Chorizo

Chorizo, the historic pork sausage from the Iberian Peninsula, is one of the most reimagined recipes around the globe. The traditional chorizo is a fermented, cured, smoked sausage that is known for its resplendent crimson hue, and a spicy, smoky flavour. The dish can be consumed in more ways than one – raw, as a sliced sandwich filling, fried, grilled, or as a thick spicy gravy.

To cook chorizo the conventional way, finely minced pork is mixed thoroughly by hand with an exquisite platter of spices and peppers and turned into sausages using natural pork gut. The sausages are then cured, smoked, and matured for about 50 days for the most robust blend of flavours and textures. Chorizos can be picante (spicy) or dulce (sweet), long and thin or short and hard, and even smoked or unsmoked, depending on culinary preference. However, for the trademark red colour of the dish, most cuisines rely on the Mexican pimento, a smoked paprika. 

Despite its apparently recent historical prominence, the chorizo as a method of Spanish sausage making is believed to have existed for many centuries. It was a custom in all Spanish families to raise pigs throughout the year until they fattened to their prime in the montanera, the autumn-winter season in Spain. It was then, during the festival of matanza, that Spanish families or even entire villages would gather, slaughter the pigs, and turn the meat into a number of dishes including the chorizo to last them through the desolate winters.

The modern chorizo, however, emerged when Hernan Cortes and his band of conquistadors were raiding the Aztec cities in the 16th century and during their conquests, started raising pigs all throughput Mexico, especially Toluca, to prepare themselves their long-craved pork sausages. It was during this time that the pimento was imported to the Spanish peninsula from Mesoamerica and became a quintessential element of chorizo preparation.

Today, Mexican chorizo bears a lot of similarity to the traditional Spanish recipe but unlike its precursor, the Mexican variant is not cured but enjoyed fresh for its significantly softer consistency. Over time, Mexico has reduced its use of smoked paprika in favour of chilli peppers and herbs, leading to the new variety called the green chorizo. Some food historians also believe that the chorizo shares a common history with the Portuguese dish Chourico, widely credited for popularising chorizo recipes around the globe, especially in former Portuguese colonies.