Morcilla

Ingredients

Sausage mix

• 1 litrefresh pig blood, strained (with 1 tsp salt stirred in at collection to stop it clotting)
• 600 gpork back fat, cut into 5 mm dice
• 800 gonions, finely chopped
• 200 gcooked short-grain rice, optional but usual in the Buenos Aires style
• 22 gfine salt per kg of total mix
• 2 tspground black pepper
• 1 tspground nutmeg
• 1 tbspdried oregano
• 1 tspsweet paprika
• ½ tspground cloves
• 100 mlred wine

Casing

• 3m natural pork casing, 34 to 38 mm, rinsed and soaked 1 hr

To grill and serve

• coarse salt
• crusty bread
• chimichurri

Directions

1. Melt a quarter of the back fat gently and combine it, with the remaining diced fat, with the cooled onions, rice, wine and all the spices.
2. Strain the blood through a fine sieve to catch any clots, then fold it into the mix.
3. Fry a teaspoon in a pan and taste for salt and nutmeg: this is your only chance to correct it. Slide the soaked casing onto a wide funnel or a sausage stuffer and fill loosely, no more than three quarters full, because the mix expands as it sets.
4. Twist into 15 cm links and tie the ends.
5. Prick each link a few times with a fine needle, then lower them into water held at 80°C (175°F), never boiling, and poach for 30 to 40 minutes until a needle comes out clean rather than bloody and the internal temperature reads 75°C (165°F).
6. Lift them into iced water for 5 minutes to firm the fat, then hang or lay them on a rack in the fridge overnight; morcilla always tastes and slices better the next day. To serve at an asado, set the sausages on the coolest part of the parrilla over grey coals and grill 6 to 8 minutes a side, turning once, until the skin blisters and splits and the inside is hot through.

Technique

• Blood is a high-risk ingredient. Use it within 24 hours of collection from a licensed butcher, keep everything below 4°C (40°F) while you work, and take the poach to a verified 75°C (165°F) core.
• The 80°C (175°F) poach is the whole craft. A rolling boil bursts the casings and turns the blood grainy; too cool and the sausage never sets.
• Argentine morcilla is milder and sweeter than Spanish morcilla de Burgos, because there is more onion and less smoked pimenton, and it is grilled rather than fried.

Substitutions

• No natural casing: pack the mix into a wide collagen casing or into a lidded terrine and poach it in a bain-marie at 80°C (175°F) for 1 hour, then chill and slice.

Variations

• Morcilla dulce, the Argentine sweet version, adds raisins, walnuts and candied orange peel.
• Morcilla vasca, common in Buenos Aires butchers of Basque descent, is heavier on rice and leek.

History

Spanish in origin and made with onion, rice or spices; served with chorizo in the opening round of the Argentine grill.

Frequently asked questions

What is Morcilla?

Morcilla is a charcuterie & cured from Argentina: blood sausage grilled whole and spread on bread at the asado. Spanish in origin and made with onion, rice or spices; served with chorizo in the opening round of the Argentine grill.

How long does Morcilla take to make?

Morcilla takes 1 hr of preparation and 45 min poaching plus 15 min grilling of cooking. The recipe makes about 10 sausages (1.5 kg). It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Morcilla?

Yes, within limits. No natural casing: pack the mix into a wide collagen casing or into a lidded terrine and poach it in a bain-marie at 80°C (175°F) for 1 hour, then chill and slice.

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

Prick each link a few times with a fine needle, then lower them into water held at 80°C (175°F), never boiling, and poach for 30 to 40 minutes until a needle comes out clean rather than bloody and the internal temperature reads 75°C (165°F).