Spicy, smokey, delicious...
Chorizo is widely used in Spanish cooking. (I knew that). And, Spanish chorizo is made from coarsely chopped smoked pork, red pepper, chilli and paprika. I knew the paprika bit, but, I’ll admit, I didn’t know smoked pork was used. I also didn’t know that it’s pronounced: chore-reeth-oh, ( been heavily over using the ‘z’(oops))...
M: Chore-reeth-oh.
H: So no z?
M: Z?
H: Yeah, Z – chore-rizt-oh
M: No. definitly no z, never, always.
...And, the outer 'skin' should be peeled off before cooking – no one told me that, either!
Chorizo can be bought as a whole sausage, raw and ready for cooking or dried and cured ready for eating – sliced like salami, to be enjoyed raw as tapas.
Spanish chorizo gets its smoky flavour and wonderful red-colour from Pimenton, which is smoked Spanish paprika (watch out it’s very spicy). When cooked, chorizo releases a delicious spicy red oil, so, recipes using chorizo often don’t need any additional oil to be added to the pan.
Vanessa (all-round gorgeous person, who recently joined the team at Maria’s) made a delicious chicken and chorizo dish (recipe below) using Spanish chorizo available from At Maria’s and Ultracomida.
