Meats and Sausages
Botagueña
Botagueña, also known as tarángana in Castilla la Vieja, güeña in La Nueva, virica in Navarra, is a blood sausage made with encallado (pieces of lungs, heart or stomach), which is also called offal meat. Botagueña, unlike typical blood sausages, is not cooked after stuffing. The sausage is smoked, dried and stored in cool well ventilated room and is characterized by its long shelf life.
| Meats | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Pork fat, fat trimmings | 300 g | 0.66 lb |
| Pork lungs, heart, stomach | 550 g | 1.21 lb |
| Pork blood | 150 ml | 5 oz fl |
Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat
| Salt | 28 g | 4.5 tsp |
| Cure #1 | 2.5 g | 1/2 tsp |
| Pimentón, sweet | 25 g | 4 Tbsp |
| Pimentón, hot | 2.0 g | 1 tsp |
| Red pepper or cayenne | 1.0 g | 1/2 tsp |
| Cinnamon | 0.5 g | 1/4 tsp |
| Anise | 0.3 g | 1/8 tsp |
| Cilantro, ground | 0.5 g | 1/4 tsp |
| Oregano, ground | 1.0 g | 1/2 tsp |
Instructions
- Cook lungs, heart and stomach until soft. Cool and grind through 5 mm (1/4") plate.
- Grind fat through 5 mm (1/4") plate.
- Mix meat, fat and all ingredients together. Hold for 24 hours in refrigerator.
- Stuff into 32 mm pork casings.
- Apply a thin cold smoke 18° C (64° F) for 10 days. Traditionally, the sausage was hung above the wood fired kitchen stove where it acquired different flavors and smoke from everyday cooking.
- Dry at 12-15° C (53-59° F), 75-85% humidity for 2 weeks.
- Store in cool, not humid and well ventilated place. The sausages keep well for up to 6 months.
Notes
Botagueña is not cooked. It is dried/smoked for 3-4 weeks.
