This article is about the topic of Spanish sausage

As an enthusiastic amateur sausage maker, this is an exciting country for me. Because Spain has different climate zones.

Perhaps you are now thinking… What do climate zones have to do with sausage?

They lead to sausage being made in a wide variety of methods.

You can find air-dried sausages almost everywhere in Spain. In regions that are more humid and rainy (Galicia, for example) , the sausage is more often cold-smoked.

Sausages are generally called embutido in Spain. This term derives from the verb embutir, which means to stuff. This is because traditionally the meat mass is stuffed into natural casings or artificial casings when making sausages yourself

After this introduction, we come directly to an overview of different Spanish sausage…

Chorizo

Chorizo is probably the most famous sausage from Spain

It is an air-dried cured sausage and typically has a coarse texture. It is also often called paprika sausage. The reason for this is clear.

It is made with pork, garlic and a lot of paprika. And not just any paprika, but Pimenton de la Vera. This paprika is smoked over holm oak wood and is actually indispensable for real chorizo flavor.

You’ll find it almost everywhere in Spain. It is also widely used in Germany.

You can find my chorizo recipe here. You can also make it yourself at home.

Salchichón

Translated Salchichón means nothing else than sausage. It is a classic Spanish salami and very close in taste to its Italian or German relatives.

It usually consists of lean pork, beef and pork fat. The spices used are salt, pepper, nutmeg, cloves or coriander.

Of course, as with German salami, there are several variations. In addition to the spices, the variations also differ in the types of meat that are used.

Salchichón de Vic, for example, may only be produced in the plain of Vic. The designation is even protected throughout the EU

Salchichón de Aragón , for example, has liver incorporated in addition to the meat. Probably a reason why it is not so popular nowadays, unfortunately.

Salchicha

Salchicha also translates to sausage or bratwurst and that is exactly what it is

No air drying, no smoking, a classic fresh bratwurst as we know it in Germany.

It is comparable to the Italian variant Salsiccia. But it is thinner. And to be honest, there are many variations.

In Germany, not all bratwurst is the same. It is the same with the Spanish Salchicha.

Sobrasada

Typical Mallorcan. A red air-dried BUT spreadable raw sausage.

It is similar to chorizo because of its strong red color.

It is made with pork, back fat, salt, pepper and lots of paprika. It is then matured in special drying chambers but in such a way that it remains spreadable and does not become a hard sausage.

Who would have thought it, there are also different variations!

But it is important that the “Sobrasada de Mallorca” is again protected by the EU by its geographical location. So a sobrasada has to come from Mallorca.

Because it is so popular, it is naturally also gladly copied. Therefore, when buying always pay attention to the seal of quality and the correct designation.

Longaniza

The longaniza is a thin and long raw sausage. Besides Spain, this type of sausage is also found in many other Spanish-speaking countries (e.g. Argentina, Chile, Mexico)

It is the less reddish sister of the chorizo. This is mainly due to the fact that little to no paprika powder is used here. The focus here is often on strong black pepper.

Cloves, anise and mace are also often used spices. They taste different but at least as good as chorizo when eaten with tapas.

Chistorra

Chistorra is made from pork meat. It originates from the region of Navarra.

In addition to the pork, the sausage usually contains pork fat, garlic, salt, paprika and aromatic herbs such as parsley.

It is not air-dried for a long time, but is fried and served after a short 24-hour hanging period.

Chistorra is a thinner and more elongated sausage than chorizo. Diameter < 25 mm and length about 40 cm.

Its fat content is also usually much higher than a chorizo, which makes it excellent for flavoring savory dishes

Fuet

Fuet (Catalan for “whip”) is a thin, air-dried raw sausage from Catalonia in the far northeast of Spain. Fuet gets its name from its shape, which resembles a whip.

It is closely related to salami and is produced accordingly.

Made from pork, it is air-dried for up to four weeks.

Typical for this sausage is the comparatively soft consistency as well as the sweetish taste.

Morcilla

Morcilla is a Spanish blood sausage. It consists of pork, pork blood, fat, onions and rice as well as regionally different spices.

In contrast to German blood sausage, the taste is stronger, the consistency coarser and the fat content higher.

Due to its coarse mincing, white dots (greaves) can be seen in the cut in addition to the dark red color.

What makes the Morcilla special (as with the other sausages) are the different recipes in all parts of the country

Examples of special ingredients:

Andalusia: pine nuts

Aragón: anise

Canary Islands: raisins & almonds

So, like most sausages, it will taste different everywhere. But it will be delicious everywhere.

Morcón

The spherical chorizo. Same production with small differences.

Coarser and leaner meat is stuffed into blind casings with salt, pepper, garlic and paprika. Morcón is Spanish for appendix, hence the name.

It is made mainly in western Spain in Andalusia, Extremadura and the province of Salamanca.

The diameter of the sausage is much larger than that of a chorizo because of the appendix. This means that it has to be dried longer and has a softer consistency than a traditional chorizo.

Botifarra /Butifarra

Botifarra is another Catalan specialty. The sausage is classically made from lean pork with a low fat content. It is sold fresh or steamed and is excellent for frying or cooking.

It is seasoned almost exclusively with garlic, salt and pepper.

Of course, there are countless variations here as well:

Black botifarra: pig’s blood with in the sausage mass

Botifarra d’ou: With eggs

Botifarra de Arroz: Boiled rice

From the Girona area: Refined with honey & mushrooms

I hope you enjoyed this post and learned a few things about Spanish sausage.