Hello. I recently received a number of Spanish charcuterie products, and I am currently seeking for the best ways to prepare, pair and serve them. It seems that english-language sources for these methods are very scarce, and almost all limit themselves to plainly stating "as tapas" or "on bread". These are all delicious choices, but very limited in variety. As such, I wanted to ask for actual recipes in which to use these.
The meats I received were: pepper-coated secallonas of black, red and mixed variety, jamon of serrano oro, plain jamon, chorizo, salchichon and lomo embuchado of iberico, and plain unlabeled salchichon, lomo and chorizo.
The amount I received is so generous that I will have to not only feed my friends with it, but also to invent actual dinner entrees of it to avoid spoilage. As such, I have to apologetically request for your help.
The reason all the responses are "as tapas" or "on bread" is because these meats are intended to stand on their own, with simple accompaniments. They are not meant for complex preparations. For fuck's sake, even the term "charcuterie" should clue you in. When you look at a charcuterie section of a shop you're going to see that it's pretty much all meats, cheeses, mustards/sauces, pickles, olives and other simple savory snacks that are supposed to be a part of a simple spread for everybody to choose from.
Croatia here, saying that so you know I have no experience with Spanish charcuterie products but rather with Croatian.
The best way to eat charcuterie products is with bread or nothing. I see that you have already found that out so I'm just gonna throw some ideas that I know can work.
>pasta with [insert charcuterie products here]
>stews with [insert charcuterie products here]
>fried [insert charcuterie products here] as a replacement for meat, usually the chorizo is used for this
I don't think there are other "good" recipes because personally I think it is a waste to use charcuterie products in other meals. Hopefully you did get some ideas from this.
>>7082822
Yes, thank you for your time for noting that, as it is an important distinction. But here I am specifically looking for methods of preparation including them. For example, flamenquines cordobeses, which I found shortly after making the original post.
>>7082834
Nuts, I forgot the picture again.
>>7082825
Mmm. I think I'll use a fair deal of the chorizo in pasta, as an addition to carbonara. I think I'll take a slice of that lomo, and fry it lightly on the pan, to see how it changes.
>>7082891
>as an addition to carbonara.
Now you've fucking done it...........
>>7082894
Eh? How so? I picked the recipe from Jamie Oliver's site, so I thought it would make sense.
>>7082926
Jamie Oliver is a shit chef. Very little of what he says makes sense.
>>7082938
I've had good results with many of his recipes, roasts in particular. British as he is. I do not understand his olive oil habit though.
>>7082891
The chorizo is used in stews not mixed with pasta even though it can be but I wouldn't recommend it. I meant that you can use other products with your pasta as in jamon and lomo. Talking out of my own experience.
>>7083216
For now, I've decided to bake a batch of rolls filled with lomo or salchichon, cheese, and maybe olives or sun-dried tomato. The chorizo is plentiful, so it will likely be used in a number of applications, pasta included.
The chorizo is certainly the strongest character in this lot, so I'm sure stewing will be a good choice. I'm going to get some venison later this month, now that I think of it, so that would be an interesting pairing.
>>7082834
I'm Spanish and I had never heard of that dish.
I agree with the rest, eat it on its own or with bread.
Prepare some other tapas if you want to have a "cooked" meal. I recommend croquetas. Ham and chorizo are common in the filling (not lomo though).
I'm a Spaniard, and unfortunately as said before the best way to eat embutidos is usually alone, or my favorite with good bread which usually helps dim a bit the strength of some meats but can still contribute to the overall taste, like some pain campagnard of de sarment, if you can find some good black olive bread I definitively recommend it.
If not there's still some ways to use them but usually non-cooked as it destroys the flavor and usually rends the meat hard to chew which is disgusting,I tried frying some thick lomo slices like OP's pic for breakfast and it was difficult to eat, even with a hangover. Jamon I've tried putting it on top of a capresse salad, really improves it. Inside a grilled cheese sandwhich too but the cheese usually masks a lot of the taste so so-so. Also with pasta, like raviolis with pesto.
Chorizo is actually pretty good for stews or similar. I usually eat it with lensils which is a pretty common plate in spain. Same with chickpeas. You can also lightly fry it and serve as a side dish, per example with eggs.
Salchichón is never cooked and marries not that well with other stuff so alone or with bread. It's a shame because spanish salchichón is usually not that great, leave that to the french or the italians.
Secallonas definitively alone or with bread, it's like a better salchichón usually.
Also of course they all go great in sandwiches but that's a given.
>>7082804
Chorizo can be cubed up added to a white wine, parmigianno and zuchini rizotto it's delicious!!
Take 100g or so of Chorizo and a shallot. Chop both. Sauté at a medium temp in some oil with a bay leaf, till the shallot is soft and the Chorizo is browning. Add a glass of Rioja (or full-bodied red.) At this point it's best to leave it, preferably overnight in the fridge once cool, but either way works.. Reduce the wine over a low heat and serve with some bread.
Absolutely delicious. Doesn't need garlic, or salt, or anything else really, apart from perhaps some chilli flakes to taste depending on how spicy the chorizo is.
For the jambon and serrano - you can probably substitute for recipes where parma ham is called for - they are very similar.
I'm with the Croatian anon though in that these things should really be eaten alone or with bread. I find even butter or cheese tends to overpower the subtle flavours.
I don't see why you couldn't freeze stuff you aren't going to use right away, but they should keep quite a while in the fridge! I personally wouldn't have to worry about spoilage unless we are talking seriously wholesale quantities.. Too easy just to graze on these things.
