Classical Spanish sausages are Longanizas, Chorizos and Sobrasadas. It shall be noted that those sausages may be made differently in South and Latin America. Mexican Chorizo is also much hotter and vinegar is often used and in the Dominican Republic (Carribean) an orange juice is added.
Two characterictics make those three sausages distinctly Spanish:
use of pimentón - Spanish grown and smoked paprika which gives it its deep red color and unique flavor (don't confuse with Hungarian sweet paprika). The paprika itself can be found as either sweet (dulce), bittersweet (agridulce) or hot (picante). After harvest the little peppers are placed in drying houses where they are smoke-dried with oakwood for about two weeks.
Pimentón although not generally available, even in gourmet shops, have no substitute for use in authentic Spanish cooking. It can be ordered on Internet.
the sausages are air dried (not cooked)
These sausages are almost always made from high quality pork, the butt being preferred choice. The main spices are pimentón and garlic.
There is very little difference between longanizas and chorizos as far as making methods are concerned. Chorizos vary in length from 6-8" to one foot long. They contain slightly higher dosage of pimentón tham longanizas but not as much as sobrasadas.
Sobrasadas are sausages from Balearic Islands (Majorca and Menorca islands) which are similar to chorizos but are spiced very heavily with pimentón. The islands have a warm semi-tropical climate with more humidity and under such conditions it is difficult to dry-cure meat. This is the reason that sobrasada is cured by mixing it heavily with a locally grown paprika and sea salt. Pork casings are used and the sausages are hung to cure in the open air, usually for between one month and eight months, with the timing dependent on the size and shape of the casing. Sobrasada is a soft textured textured sausage (like a soft pâté) that can be spread on bread or added to simmered dishes.Since 1993 it has been recognised by the European Union with the quality seal of the Protected Geographical Identity.
Longanizas Chorizos Province Andalusian (Andaluza) Andalusian (Andaluz) Andalucia Calendaria Calendario Cantipalo Castellan (Castellana) Castellan (Castellano) Castilla-La Mancha Extremeña Extremeño Extremadura Navarra Navarro La Navarra Riojano La Rioja Salamantino Salamanca (Castilla-Leon)
Sobrasada - Balearic Islands
Other Spanish Sausages
La Morcilla (Blood Sausage) is used in virtually every Spanish kitchen. It is commonly added to most other meals and stews, but you can also slice and fry it, or cook it on your outdoor grill.
Butiffaras (La Morcilla Blanca - White Blood Sausage) is made almost identically as the original blood sausage (Morcilla) but without blood. It is commonly called butifarra or white blood sausage (La Morcilla Blanca). Blood sausages made in other countries are classified in similar manner: English Black or White Pudding, French Boudin Noir (Blood Sausage) or Boudin Blanc (White Blood Sausage). White blood sausages are often made with rice and milk. Sometimes butiffaras will contain blood as well but will be made correspondily: Butiffara Negra Catalana (Black Catalan Butiffara). Butifarra is perhaps the most popular Catalan (Barcelona area) sausage of them all. When you stop to eat at any restaurant in the countryside, invariably you will be served butifarra in one form or another.
Salchichas are common sausages that borrow the recipe from known sausages from other countries. For example Salchicha Polaca will be one of Polish sausages, Salchicha Turca (Turkish Sausage) or Salchicha Inglesa (English Sausage). Those sausages are about 4-5" (10-15 cm) long.
Salchichones (Los Salchichones) differ from regular sausages (salchichas) in that that they are to be stored for long time, often until the next slaughter. They are stuffed into larger diameter hog casings and ox casings are also used.
Notes:
There is very little smoking employed when making Spanish sausages. There are a few salchichas or salchichones which are smoked but most sausages are air dried. Little smoke that is applied can be considered to be a part of drying process what was universaly done in North European Countries such as Poland or Germany where meats were cold smoked for long time. Needless to say those sausage developed different style and much more pronounced smoky flavor. The climate in North Europe was ill suited for air drying meat products and thus smoking art has developed. Almost all meat products in Poland are of the smoked variety. Spanish climate was perfectly suited for drying meat products and there was less need to apply smoke to preserve meats. What is similar is that almost all meat products in Spain and Poland are made from pork.
South America - Latin America - Caribbean Islands (Cuba, Dominican Republic) and Philippines
All these countries owe much of their culture to mother Spain and culinary arts are not an exception. Not surprising, all Spanish sausages are popular there although different climatic conditions have a profound influence on the methods of their manufacture. Most sausages made in Spain were air dried as the country was blessed with dry prevailing winds for most of the year which were ideally suited for air drying products. There is no vinegar present in Spanish recipes as that would be unnecessary added moisture and the purpose of drying is preserving a product by eliminating the moisture from it. The products were hung in dry cool areas for a year or two without any adverse effect to its quality.
In other Spanish speaking countries the climate is hot and humid and air drying would be severely limited. An exception would be Argentina and Chile which are large countries and contain many climatic zones. Countries situated in the Caribbean Basin are part of tropics and are hot and humid and that will create unwelcome mold on sausages. All those countries add vinegar (sometimes wine) as these acidic fluids help to preserve food at least to a certain degree. Mexican sausages are much hotter than those made in other countries and recipes call for a hefty dose of hot peppers. Many countries (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Philippines) always faced energy problems and a large percentage of the population did not own refrigerators. A very common method was to keep sausages in barrels filled with lard (rendered pork fat).
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Page updated on Feb 22, 2008. New Spanish recipes will be added in time.