Botifarra

Ingredients

Botifarra crua, the fresh sausage

• 1.2 kgpork shoulder, diced and well chilled
• 300 gpork back fat, diced and well chilled
• 24 gfine salt, 1.6 per cent of the meat weight
• 4 gcoarsely ground black pepper
• 1 gground white pepper
• ½ tspgrated nutmeg (optional)
• 50 mldry white wine, chilled
• natural hog casings, about 2.5 m, soaked and rinsed

Botifarra negra, the blood version

• 600 gcooked pork head meat and jowl, diced
• 300 gpork fat, diced
• 400 mlfresh pig’s blood, strained
• 18 gsalt
• 4 gblack pepper
• 1 tspground cinnamon
• 1 pinchground cloves
• wide hog casings

To cook and serve

• vine cuttings or hardwood charcoal
• a little olive oil
• white beans stewed with olive oil, and allioli, to serve

Directions

1. Chill the diced pork and fat almost to freezing, along with the mincer parts, so the fat cuts cleanly instead of smearing.
2. Mince the meat and fat together through a coarse 8 mm plate; botifarra is a rustic sausage and should show visible flecks of white fat, not be a smooth paste.
3. Mix in the salt, peppers, nutmeg and the chilled wine by hand for 2 minutes, until the meat turns tacky and just begins to bind. Do not overwork it or the texture goes rubbery.
4. Fry a small patty, taste it, and adjust salt and pepper now, because seasoning cannot be corrected once the mixture is in the casing.
5. Stuff into the soaked hog casings without air pockets, keeping the fill loose enough that the sausage yields under a finger, then twist into 15 cm links and prick any bubbles with a fine needle.
6. Hang the links in the fridge, uncovered, for 24 hours; this short dry rest firms the surface and lets the pepper and wine permeate the meat.
7. For the blood version, simmer the head meat until tender, dice it, mix with the fat, blood and spices, stuff into wide casings and poach at 80°C (175°F) for 45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean and the sausage floats. Cool it fully before use.
8. Light a fire of vine cuttings and let it burn down to grey embers, which give the low, aromatic heat this sausage is traditionally cooked over.
9. Grill the fresh sausages 15 cm above the embers for 15 to 20 minutes, turning every few minutes, until the skin is blistered brown and the juices run clear at 72°C (160°F) inside; blood sausage needs only 5 minutes a side to heat and crisp.
10. Rest 3 minutes and serve with white beans dressed in olive oil, or in a slab of country bread with allioli.

Technique

• Botifarra crua is a fresh, uncured sausage with no nitrite and no fermentation. Keep it refrigerated, cook it within three days or freeze it, and always cook it right through.
• Salt at about 1.6 per cent, coarse black pepper and a splash of wine is the whole seasoning. Catalan and Andorran cooks resist adding garlic or paprika, which would turn it into a different sausage.
• Grill low and slow. Fierce heat splits the casing, the fat drops into the fire and the sausage dries out; embers rather than flames are the point.
• Fresh blood must be used the day it is collected and kept below 4°C (40°F), or the blood sausage will spoil; if you cannot get it, buy the botifarra negra ready-made.

Substitutions

• No vine cuttings: hardwood charcoal with a handful of soaked vine or oak chips gives a close approximation of the aroma.
• No casings: shape the mixture into thick patties and grill them the same way, accepting a firmer texture.

Variations

• Botifarra blanca is poached rather than grilled and eaten cold in slices.
• Botifarra d’ou, made with beaten egg in the mix, is a Carnival speciality in the Pyrenees.
• Botifarra amb mongetes, grilled sausage with white beans, is the standard mountain plate in Andorra and Catalonia.

History

Catalan sausage-making descends from the Roman botulus; Andorra and the Catalan Pyrenees make both the fresh white and the blood botifarra negra.

Frequently asked questions

What is Botifarra?

Botifarra is a charcuterie & cured from Andorra: fresh Catalan pork sausage grilled over vine cuttings, or the blood version. Catalan sausage-making descends from the Roman botulus; Andorra and the Catalan Pyrenees make both the fresh white and the blood botifarra negra.

How long does Botifarra take to make?

Botifarra takes 1 hr plus 24 hr resting of preparation and 20 min grilling of cooking. The recipe makes about 1.5 kg, 8 sausages. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Botifarra?

Yes, within limits. No vine cuttings: hardwood charcoal with a handful of soaked vine or oak chips gives a close approximation of the aroma. No casings: shape the mixture into thick patties and grill them the same way, accepting a firmer texture.

What is the most important thing to get right in Botifarra?

Chill the diced pork and fat almost to freezing, along with the mincer parts, so the fat cuts cleanly instead of smearing.