Chistorra
Meat
Top 10 pairings
Chistorra (Basque: txistorra) is a thin, fast-cured pork sausage from Navarre and the Basque Country, dyed bright orange-red with paprika and packed into a narrow casing little wider than a finger. Barely aged, it is sold soft and fresh and almost always eaten fried or griddled, when it renders a fragrant red fat and crisps at the edges.
Picking a good onedrag
Cold, taut, deep paprika redSlimy, sour, grey-green or mouldy
Opened, in the fridgeEveryday bestFry or griddle short lengths until the paprika fat runs red and the surface browns. Take the centre to 70 C / 158 F for two minutes: minced meat is cooked right through.
The chill and the dateCold and sealed, the date now only days off
Casing and surfaceTaut, faintly moist from the pack, still clean
Colour along the coilEven red, a shade duller where the light reached
Smell at the endPaprika and garlic quieter, nothing sour under it