Txistorra (Pork Belly Chorizo)
$30.00
To speak of the origin of the chistorra (txistorra) is to speak of the Navarre region in Spain. This rich sausage has a characteristic reddish colour and smoky paprika flavor and is made from a mixture of craft skills and history. The txistorra popular in a main meal or as an appetizer or snack.
It has been a tradition since ancient times pig farming has allowed many families and cities in Spain and its autonomous regions to obtain quality proteins and this is where the origin of chistorra comes from.
The txistorra or chistorra comes from the Basque term longaniza. It is a sausage of Basque-Navarrese and Aragonese origin. It is made with fresh minced pork meat, garlic, salt, aromatic herbs such as parsley and a good amount of paprika this gives it it’s characteristic colour and flavour.
Traditionally in Spain and as with today’s gourmet products every part of the butchered animal is used. In Guipúzcoa, due to climatic and or economic reasons, the pork slaughter was carried out shortly before the arrival of winter. In some localities like Lodosa in the Basque country the txistorra is usually made with the meat and lung of the pig.
In the Aragones and Navarra region of the Pyrenees the txistorra is made only with the pork meat. In Jaca’s Fields they have another variety made from the liver, and other remains of the pig, which is called arbiello, a word in Aragonese that means esophagus, since it is where the ingredients are stuffed.
In the province of León, the Chistorra de León is prepared, and is made with greater quantities of beef. Nowadays it is usually sold fresh, but increasingly you can buy it vacuum packed in a spiral shape in any of the Spanish supermarkets.
The txistorra has a characteristic flavour is very tasty and high in fat. It is usually eaten fried or roasted and is usually served as a midday dish in Madrid with “broken eggs and potatoes”.
Tasting themes: Fried with apple cider and served with quality crusty bread, grilled whole in its spiral shape, in pinchos or with t fried broken eggs on top of roasted potatoes.
