Which Spanish chorizo sausage to buy?
Gastronomic Spain offers you the largest variety of chorizo in Europe, both types Iberian and Serrano. Enjoy the most representative chorizos from the different regions of Spain. Both fresh and cured. In Vela, horseshoe, string and vacuum-sliced formats.
Chorizo is a type of traditional sausage typical of Spain that is characterised by the stuffing of lean pork and pork fat seasoned with paprika.
It is a very representative product of Spanish gastronomy and has a great international reputation. In each region of Spain it is made in a different way, depending on the thickness, the curing process and the seasoning used.
Chorizo is the most popular and international Spanish sausage. A Spanish product that needs no translation. If we open our fridge we will almost certainly find several different types of chorizo or Spanish dishes containing chorizo. If this is not your case, that's what Gastronomic Spain is here for.
At Gastronomic Spain we offer a wide variety of chorizo, with free delivery throughout Europe. Our offer of chorizo ranges from artisan products, made by local companies to the main brands in the sector. These products are very difficult to find abroad, essential in your pantry if you like to enjoy Spanish food.
If you love chorizo, but now that you live outside Spain, you can't find it anywhere. I encourage you to buy pork chorizo online in our online shop. If you like all kinds of sausages, I encourage you to visit the Spanish sausages that we have in the online shop.
Types of Spanish chorizo you can buy according to their characteristics
As we have already mentioned, Spain produces a wide variety of chorizo sausages. Here we are going to explain the characteristics that differentiate some chorizos from others.
Buy Spanish chorizo according to how it is made
How is chorizo made? Chorizo is made from pork meat, and spices such as paprika and in some cases garlic and even a reduction of wine. The pork mixture consists of bacon or fat and lean meat. The proportion between fat and lean will determine the quality of the chorizo.
Pork chorizo has that characteristic red colour given to it by the paprika. The spices are the main differentiator between traditional sausages such as: Salchichón, longaniza and chorizo.
Depending on the type of chorizo to be made, the meat is minced and spiced in one way or another. Traditionally, the pork was minced with a knife and kneaded by hand in a basin and then passed through the 'acapoladora', where the chorizo was stuffed into the pork casing.
Chorizo in natural or artificial casings
Quality chorizo sausages are usually made from natural casing. Natural casing is obtained from the pig's own intestine. However, in an attempt to make the product cheaper, an artificial but edible casing has been developed to replace the natural casing. It is used in fresh chorizos in which the skin of the chorizo is not particularly prominent.
The fact that the casing is natural does not mean that it is edible. In order to stuff chorizos with natural casing, intestines from different parts of the animal itself are used. In general, the skin of chorizo sausages made from the smallest part of the intestine can be eaten. On the other hand, you cannot eat the skin of chorizos that are made with the skin of the thicker intestine, as is the case of cular chorizos, as it is thicker and coarser and much harder.
Buying Spanish Style chorizo Sausage according to its curing process
Depending on the curing we want to give to the chorizo, we will differentiate between fresh chorizo, cured chorizo and cured chorizo.
- Cured chorizo: cured chorizo is considered to be chorizo that has dried out so much that it has lost all its water.
- cooking spanish chorizo: we consider fresh chorizo or soft chorizo to be chorizo that has been stuffed and is ready for consumption.
- Chorizo Oreado: A chorizo is considered to be "oreado" when it has undergone a short curing process, in which the skin and the surface of the chorizo have hardened slightly, but inside it is soft.
Cured chorizo does not need to be cooked to be consumed, whereas fresh chorizo or chorizo oreado must be cooked to be consumed.
Buying chorizo according to the paprika it is made with
When choosing a chorizo, the first thing to do is to determine its flavour, i.e., do we want a sweet chorizo or a spicy chorizo. The taste that the chorizo gives us is fundamental. Sweet chorizo is obtained from the sweet paprika used in its preparation. While the spicy paprika gives that taste to the spicy chorizo.
