SAUSAGE-MAKING in Spain
The women’s job at the butchering ceremony is to make the fresh meat into sausages. Little by little, vast quantities of meat are fed through the grinder and mixed with spices and other ingredients. They are then squeezed into the skins, which have been carefully cleaned beforehand. Sausages which are made from raw meat must be eaten within a few days and are usually boiled or fried.
Something which proves particularly popular at every Spanish butchering event is blood sausage, which in Asturias is either fried and served immediately or smoked over oak. The chorizo, a sausage seasoned with garlic and paprika, and lomo embuchado, marinated pork loin, are also popular throughout Spain. As in other areas of Spain, two varieties of hard sausage, longaniza and salchichon, are commonly found.
A region’s climate determines what happens to the sausage after it has been made. While sausages and hams can be air-dried in the arid south and west of Spain, it is usually too damp for this in the Atlantic north. As a result, in Asturias and neighbouring regions most types of sausage and ham are dried for a short time and then smoked as well.
Professional butchers have special smoking rooms that they use for this. However, farmers still hang their hams and sausages in the smoke over the fireplace, as was commonplace in their grandmothers day Farmers prefer to use spicy oak for this. Depending on how thick and firm the sausages are, the smoking process over smouldering chips can take ten days or more.
Experts ensure that the fire is kept as low as possible for smoking, because the slower and more even the process, the better the smoky flavours are able to penetrate the meat, right into the very middle. These flavours are accompanied by antiseptic substances which also penetrate the sausage, so that it keeps particularly well. If the smoking is too quick, too aggressive, or too hot, the quality and life of the product diminishes, because the meat has not been evenly smoked through.
As with chorizo and blood sausage, superior sausages made from venison or wild boar are also usually smoked. Asturian hams are generally air-dried for a further six months after smoking. Exquisite hams with a spicy, smoky flavor are produced in the west of Asturias, particularly in the areas around Tineo and Ibias.
The smokiness of the pig meat produced in Asturias is one of the main attractions for many a virtue born out of necessity When it comes to sausage-making, this Atlantic region, once considered the poor house of Spain, holds its own.
BLOOD SAUSAGE
Even in pre-Christian times, pig and sheep blood was reputed to bestow exceptionally beneficial properties on those who ate it. Blood sausage began its triumphant advance in the Middle Ages and it is now an established feature of Iberian cuisine. Historically morcilla has simply been referred to as “sausage,” but nowadays it is almost always taken to mean blood sausage, In Catalonia and Andalusia, however, there are several types of morcilla blanca which, as the name suggests, are white because they contain no blood.
As a genuine blood sausage, morcilla, along with chorizo, is the main ingredient of many stews, such as the Asturian fabada or the Castilian cocido. Boiled or fried, dried or smoked, cold or hot, eaten alone or with other food, it goes best with a wide variety of vegetables, making it also suitable for stuffing bell peppers or cabbage leaves.
When a pig is butchered the blood must be used immediately to prevent it from thinning. To do
this, the warm blood is first stirred continuously. If the sausage is to contain pieces of meat, these ate coated in a mixture of spices. Apart from meat, blood, and bacon, the filling may contain a wide
variety of different ingredients: potatoes or squash, almonds or nuts, cinnamon or garlic, salt and/or
sugar. The western Asturian fiyuela blood sausage contains white beans, rice, and sugar. However, all blood sausages have one thing in common – they are boiled before being hung up to dry.
In the north they are frequently also smoked to make them keep longer, because the sausages have to last a whole year, until the next butchering ceremony On St. Martin’s Day, the cycle will begin again, and more sausages will be made.
Traditional Catalan Dish: Spanish Sausage, Spinach and Garbanzo Beans
I’ve included the recipe below, but if finding an authentic Spanish sausage is difficult in your neighborhood, there are several alternatives I trust you can use including, South American or German sausages. Enjoy!
PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 10 minutes
INGREDIENTS (SERVES 4)
60ml (1/4 cup) olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
one small onion
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground sweet paprika
1 x 400g can chickpeas, rinsed, drained
1 x 150g pkt baby spinach leaves
2 Tablespoons of raisins
Spanish Bull Negra or a sausage of your choice
1 Tablespoon of pinenuts
METHOD
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, sausage, cumin and paprika and cook, stirring, for 1 minute or until aromatic.
Add the chickpeas, raisins, pinenuts and spinach and cook, tossing for 2-3 minutes or until spinach wilts. Serve immediately.
Spanish Recipes with Bill & Sheila>/b>
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