Bourdain... and how'd he'd talk about the Goan Chorizo!

Anthony Bourdain - a man who brought the world into our homes and imbibed a spirit of culinary adventure in anyone whose ever come across his shows. The perfect tribute to him would be wherever you live, venture across town, across the tracks, through the field, walking through the mud, to a place you wouldn’t normally go and find a place to eat and talk with strangers. Just feel blessed about the fact that they welcome you and share their food with you.

'No reservations' was the first show that introduced me to Bourdain type of celebrity chef. Tattoos, a cig in hand, dark glasses and simple white shirt with denims. There were no fucks given when he presented. He was the true 'badass chef' and probably the best kitchen bad boys. Casually walking in the street.. Eating a burrito while talking about dark history of colonialism and slavery... at the same time talking about how that connected with the food, the culture and the people of the place.. Amazing...simply amazing!

Today's story is of something that I can literally see him talking about for hours casually sipping away a chilled Kings beer, smoking a cigarette, gazing away at the ocean…

The Goan sausage is the bastard child of Indo-Portuguese cuisine from the sunny state of Goa, which once was part of the Portuguese State of India. There you go, colonialism again! It is made with a mixture of pork meat cuts, fat, finely diced and then mixed with a mad mix of spices that are probably a bigger secret than the Coca-Cola recipe, filled into casing and then sun dried. While cooking it smells like the piece of cheese that fell under the bed on the night you came home drunk and you take it out later while emptying that flat. Once cooked it's one of the most beautiful things your palate has ever experienced. An orgasm.. in the mouth ..of sorts.. Let's stop reading here and move on to a keto diet blog if you imagine things while reading...

So back to the chorizo, most importantly goan chorizo. During my college days I was a frequent traveller to Goa, one trip a year was a must and bringing back a good stash was the ultimate goal. The biggest part of that bounty was Goan chorizo! Bought from the Mapusa market it had to be sealed in layers and layers of newspaper else it would take at least 5 washes to get the smell out of anything that was within a millimeter of the damn thing. Goan chorizo like any other spicy meat goes well with anything on the side, a pao (a dinner or morning roll as they call in the UK), rice, boiled potato, hell even a boiled egg.

I haven't tried making this with the standard chorizo sausages you get here in the UK but I'm sure they're similar and might need a boost with some chilli powder separately though. So here goes.

You'll need:

Goan chorizo sausages

2 onions finely chopped

4-5 garlic pods

1 large tomato finely chopped

That's it. Believe me that's all you need. Although sourcing those chorizo is the pain point unless you have a wife's cousin who gets a steady supply of these beauties right from the source!

So start with heating a tiny bit of oil in the pan and add the onions and garlic to it. While they turn brown start taking the meat out of the sausage casing. The onions are cooking so keep an eye on them and keep mixing it around so they don't stick or burn. Once they're a nice golden brown, reduce the flame and add the tomatoes. Let that cook for about 10-15 mins stirring them around occasionally. Finally add the chorizo meat and mix it all around. Add a wee bit of water if it's too dry. Reduce the flame and cover the pan and let this cook low and slow for about 45 minutes.

The preparation is simple enough, fry onions till they're golden brown, take out the meat from the casing and cook it low and slow. The end result is a greasy spicy salty smoky gravy with an oil well on the top of all that beautiful pork fat melted away.

Serve with some salads on the side and a pao!