[Sca-cooks] chorizo

[Robert Downie]

vhsjvs at gis.net wrote:

> what about the Portuguese chorizo?  the kind they put in their kale
> soup?  I have have many wonderful kale soups on Cape Cod where,
> especially in Provincetown, there are many Portuguese families,
> descendants of the first settlers who were fisherman.  I dont know how
> it differs from the Spanish chorizo, tho.

According to my cookbooks it is different, but they don't go into specifics
on the qualities of the Spanish one.  The predominate spices are garlic,
paprika and pimento paste.  These pork sausages are smoked for 12 to 24
hours.

Friends of our family always used to make their own.  They built a smoker in
their garage specifically for that purpose.  I can try to get their recipe
(of course, everyone has a slightly different variation - my favorite is the
one from the older Portuguese store by my parent's house), not sure when
I'll get a chance though :-(

Keep in mind chourica comes in mild (doce) and spicy (picante).  In caldo
verde I prefer the mild one so that it doesn't overpower the more delicate
flavors in the soup, but the spicy one is really nice pan fried and served
on fresh bread (yum!).

Faerisa