Buying chorizo according to the breed of pig
One of the aspects that will most determine the quality and flavour of a chorizo is the feed and the breed of pig it comes from. We will differentiate between two main breeds, chorizo from white pigs and chorizo from Iberian pigs.
White pork chorizo
Although this type of chorizo includes all non-Iberian breeds. In general, the most common breeds used to make these chorizos are the Duroc, Landrace and Large White breeds.
These animals are fed on natural feed and cereals.
Iberian pork chorizo
We consider as Iberian chorizo all chorizos obtained from Iberian breed pigs with at least 50 % Iberian.
The breed will not determine whether one chorizo is better or not than another, as there are regions in Spain that produce excellent chorizos.
However, Iberian pork has a special flavour and provides a series of benefits that the white pig does not have, such as its high percentage of oleic acid, which is inherent to the genetics of this animal.
The flavour is due to the breed of pig and the natural foods on which they have been fed, such as acorns and natural pastures. These pigs usually live in the wild, except for the Iberian bait pig, which is usually bred in captivity.
Buying Spanish chorizo according to its shape
There are countless types of chorizo, depending on the shape of this sausage, we can differentiate between:
Sarta de chorizo or chorizo horseshoe:
The chorizo in the shape of a string or horseshoe is characterised by the fact that it is joined with a loop at the ends. It is about 40-50 cm long. It is usually a cured chorizo. One of the best examples is the chorizo from León. Although we can also find chorizo that has to be cooked, such as chorizo from Extremadura.
Chorizo cular:
Chorizo cular is a type of chorizo made with natural pork casing from the large intestine of the pig. It is a type of cured chorizo, usually used to stuff Iberian pork. Although the casing is natural, it cannot be eaten, as it is hard and indigestible.
It is up to 1 metre long and has an average thickness of about 6-7 cm. It has different thicknesses due to the irregularities of the casing with which it is stuffed.
Chorizo vela:
Chorizo vela or velita is a small chorizo sausage with a shape similar to that of a candle. It has an average length of about 25 cm, although it can measure up to 50 cm. It is between 3 and 5 cm thick. It is usually stuffed into synthetic casing and is therefore not edible.
Chorizo ristra:
Chorizo sausages in string format are those which are no longer than 15 cm and are joined together by the same casing. At the same time, they are knotted and tied together by a thin string to separate them from each other.
They are handmade chorizos, stuffed in natural casing, and can be up to several metres long. They are chorizos of an average thickness of about 3 cm, and are usually fresh or cured, so they need to be cooked before consumption. There are some cured chorizos that come in this format, as is the case of the Cantimpalos chorizo, which is thicker than the rest.
Buy hunting chorizo
In the most rural areas, where hunting is practised, you can usually find chorizos made with wild boar or deer meat. They are excellent products, not very fatty as they are animals that due to their genetics have little fat, which makes it necessary to mix the lean meat of these wild animals with pork fat to provide juiciness.
They are cured chorizo sausages, ideal for snacking or as a sandwich.
Buy vegan chorizo
vegan chorizo is a product that seeks to satisfy the demand of consumers who decide not to eat animal products but who want the traditional flavours of their childhood. The vegan chorizo or calabizo is a certified organic sausage made with pumpkin, paprika and extra virgin olive oil. It is a 100% vegetable chorizo stuffed into a synthetic casing. It is necessary to cook it to eat it and the synthetic casing must be removed, as it is not edible.
Brands of Spanish chorizo in our shop. The spicy Spanish sausage
Chorizo is a very popular sausage, which is made, with its own character, in all the regions of Spain. In Gastronomic Spain we have a wide representation of chorizo sausages from all over Spain, many of them handmade by local companies and others made by big commercial brands, such as: Tello, Revilla, Palacios, La Pamplonica, Brizio, Palcarsa and many more.
We also offer you chorizos with quality certificates, such as PGI, Denominations of Origin or brands with their own excellence. When selecting the chorizos, at Gastronomic Spain we give priority to quality and know-how, together with the value of the brand and nostalgia. We offer chorizo sausages of the main brands, impossible to find abroad.
What to accompany chorizo with? Our recommendations
