Little can be discovered about the excellence of Salamanca when it comes to talking about the Iberian pig. However, ham, loin, salami, morcón or head meat share a porcine flag when Rodrigo City, a village near the border with Portugal, makes an appearance.
Barely an hour’s drive from the city of Salamanca (via the A-62), Ciudad Rodrigo is famous for its Carnival of the Bull (which mixes carnival and bullfighting traditions), for its historical past during the Napoleonic Wars (reputed for its two Sites) and for the architecture that emblazones the city, full of Renaissance palaces that belonged to important local nobles. But the city not only boasts of history, but also its most renowned sausage: the farinato.
Called ‘poor chorizo’ due to the simplicity of its elaboration and humility of its ingredients, this culinary flag has quenched hunger in Campo Charro since time immemorial, even becoming somewhat ostracized as the need dwindled.
However, this simple sausage recipe has become the local gastronomic emblem, so much so that since 2007 it has had a guarantee mark with the name ‘Farinato de Ciudad Rodrigo’.
A merit that even allows the inhabitants of the city, whose name is mirobrigenses, they are called in a common and colloquial way as ‘farinatos’.
The farinato, the ‘chorizo’ of the poor
To understand farinato, it is necessary to put oneself in the situation of a Castile of scarcity and exploitation, even in an area prodigious in pork, and move back a few hundred years. In fact, the etymology of the word with the initial efe, It gives proof of the remote origins in old Castilian of the elaboration, whose participation of the flour is fundamental.
As in so many recipes, the origin of the preparation is entirely lost for centuries, but the reality is that the DRAE gives a clue about this peculiar sausage: “sausage of bread kneaded with lard, salt and pepper”.
A reality similar to what the guarantee mark of Farinato de Ciudad Rodrigo explains, where the ingredients to understand this reddish sausage are very varied and where, to the taste of the producer, they can change in more or less quantity.
Iberian pork fat, breadcrumbs, flour, lean pork and a good collection of spices are the bases, although in the latter the paprika, garlic and anise (or matalahúva) stand out. Furthermore, it is also common add a pinch of brandy to the dough.
Converted into a key sustenance for the less wealthy classes, farinato allowed the remains of the slaughter, stale bread or flour to be converted into a nutritious form of food, well endowed with calories.
From shepherd to plate
Farmers and shepherds thus erected farinato as a key point of their diet. Not very demanding in the preparation, after mixing all the dough well, the farinato was stuffed into pork casing —currently it is also made in synthetic casing— and is left to cure for at least ten or twelve days, before being hung in cellars and kitchens.
already assembled, the exterior color of the farinato is a light tile tone and the shape is elongated, in the form of a cylindrical string —more or less thick or short, depending on the producer— and it is essential that the casing is well attached to the dough, always very tied and uniform, without any presence or cavities or pieces of the dough.
Naturally, farinato also has the invaluable help of the Castilian candeal bread, of low humidity and great resistance, which is what gives shape to this product that has become a reference for the entire Campo Charro.
Despite its ‘birth’ in Ciudad Rodrigo, it is simple see farinato practically anywhere in Salamanca. In fact, surely the easiest to find and most popular among the general public is the one made by the Hergaher company, specializing in black pudding and farinato, and located in Carbajosa de la Sagrada, very close to the city of Salamanca.
What’s more, After passing the Portuguese border, the so-called farinheira is made —a very similar sausage— and also in the Eastern Mountain region of León, where it is known as androjasand whose base of the recipe is the same: pork fat, paprika, salt and flour.
Now, converted into a gastronomic magnet, he is well distributed throughout the province. The most traditional way is to turn it into an accompaniment to some fried eggs, cooking the farinato on a hot griddle or frying pan after slightly flattening it.
Increasing use has to consume it in scrambled, just as you consume a mincemeat, pork chichas or any other sausage, but from there, you can emulate almost any recipe with farinato, such as pasta, in rice —either a risotto or something more patriotic— or as an aperitif.
In fact, farinato is present in almost all the menus of the restaurants in Ciudad Rodrigo, either in classics such as La Paloma or El Mesón Charro or in somewhat more modern restaurants such as La Canóniga or Zascandil, which became famous for its farinato lollipops with honey a thousand flowers.
Pictures | City Council of Ciudad Rodrigo / Department of Tourism of Ciudad Rodrigo
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