Butifarra

La sausage It is a small sausage that is prepared in Colombia with meat that can be pork, beef or veal, in some cases they combine these types of meat. Additives and seasonings are added that may be different according to the region where it is prepared. It is customary to consume it at parties and to accompany other dishes.

La sausage It is a very popular sausage along the entire Caribbean coast of Colombia, it is small and round in shape, its use is common at parties. It can be served as a starter or as a snack. The sausages They accompany various dishes, including legume stews such as beans, peas, among others. They are also eaten, accompanied by cassava bun.

It is also accompanied with rice, with pasta or with vegetables prepared according to personal tastes, with cassava bun. They can be opened by removing the casing and used to stuff aubergines or peppers, among other things. In addition to being a snack that is consumed by adding any sauce or simply lemon.

History of the sausage

La sausage It is of Spanish origin, specifically from Catalonia, where it was called botifarra, which means "cutting of sleeves". It used to be consumed at Christmas time with lemon and cinnamon. In Spain its consumption spread and suffered variations. Currently, there are several types of butifarras, there are called white, black to which blood is added in its preparation and also called fuets that are raw.

At the time of the conquest the sausage It was brought by the Spanish and stayed in Colombia, where its recipe underwent modifications and was adjusted to the tastes and ingredients of each region of the country. It is claimed that it was in the Colombian town of Soledad where the recipe for the Catalan sausage brought by the Spanish conquerors suffered the first important modification. Alone, they remove the original ingredients such as tomatoes and others and leave the pork and season it with local ingredients. From there it spread to other regions of the country, where in each one of them they adjusted the original recipe to their particular tastes.

In the Colombian coastal region and especially in Soledad, a town about 5 km from Barranquilla, they hold a festival of sausage where there are prizes for the best butifarra costumes and for the most exquisite butifarras. Also in this festival there are competitions that win whoever eats the greatest number of sausages.

the sausage It also arrived with the Spanish at the time of the conquest and stayed in many other countries in America such as Mexico, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. In each of these countries, the recipe that arrived suffered modifications and was modified according to the tastes of each region.

For example, in Paraguayan the butifarras They are present in all family barbecues and are commonly accompanied with cooked cassava. In Mexico, in the preparation of their sausages, they incorporate nutmeg, pepper, bay leaf, and in some places they add brandy. These ingredients make them have a particular flavor that identifies the sausages made in the country. Thus in each country it is given its touch that differentiates them.

Butifarra recipe

Ingredients

1 ½ pound of meat

½ pound chopped bacon

thin pork casing

Pepper to taste

Salt to taste

1 pinch of cinnamon

Lemon juice

Sausage preparation

1. Wash the inside and outside of the pig intestines well and soak them in lukewarm water with lemon or orange.
2. Chop half of the pork fat into very small cubes.
3. Grind the meat and the other half of the pork bacon and mix well.
4. In a container, mix the meat, the minced pork bacon, the pepper, the salt, the lemon juice and the cinnamon. They integrate well until a homogeneous mixture is obtained.
5. Drain the pork casings and tie one end and fill with the mixture obtained in the step described above and tie leaving the desired distance between one and the other.
6. The butifarras are cooked for 15 minutes in salted water in a pot. When putting the sausages to cook, the water must already be hot.
7. They are taken out of the water, they are punctured with a pin to remove the water while they are still hot because otherwise the water will not come out. They are then drained, allowed to cool and then refrigerated in cases where they are not going to be consumed that same day.

Tips for making delicious sausages

• Clean the external and internal pork casing very well, it is recommended to turn them over and let them soak in warm water with lemon. Also adding a splash of vinegar helps to avoid any contamination in the product.
• To fill the casings with the mixture prepared for the sausages, using a plastic bottle cut in half or with a funnel can help. Avoid stuffing the casing too much because it can break during cooking.
• Before cooking the butifarras poke them with a toothpick and when cooking the sausages do not cover the pot.

Did you know….?

the sausage It is a healthy and complete food, the meat it contains provides a high protein content. It also provides iron, magnesium, calcium, selenium, potassium, vitamin B12, zinc, thus helping the proper functioning of the body.

It tienes sausages When prepared, you can open them and use their contents to use them in the preparation of sauces and dishes that you can think of. In the kitchen it is nice to make modifications and taste. This is how a multitude of super tasty dishes have been created.

Yes when you prepare sausages, you have the option of choosing for this purpose one of the synthetic “guts” if you find them in your locality. There are different types, among which are mentioned: casings for sausages made with collagen that are very malleable and can be consumed without health problems, there are also those made with plastic, in this case it is healthy to remove the plastic at the moment from eating the sausages.