a guide to eating chorizo

photo courtesy of Patricia Jinich

Patricia Jinich is one of our favorite food people. She teaches cooking classes, writes about food, and is the head chef for the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington D.C. When she writes messages about food on Twitter, she leaves us hungry. (”Just came back from a dinner, and I am still hungry. Will make some late night quesadillas. With ripe avocado. And Chipotles.”) She embraces the food of her culture, as well as great sushi and spaghetti and meatballs for her kids.

Basically, we want to hang out at her house.

Her recipe for Chiles in Nogada leaves us a little breathless. We want some, now. (And if you would like to attempt more of Pati’s recipes, click onto her website, Pati’s Mexican Table.)

You can imagine, therefore, how excited we were this week to see Patricia’s column on the beauties of chorizo show up in the Washington Post. With an opening like this, it has to be good:

“Right off the bat, you must understand: I heart chorizo. Especially the kind I grew up eating in Mexico. It comes in deep-burnt-reddish links of fresh, moist, exotically seasoned ground meat that, once fried, becomes crisp and filling bites with bold flavors and a thousand uses.

My oldest son’s quick choice for breakfast is chorizo fried just until it browns and crisps, with a side of white toast. Add some lightly beaten eggs as the chorizo is starting to brown and some ripe and creamy avocado slices on the side, and that’s my kind of rich-tasting brunch dish. Of course chorizo is delicious in sandwiches, in tacos and quesadillas, on top of enchiladas, in mashed potatoes, as a topping for heartier salads, in some of the tastiest bean dishes I have tried, in pastas with a ton of personality and on pizzas with pickled jalapeño peppers on top.

I am really trying to stop myself here.”

You really should go read the piece for yourself. Patricia has so much to teach us about the history of chorizo and different variations in this spicy, fatty wonderful pork sausage.

We can only hope that, if we ever meet Patricia, she cooks us something that has been simmering on the stove for hours, a recipe from her family, food deeply familiar to her, and something with chorizo.