Chorizo

If Top of the Pops still existed, and was a programme about cured meat, then not only would Catatonia’s Road Rage include the line “chorizo over the front page”, but also chorizo would be there or thereabouts at the top of the charts every Friday. We have taken to chorizo in the UK like almost nothing else, and you can see why. Spicy, savoury, versatile, and like many of the best cured meats, taking equally well to being cooked as being finely sliced and devoured.

There are Spanish and Portuguese versions of chorizo, with variations on the theme popping up globally wherever those countries once held sway. Cured chorizo is made in a similar way to other cured sausages, with the curing time giving way to smoking and air drying, and different amounts of drying time dictating whether the chorizo is better suited to cooking or as-is eating.