@freemo and anyone interested in Culture and Great Food. :)

From a letter I wrote to a pen pal, my impressions on the theme of Chouriço versus Chorizo.

Portugal and España are neighbours, but Portugal was a country since around 1130 -- when the rest of Ibéria was a patchwork of small kingdoms and Moorish domains.

------[ Forwarded Letter segment ]------

Chouriço is indeed a bit different from the Spanish Chorizo - I had found a great website once that explained it quite well, will search in a minute and see if I can locate it again for you.

In my own words, I would say, comparing the examples I bought and ate along during my bicycle trip in Portugal and Spain in 2017 :

- The Spanish one has an intense red tone inside it, I think it get a load of Pimentón during fabrication.
- The Portuguese one was available in different variations at the supermarkets; some with Wine, some with Onion, and a number of other variants. I did find the Spanish ones a bit more fatty, at least the ones I purchased; the Portuguese ones you could see chunks of meat inside and the ocassional white fat blob, but it wasn't spread out in the whole sausage as in the Spanish case.

I did prefer the Portuguese ones, because it seemed more artisanal and tasted better.

Looked around and I did not find that exact page I had seen, which had some well explained diferences. But Wikipedia has a good page for Chorizo, which includes regional varieties, including Portugal -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorizo

I liked this answer I found at a Quora page, written by a Portuguese, which confirms my impressions :

"André Braga, Portuguese - represented Portugal in the Youth European Parliament 2011
Answered Oct 20, 2015
Originally Answered: How do Portugese and Spanish chorizo differ?

There are quite a few differences. I will compare chouriço (PT) with chorizo (ES) from a Portuguese perspective (as I am Portuguese).

Chouriço VS Chorizo:

Chouriço has a stronger wine flavor;
Chouriço is normally darker and less bright;
Chouriço has a stronger flavor (but normally less spicy);
Raw cold Portuguese chouriço is very flavorful.

I love both chouriço and chorizo. As a piece of advice - you pay what you get. Go for the good quality ones and you will have an amazing experience regardless of the one you chose :)"

From: https://www.quora.com/How-do-Portuguese-chouri%C3%A7o-and-Spanish-chorizo-differ

I located a really good photo, attaching here, which shows what I expect to find in a good Portuguese Chouriço - leaner meat, some odd chunks of fat here and there, in moderation. A smoked look, and dried. This would be ready to be eaten as a snack or light meal, it's great with some wine and good bread, maybe even some cheese. :)

----[ forwarded letter segment ends ]-----

#Portugal #Food #Gourmet #EU #Culture #Iberia #Travel #yummy

@design_RG From my expiernce the protugese ones are usually sold as a cured meat, similar to pepperoni in america in that sense (much better though).

Mexican chorizo though, despite being based off the spanish stuff, is never cured. Its a raw meat sausage you have to cook. So its a significant departure.

Despite the difference you can taste some similar flavors IMO.