In this installment
Il Porcellino Chorizo Salami
Zamorano Sheep’s Milk Cheese
Marcona Almonds
Il Porcellino Chorizo Salami
Bill Miner and his team at Il Porcellino Salumi in Basalt, Colorado are cranking out downright delicious cured meats made from humanely raised heritage breed pork, including this chorizo. The Spanish-style salami gets its deep brick red color and sweetly smoky flavor from pimentón (Spanish paprika). There’s also a bit of garlic and oregano that complement the rich porkiness.
The chorizo is on the mild spice side, so it’s flavorfully spiced but not spicy-hot. It’s so delicious that just thinking about it makes my mouth water. Perfectly pairs with a glass of Garnacha and a wedge of Manchego cheese.
Note: the soft, patchy white mold on the outside is natural and perfectly safe. You can eat it or not, your choice!
Zamorano Sheep’s Milk Cheese
If Manchego is the cheese of Spain, Zamorano may be its attractive cousin from the country.
Made from the raw milk of Churra and Castellano sheep, the cheese is typical of the types found in Spain, a small drum of a wheel that, if you didn’t know, you might mistake for a Manchego. We’ve secured a batch aged for at least six months, twice as long as most Zamorano on the market. The extra aging concentrates the flavors.
Fruity, flaky and distinctly nutty, Zamorano has a slight saltiness in the finish that leaves your lips smacking for more.
Sheep’s milk
Unpasteurized (Raw)
Traditional rennet
Marcona Almonds
If Spain has a “national nut” it’s gotta be the marcona almond. No doubt you’re aware that almonds come in all shapes and sizes around the world and these almonds are unique in their own way.
We think of almonds from this country being very oval, sorta long and sorta plump, but not crazy big like a Brazil nut or sopmething. We like our almonds by the handful in the afternoon when more health conscious folks are looking for a punch of energy that’s not sugar or candybar related. Well, these marcona almonds can replace your normal dry roasted (slightly boring) every day almonds.
Marcona almonds are shorter, a bit squatier, and maybe a bit flat compared to the almonds we already know and love. They have a natural sweetness to them that’s really become their signature flavor. Most nuts don’t tend toward the sweeter side of things, but these do and that’s in no small part to how they are cooked. Whereas the almonds we more commonly know are roasted, marcona almonds are fried in olive oil. That’s the sheen you see on the nut and why it seems to grab and hold onto the salt so well. “Fried in olive oil” are four of my favorite words, especially for these nuts.
It’s the favorite nut of many Zingernauts. No doubt it will find a home in your pantry, too.