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| SPAIN'S
HOTTEST CHORIZO |
FOOD
& COOKING ARTICLE |
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What
is Spain's hottest chorizo? And how is it made? Well
first we have to visit "La Carniceria de Julian"
- the longest established butchery in the small rural
village of Orce. This family run business has been producing
all manner of cured sausages for generations; real authentic
strings of chorizos hang behind the counter, the hot
and mild versions distinguished only by the colour of
the hand tied string around them - red for hot, white
for mild.
Chorizo
production in Orce village is constant all year round
such is the popularity of these cured sausages, customers
enter the butchers and buy the chorizo by the kilo and
they are highly popular during fiesta holidays (of which
there are many) Julian supplies local restaurants, bars
and hotels as well as Orce Serrano Hams with a full
selection of Spanish cured meats, one morning whilst
choosing Serrano hams from the secadero Julian noted
that we purchase much more "chorizo picante"
compared to the milder version. Well spotted... and
of course he asked why. We then went on to explain that
the chorizo is highly popular amongst customers and
that many English people enjoyed good hot and spicy
food.
Almost
instantly a new chorizo was born - now commonly known
as the Orce "Fire" chorizo. Some weeks later
a date was set for production of the first batch, a
recipe was devised to create the hottest chorizo that
certainly the locals had ever tasted - and us!
The
recipe did take some perfecting but with Julian's wife
at the helm it did not take long for her expertise to
produce something that is a little special.
CHORIZO
PRODUCTION
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Making
Chorizo Step 1:
The
meat, for every chorizo there are two cuts of
pork required, Pancetta (belly pork) and Magra
(pork loin) only pure cuts of meat are used.
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Making
Chorizo Step 2:
The
mix, a combination of cayenne pepper, ground
pepper, red pepper, garlic, white wine, onion
and a "secret" ingredient for this
chorizo!
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Making
Chorizo Step 3:
Mincing,
while the special ingredients are being mixed
the cuts of meat are minced in the machine.
The establishment is home to all manner of spotlessly
clean stainless steel machines each designed
specifically for its purpose.
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Making
Chorizo Step 4:
All
of the ingredients are mixed together in what
is effectively a big whisk - timing is crucial
at this point, the ingredients need to blend
together but a consistency needs to be maintained.
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Making
Chorizo Step 5:
The
mixture complete, brilliantly red in colour
with a wonderful spicy chorizo aroma - now its
time to make sausages.
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Making
Chorizo Step 6:
The
mixture is then placed into another machine,
a very clever pressurised drum with a nozzle;
it takes some practice to capture the art of
Andalucian sausage making!
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Making
Chorizo Step 7:
Out
comes the mixture, at this point the chorizo
resembles one very long sausage. The skin used
to house the sausage mixture comes from American
Ox.
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Making
Chorizo Step 8:
Hand
tied, the speed in which the sausages are tied
every few inches to create multiple chorizos
is quite impressive. Now we have strings of
chorizo ready for curing.
The chorizos are now hung in the secadero or
curing house rooms for around three weeks. During
this time they will cure perfectly and will
end up as an impressive display of red behind
the butchery counter. So what do the locals
make of this super hot variety? Well, many of
the villagers are a bit partial to the new sausage
so much so extra quantities are being made.
Beforehand you would hear Julian say "Chorizo?
Picante or dulce?" (Hot or sweet) now it's
"Chorizo? Picante, dulce or fuego?"
(Fuego meaning "fire")
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Making
Chorizo Step 9:
A
big thank you to Julian and his wife Conche
for letting us get involved and giving us permission
to publish this material and photography, also
to the staff who despite being very busy were
happy to accommodate us and all our questions.
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Orce
"Fire" Chorizo available now <click
here>
©
Copyright 2008 Orce Serrano Hams - www.orceserranohams.com
Published
30 March 2008
Email
Hub-UK : info@hub-uk.com
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