Ponferradan cuisine

So I’ve had breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, and luncheon…I think I’m going for it!
Just have to do afternoon tea, dinner and supper! My afternoon tea was a McDonalds Coke Zero after hiking to a mall in 96F to get a replacement back up charger cord. Dinner was an apple. Ah but Supper was special. I ordered a dish called El Rey del Bierzo. Bierzo is the local agricultural and cultural region. For 17.50€ you get the dish El Rey del Bierzo which includes a special local sausage called Botillo del Bierzo, cabbage, garbanzo beans, potato and a piece of local chorizo. You also get a bottle of local red wine, dessert and coffee. The El Bierzo region, made up of 38 municipalities located to the west of the province of Leon (Castile-Leon), Spain. Botillo del Bierzo is a type of smoked sausage which is stuffed into pig’s cap (caecup), a large diameter pouch which is the beginning of the large intestine. The weight of Botillo del Bierzo averages 1 kg (2.2 lb).The required amount of rib meat 65-90%. The required amount of tail meat 10-20%. Trimmings from the following parts may also be incorporated: tongue, jowls, shoulder, backbone meat. Here’s the recipe:

Calories: 230

Servings: 10

Prep time: 72 hours

Cook time: 2.5 hours

Nutritional information
Meats Metric US
Pork ribs 700 g 1.54 lb
Bone-in pork tail 100 g 0.22 lb
Tongue 100 g 0.22 lb
Meat trimmings 100 g 0.22 lb
Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of meat

Salt 18 g 3 tsp
Cure #1 2.5 g 1-1/2 tsp
Pimentón, sweet 15 g 3 tsp. (Paprika, which comes from here!)
Pimentón, hot 10 g 2 tsp
Sugar 5.0 g 1 tsp
Oregano, rubbed 2.0 g 3 tsp
Garlic, minced 20 g 6 cloves
Instructions

Chop ribs and tails into 2 cm (3/4") pieces. The bones are not removed.
Chop finely other meats.
Mix salt, cure and all spices with meats. Place in a food grade bag in refrigerator for 12 hours.
Stuff firmly into pork bung.
Smoke with oak wood at 18° C (64° F) for 1 day.
Dry at 16-12° C (60-54° F) for 2 days.
Keep refrigerated.
This is a semi-dry product and must be cooked before serving.
Notes

Botillo weighing 1 kg (2.2 lb) is slow-cooked in pot for 2-2.5 hours. Green soups are added to pot 30 minutes before the end of cooking. Botillo del Bierzo is served in the center of a large clay pan with vegetables around.
Botillo del Bierzo carries PGI, 2001 classification.

I should also comment about the wine. This was the third time a bottle has been placed in front of me along with a glass and opened. I was kind of nervous….do I get one glass? Two? No one ever said. So I looked it up. In Spain, when wine comes with dinner, it’s a whole bottle. They do not charge by the glass or by portion of bottle (it’s considered rude). So if you want, you could try the whole thing. If there’s leftovers? That’s where Sangria comes from!Baca selengkapnya