Chorizo has become really popular in Britain in recent years, but it has long been available in France, as well as its native Spain, so it's an ingredient that we often buy at French farmers' markets and supermarkets, either to nibble in slices with pre-dinner drinks or to add an interesting smoky, spicy flavour in cooking.
I'd never tried English chorizo before though so I was really keen to see what we'd think of Three Little Pigs (love the company name !) Rare Breeds Chorizo. Before I got anywhere near tasting it, I was won over by the ethics and the quirky sense of humour. The packaging proudly states : "We promise our rare breed chorizos have all felt their snouts in the earth and the sun on their backs on our free range farm" !
That's not all though. They may end up with a sad end in chorizo and salami, but until then, their pigs have a very happy life on their farm in Yorkshire. The inner sleeve explains :
"Our pigs :
- are rare breed for flavour
-free range in the Yorkshire air
- consume no GM feed
- drink mineral water from our well
- are happy as pigs in muck (we hope !)
- all wear flat caps (OK, maybe not)" !
But enough of the cheeky quips and on to the chorizo. My first impression was that it doesn't have the huge chunks of fat that you see in all the chorizo that I've bought on the continent and that I always find a bit off-putting. The packaging explains : "We like to mince the pork more finely than our European cousins so it doesn't have the chewy bits". I must admit, I think it's an improvement.
Tastewise, it has the authentic chorizo taste that I was expecting with a lovely smokiness coming through as you chew and a nice amount of chilli heat coming through from the La Vera Smoked Pimenton. It's labelled as "moderately spicy" and it does have a fair kick - the Madhouse Mini-testers, who will happily munch their way through a plateful of mild French chorizo, found it too spicy for their delicate tastebuds. The grown-ups loved it though. There are less spicy options available too, which I will have to investigate !
star rating : 4.5/5
for more information : www.threelittlepigsonline.co.uk, facebook : www.facebook.com/threelittlepigsonline
or twitter @Rareflavour
Disclosure : I received the product in order to write an honest review.
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Gorgeous!
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