Spanish Sausages

June 24, 2008

You can't have tapas without having a good sausage or two, and the two that top my list are cantipalitos and morcilla.

Cantipalitos are little red sausages with smoked paprika - an essential ingredient in Spanish cooking - and garlic (among a few other things). They are smoky sweet with a nice garlic tang, and are wonderful grilled over an open flame or stewed in red wine.

Morcilla is blood sausage (known as blood pudding in the UK). Yes, it is a blood-based food - and I know the prospect of dining on blood sounds a bit vampiric - but I promise, it will knock your socks off, and in a good way. I really don't recommend you read too deeply the history or preparation of this deliciously rich and tender food as I'm afraid you won't eat it! But trust me, it's worth the mystery.

We grilled both sausages and served with green olives, (smashed, drizzled with olive oil, and tossed with lemon zest and sliced garlic), roasted and marinated zucchini and a simple green salad.

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Comments

Ella's picture

We often add the smoked paprika to our soups as well as our paella! So delicious...

Ken's picture

"Mmmmmm.....bloooood.......baaaased........foooood"
-Homer Simpson

Arvin's picture

Almost all of the time when we go to Jollibee (one of the fast food chains here) I always order there Jolly hotdog meal. I just love the feel of their hot dog. I wonder what would it taste like if they change the hotdog to Morcilla. I wonder how would it taste.

I saw before when they sliced up the throat of a chicken they let the blood pour on a bowl, pour some salt in it and let it dry. After it had dried up this would be mix in the dish that they will make. Usually in a soup. I've tried it and its okay.

Katie Atkinson's picture

Not meaning to be too pedantic, but we call it black pudding in the UK and its one of my favourites. However, morcilla's recipe also encorporates onion and is a far superior product usually. yum!

Alisa's picture

They are delicious! In the Philippines, we make blood stew (dinuguan) and pair it with rice cakes. On the streets, they barbecue blood sausages, or should I say "blood cubes" and they are yummy!