijoada.

In

quirquiña), mote, and a slice of bread soaked with chorizo fat. Chorizo sandwiches
, without mote, are also eaten.

South and Southeast Asia

East Timor

Chouriços in East Timor

Chouriço is made in East Timor. It was introduced by the Portuguese, with their colonization of East Timor.

Goa

Goa, India
.

In Goa, India, which was ruled by the Portuguese for 450 years and has a large percentage of Goan 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.[29] 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 rice pilaf.

Three kinds of chouriço are found in Goa: dry, wet, and skin. Dry chouriço is aged in the sun for long periods (three months or more). Wet chouriço has been aged for about a month or less. Skin chouriço, also aged, is rare and difficult to find. It consists primarily of minced pork skin along with some of its subcutaneous fat. All three chouriços 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.

Goan chouriço should be distinguished from "Goan frankfurters", which look similar to equivalents in the United States, but have a predominantly peppercorn flavor.

Philippines

Main article:
Longganisa
longganisas (chorizos) in Quiapo, Manila

Longaniza (

achuete seeds. There are dozens of variants from various regions in the Philippines.[30]

See also

References

  1. PMID 22055940
    .
  2. ^ "Definition of CHORIZO". Merriam-Webster.
  3. ^ "CHORIZO | meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary". dictionary.cambridge.org.
  4. ISBN 978-0-8117-1693-2
    .
  5. ^ "Etimología de Chorizo", deChile.net s.v.
  6. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 1st edition, 1910, s.v. 'sausage'
  7. ^ "Chorizo | Definition of Chorizo by Merriam-Webster". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  8. ^ "eAmbrosia". ec.europa.eu.
  9. ^ "Chorizos a la sidra - Spanish traditional recipe". Lobby Market. 7 February 2023.
  10. ISBN 978-0841672277
    .
  11. ISBN 0681304006
    .
  12. ^ "Sweet & Smokey". Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  13. ^ Kroeger, Tim (6 June 2020). "Easy Chorizo al Vino Tinto (Chorizo in Red Wine) Recipe". Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  14. ^ Santos, Nina (23 July 2017). "A Guide to Portugal's Different Sausages". Culture Trip.
  15. ISBN 9789814435628
    .
  16. ^ Esposito, Shaylyn. "How to Make Feijoada, Brazil's National Dish, Including a Recipe From Emeril Lagasse". Smithsonian Magazine.
  17. ^ "Chouriço à Bombeiro (Flame Grilled Chouriço)". Easyportugueserecipes.com. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  18. ^ Abundant Portuguese Residents Elude The South African Census, The New York Times, 29 May 1981
  19. ^ "Lusito Land Festival announces mouth-wateringly blissful menus". iloveza.com.
  20. ISBN 9781442227316
    – via Google Books.
  21. ^ "Traditional Cape Cod Linguisa Stuffed Quahogs". Cape Cod LIFE. 20 June 2017.
  22. ^ "Sausages & Salamis". clovegarden.com.
  23. ^ "Chorizo Recipes for the Spice Lover in All of Us". Lets-make-sausage.com. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  24. ^ Guerra, Melissa. "Tex-Mex Chorizo Is a Celebrated Link in Texas Food History: New Worlder". newworlder.com. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  25. The Food Timeline
    . Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  26. ^ "Easy Migas Recipe". The Modern Proper. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  27. ^ Meats and Sausages: Chaurice
  28. ^ Hank Shaw (3 July 2020). "Chorizo Argentino Sausage Recipe – Chorizo Sausage Recipe". Honest Food Net. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  29. ^ Chourico de Goa recipe. https://www.celebrationinmykitchen.com/chouriccedilo-de-goa-goa-sausages
  30. ISBN 9786214200870.[permanent dead link
    ]

External links

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