Meats and Sausages
Chouriço Mouro de Portalegre
A dark, smoked sausage form Portalegre region. In 711 the Moors (Mouro in Portuguese) invaded the Iberian Peninsula from North Africa and ruled the entire region until their expulsion in 1609. They have left their mark on Spanish flamanco music and local cuisine, including this sausage.
Chouriço Mouro de Portalegre carries PGI, 1997 classification.
| Materials | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Pork meat-head meat, hearts, kidneys, meat trimmings | 500 g | 1.10 lb |
| Pork belly, fat trimmings | 300 g | 0.66 lb |
| Bell peppers, fresh | 80 g | 3.0 oz |
| White wine | 60 ml | 2 oz fl |
| Water | 60 ml | 2 oz fl |
Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of materials
| Salt | 12 g | 2 tsp |
| Cure #1 | 2.5 g | 1/2 tsp |
| Paprika, sweet | 4.0 g | 2 tsp |
| Pepper paste | 50 g | 2 oz |
| Garlic, minced | 7.0 g | 2 cloves |
| Cumin or caraway seeds | 2.0 g | 1 tsp |
Instructions
- Pepper paste. Cut bell peppers lengthwise into halves. Discard stems and seeds. Get a suitable pan and sprinkle salt on the bottom. Place peppers on salt, then cover them with more salt. Repeat the procedure creating a multilayer combination with salt being the top layer. Hold for 8 days. Rinse with water, pat dry with paper towel and grind through 1/8” (3 mm) plate or emulsify in food processor.
- Make marinade by mixing salt, cure #1, spices, water and wine.
- Chop the meat and fat into 3/8” (10 mm) cubes.
- Marinate the meat and fat in marinade for 3 days in refrigerator or at <10° C (50° F).
- Mix pepper paste with marinated meat.
- Stuff firmly into 36 mm hog casings. Tie the ends together to form a loop.
- Apply a thin cold smoke at 18° C (64° F) for 7 days. Smoking need not to be continuous, as long as the temperature inside of the smokehouse stays below 18° C. Think of the process as drying with smoke. The sausage is smoked with oak.
- Store at 12° C (54° F), 70% humidity.
