SMOKY CHORIZO

Of all the ingredients British cooks have embraced in the last 15 years – harissa, preserved lemons, sumac – Spanish chorizo must be the most popular. It is, after all, a sausage, but it’s also spicy, smoky, and it turns rice dishes a gorgeous russet colour.

Choosing chorizo isn’t as simple as you might think. There are thousands of variations, and it doesn’t come in just one form. Now, it’s made with pork, fat and spices, but in the past it was made with lamb, and sometimes game Fresh chorizo looks like raw sausage, but it’s usually cured for at least a few days. This firms the meat so it won’t disintegrate during cooking. Instead of slicing it, Spaniards sometimes remove the casing and crumble it by hand. It’s cooked like raw sausage, and used in dishes such as huevos a la flamenca – onion, garlic and tomatoes, baked with eggs.

Cured chorizo can be eaten like salami, but you can cook with it, too. It