Monday 3 August 2015

Spanish sprouts

I don’t know if the Spanish actually eat sprouts but if they do, I’m sure this is how they would cook them.

Last Christmas I saw Mary Berry pan fry sprouts with pancetta, tried it, thought it a great idea but decided that using chorizo would be better, and it is.

Chorizo is one of the most exciting ingredients ever;  it has the ability to utterly transform anything to which it’s added.  It adds a delightful splash of colour, reminiscent of  cranberries, a wonderful flavour, and the hot version packs a powerful punch.  I can’t think of much that wouldn’t be improved by its addition.

I add it to a potato omelette or any dish involving fried potatoes, ANY green vegetable (not just sprouts), beef mince dishes – think of it as a more exotic kind of alternative to bacon or pancetta.

Or just slice it thinly and nibble it with a glass of wine or serve it on thin slices of French bread.

But just one thing, please, oh PLEASE, pronounce it ‘choritho’ like the Spanish, and never ‘choritso’, which would be OK if it were Italian or German, but it’s not.  And you can’t justify it by saying it’s how it’s pronounced in English  – there are no words in the English language where a ‘z’ is pronounced  ‘ts’.  We don’t, for example got to see the animals at the tsoo, or see what’s on TV by looking in the Radio Times magatsine.

If you can’t manage ‘choritho’, try ‘choriso’ (like the Portuguese), or if you have to pronounce it in English, it’s ‘choriZZZZZZo’  (but 1 Z will suffice, thanks!), but NEVER ‘choritso’ (unless you’re Italian, German, or just very pretentious!