On a recent chorizo expedition I ventured to Brindisa in Exmouth Market, home of the finest cooking chorizo in the land in my limited, eating-meat-for-less-than-one-year experience. I love it, the texture is soft, moist and spongy and the flavour rich. I eat far too much of it, in salads, with eggs for brunches, in pastas, on it’s own, wherever really! They sell mini chorizo and larger ones. I usually go for the mini chorizo, they’re less intimidating and if I got one of the big packets I would just have to eat the lot. Not a good idea!
So, off I went to Brindisa. I really like Exmouth Market. It’s got that village-y feel that places like Marylebone and Primrose Hill have. Lots of gorgeous places to eat like Moro and the Ambassador (I have yet to try but I have heard such good things from reliable sources) and the food market is on at the weekends. I wandered in to Brindisa and had a look around. My eye was taken by the ham. Four legs of ham in the window ready to be sliced. I was feeling carnivorous. I asked for some information on the hams, what pigs were they from, where were they from, annoying questions that were patiently answered. Two grabbed my attention – the one that moro use and the euskal txerria ham. I decided on the euskal txerria one. The euskal txerria pig is a rare breed recently saved from extinction in the Basque region in 1997 when only a few sows were left. It seems a mad concept, save a breed from extinction to kill and eat it. I had never heard of it before so asked that they write it down on the packet so that I could do my research after. Continue reading