Chorizo

There are chorizos and there are chorizos. In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet said “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet” but we all know from experience that this is not so all the time, especially where chorizos are concerned.

When I was a little girl, we’d always have Tia Pining’s chorizo on hand. Sometimes, I’d go with Mama to buy it from Tia Pining’s house in Lacson Street. There we’d see strings of chorizo hanging on a clothesline, sort of , to dry in the sun. Athome we’d have the two variants alternately, namely, hamonado and recado. Back then I preferred hamonado over recado; now I sometimes prefer recado to hamonado. We’d always have it with fried (sunny side up) egg.  Another vivid memory I have of Tia PIning’s chorizo was of it being served crumbled and sugared in my friend Leah’s house. I think it was her grandma’s idea. Leah was very proud of that and rightly so.

In time, Tia Pining passed on, the secret of her chorizo never revealed. Versions approximating hers have since emerged: Manaloto, Ereneta Bacolod Chorizo, and Tia PIning’s Negrense chorizo. I have tried all three.

Here in Manila, most easily available is the Ereneta Bacolod chorizo which is sold in Rustan’s. Manaloto’s I’ve tried only because L gave it to me as pasalubong and once, a sister did the same. During the Negros fair, I tried the Negrense variant.

So how do they fare? Those from Bacolod claim the Manaloto version is the closest to Tia Pining’s. Not having had it often enough, I cannot say for sure. The Ereneta Bacolod chorizo is okay. So is the Negrense variant. While in a previous comment I made, I thought the Negrense variant still needed tweaking, I stand corrected. I’m having it now and I think the reason it didn’t taste so good the first time I had it was that the maid undercooked it. Now I can say it is quite good, cooked properly.

Pictures of the two kinds bearing the Ereneta name but made by two different entities, follow. The bigger one is the Negrense variant. Note, the puto underneath is Quan’s and is actually puto pao. How I wish it were more easily accessible. I only get to have it when it’s Negros bazaar time. But actually it can be ordered in Manila. I’ll see if I can get the number. Pictures of the chorizos and the puto pao. The Negrense variant is bigger. Price wise, around the same at P150 per pack of 12.