Grilled chouriço, for a crispy and tender sausage

its history

It is a red-colored, horseshoe-shaped pork sausage that leaves a spicy sensation on the tip of the tongue. Very popular in the Spanish-speaking world, chorizo ​​​​is also popular in Portugal, from where it takes its name. chorizo. An emblematic food of Lusitanian culinary culture, chouriço is available in the west of the Iberian Peninsula in a wide variety of regional recipes. However, we distinguish four main families: the chorizo ​​meat (made from pork, lean or relatively fatty), the little by little (a type of smoked blood sausage), the onion chouriço EITHER of alhos (with onion or garlic) and the flour (to which wheat flour is added).

If we find sausages, cut into slices, in certain traditional dishes (feijoada, cozido, green broth), One of the most typical ways of eating it is to flambé it and roast it, whole, in brandy. To do this we use a chouriço grill. (chouriço sausage) : a small kitchen plate, made of glazed and decorated terracotta, crossed by three strips that act as a base.

Its use

It’s just after 1 p.m. and Ybaguay Quaresma rings the bell at the Comptoirs de Lisbonne pass, a family restaurant located on rue Faidherbe (Paris, 11).^my), specializing in Portuguese cuisine. When the waitress arrives at the small corner that overlooks the kitchen, the chef, originally from the Portuguese island of São Tomé and Príncipe, lights a lighter in the hollow of the chouriço grill. In a snap of his fingers, the grape pomace brandy that coats the bottom of the container, a bagaceira guard, It catches fire. The flames form above the plate: undulating, they lick the sausage (a chouriço from Quiaios, smoked with oak, cork oak and olive wood) from below.

The meat withstands the heat, makes a few crackling sounds and is immediately roasted. A pleasant smell, similar to that of a barbecue, suddenly fills the room. “The flambéed chouriço is generally consumed as a starter,specifies Ybaguay QuaresmaTo finish cooking it, and to prevent the fat from bursting through the casing, I first score the sausage with a few knife cuts before browning it on the grill. »

Once the flames have been extinguished, the chouriço is transferred to a wooden board for cutting. In the mouth, crunchiness alternates with meltedness, fat meets salty, spicy and smoky. The most daring will add a few drops of piri piri, a sauce made from sweet paprika, turmeric and cayenne pepper. All can be accompanied with a glass of ice-cold sparkling water or a cold Super Bock, the national beer.