Authentic Chorizo
Comments:	Chorizo can be eaten as is, sliced or into a sandwich, simmered into apple cider or other strong alcoholic beverage such as Aguardente, barbecued or fried. Like breakfast sausage, it is used as an ingredient of other dishes. It can also be used to replace small portions of ground beef or pork. Spanish chorizo is made from coarsely chopped fatty pork and usually seasoned with chili powder, paprika and garlic. The mild Spanish paprika used gives this sausage its characteristic flavour. The Chorizo itself can be found as either picante [hot] or dulce [mild]. Only the spicy variety incorporates chiles guindillas secas [small dried hot chilies]. The Pamplona variety grinds the meat further. In some regions of Spain, such as Extremadura where the pork was for centuries basic for subsistence, a usual dish is huevos con chorizo [Spanish for 'eggs with chorizo']. This dish consists of fried chorizos in olive oil or pork fat accompanied with deep-fried eggs. The frying pan for the eggs must contain at least 1 1/3 inches [3 cm] of smoling oil or melted fat. The chorizo used for this dish is less cured so cannot be eaten without being cooked.
Ingredients	Preparation
2 pounds [900 g] ground pork 3 1/2 teaspoons [17.5 mL] salt 6 tablespoons [90 mL] pure ground red chile 6 to 20 small hot dried red chiles such as tepin, Thai dragon, pico de gallo or similar, crushed 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced 2 tablespoons [30 mL] dried oregano 2 teaspoons [10 mL] crushed whole cumin seed 1 teaspoon [5 mL] ground black pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons [7.5 g] sugar 4 tablespoons [60 mL] cider or wine vinegar 2 1/2 tablespoons [37.5 mL] water	Into a large bowl, separate ground pork into medium-sized pieces. Add all remaining ingredients. Mix using two forks until thoroughly and evenly mixed. With your hands and knead the mixture some more until it is completely mixed. Cover, refrigerate and leave mixture to cure for a couple days. You can use it immediately, but it always tastes much better after chorizo spices blend together. It will keep for approximately 2 weeks refrigerated. Unused portions can also be wrapped into small packages and freezen. It will keep for several months frozen. It can also be stuffed into casings and smoked like any other pork sausage.