When it comes to charcuterie – that age-old method of combining ground meat with salt, stuffing it into casings and leaving it to dry and cure – no one does it quite like the Spanish. Iberico, lomo, fuet, Serrano, Bellota: these words (among many others) are synonymous with quality and, along with hundreds of others, make up the incredible selection of Spanish cured meats (plus the regions they come from). None, however, have captured our hearts quite like chorizo.
This red sausage, often a little spicy, usually very garlicky and always deliciously rich, has the ability to instantly imbue a dish with its incredible flavour. Most commonly sold in the classic horseshoe shape ready to be sliced up and cooked with (but also available thinly sliced ready to eat and as a fresher, softer sausage), it packs a punch that few other cured meats can hold a candle to. It’s why chorizo is such a popular ingredient to cook with; as it heats up, the fats and oils inside the sausage render out of it, mingling with whatever else is in the pan.
While chorizo is fantastic fried until crisp, simmered in sauces or sliced thin to add to sandwiches or adorn pizza, top chefs know that it can offer so much more. The rendered fat and oils can be used to create all sorts of wondrous things, while cooking the sausage in different ways results in delicious infusions, textural contrasts and knockout sauces. Take a look below at six ways chorizo can be used beyond the norm and up the flavour factor of your next dinner.
