Claudia Romeo: Hola, from Sevilla, in Spain.
Today we're going to find out all about chorizo.
So, like many European countries, it was the Romans
that actually brought the art of making sausages to Spain.
And then, with time, it actually became
the chorizo that we know today.
And, actually, there is thousands of varieties
within the whole country of Spain.
So what we're gonna do today
is see how chorizo Ibérico is made,
which is a local variety here in Seville,
and also the finest variety
because it's made from a special breed of pigs.
Before seeing how it's made,
how do locals like to eat their chorizo?
Let's go and find out.
Claudia: Chorizo can be either fresh or dry-cured,
and apart from a standard base of lean pork and lean fat,
there are some different varieties.
You can get a chorizo blanco,
which is made with black pepper;
a sweet chorizo made with sweet or bittersweet paprika;
or a spicy chorizo made with spicy paprika.
Claudia: The variety that is most enjoyed in Andalusia
is the Iberian chorizo,
called so because it comes from a special breed of pigs,
the black Iberian pig, which roams freely
in the region's sierra.
Claudia: So, now it's time to see how chorizos are made.
And to do that we are at Lazo,
which is a company in Cortegana, in the province of Huelva.
And, here, we're going to see the making
of two different types of chorizos: the one with pimentón;
and the one without.
Claudia: Jamones Lazo makes from 7,000 to 8,000 kilograms
of chorizos per year.
The process starts with ground meat,
which is mixed by hand with the seasoning:
garlic, paprika, and salt.
After the meat is ground, it has to rest
for about 24 hours.
And afterwards, it's placed into tripe.
So, the process is all done by hand.
Just the only machine is this one
that actually pushes the meat into the tripe.
And, then, the following step
is to close the chorizo with a lace. All done by hand again.
Claudia: So, after the chorizo is placed in tripe
and is closed with a lace,
it's important that it's pierced
a few times to allow air into the meat;
otherwise, it would just implode.
And, actually, behind me, you can see.
These chorizos are, like, 10 minutes old,
but they have already different colors.
So the ones that are at the very end,
they're, like, one hour, a few hours old.
And then we get gradually
to the very, very new ones that were made five minutes ago.
You see the air coming in
and the chorizo starting to dry within minutes.
You can also the little pockets of air,
with the meat that starts come out
and the chorizo starts to breathe.
Claudia: And now back to Seville,
where it's finally time to try some chorizos!
We have here the one that is the sweet one,
so without the spice;
one that is milder;
and then one that is supposed to be, like, the strongest.
And also we have the actual pimentón.
I want to give it a try.
I'm not sure if I can yet handle it
because I'm not a spice person, to be honest.
But, you know, for the sake of discovery,
and for the sake of the video,
we are going to try.
So let's start from the mild one. Here you go.
This one is very good.
I like that it is dry but not yet too dry.
Like, sometimes when you have some dry sausages,
even the very common Italian salami
that myself as an Italian I'm used to,
are too dry and too salty.
That's the problem.
This one was quite a big bite,
but it wasn't salty at all.
It was so flavorful and meaty.
Okay, let's go for the mild spicy one.
So, this one is a bit less dry,
so as you can see it's a bit more meaty,
and there you can see the fat
that here is more shiny, in here.
Start to get the traces on it.
This one is so good.
I love this fatty, fatty texture that it has,
and all the oils from the fat.
But the real test is coming.
The real test is this one,
which is - this one that is the spicy version.
Let's have it.
There is a bit more spice in there.
I feel it, but it doesn't bother me,
like, my mouth is not burning.
It's nice, it adds flavor,
so it's really a milder spice.
And let's see, we have the source here,
which is the actual (laughs).
Let's try just a small bit, like, this much,
because they're telling me
from behind the scenes that this one's gonna be bad,
so very bad.
All right, all right, this one is spicy (laughs).
And this one, I'll suggest,
that you have it mixed with something else.
Just don't eat pimentón like this off the plate.
It's not good.
It smells good.
It smells smokey.
It smells like it comes from actual peppers,
which means that, at the end,
when you put in the chorizo,
you're gonna have a nice chorizo
that has nice seasoning on there.