Spanish Chorizo in Cider: Chorizo a la Sidra

This is a great and simple tapas dish. Tapas are snacks or appetizer type foods that comprise a whole segment of the Spanish food and beverage business. Spain is famous for its tapas bars; that is, bars that serve these snacks and appetizers to accompany your beverages.

Spanish hard cider (sidra) is a common drink in the Asturias region of northwest Spain, where apples are grown in an abundance of varieties.

 

Serve with crusty bread ...

Ingredients:

1 pound Spanish chorizo (preferably semi-cured)

1 1/2 cups Spanish hard cider

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 clove of garlic, very thinly sliced

(optional) parsley for garnish

Cut the chorizo into about 1 inch pieces, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the chorizo pieces 5 to 6 minutes, turning the pieces often, then add the cider and the sliced garlic and bring it to a simmer and cook the chorizo until the cider begins to cook down, about 6 to 8 minutes (it may thicken up).

 

WORD HISTORY:

Cider-This word for "apple juice, both fermented and non fermented" (see further, below), goes back to transliterated Hebrew "sekar/sekhar," which meant "strong (that is, alcoholic) drink." Ancient Greek borrowed the word as transliterated "sikera," also meaning "strong drink." Latin borrowed this as "sicera," and Old French took this, seemingly initially as "cisdre," then as "cidre," which continued with the "strong drink" meaning, but also with the meaning "fermented apple or pear juice." English borrowed the word circa 1300, initially as "cidre," meaning "strong drink," but by the mid 1300s the "fermented fruit juice" meaning had also become more common, eventually becoming exclusive to "fermented apple juice." In England and Britain, carbonation was later often added, but in the U.S., the 1800s saw the "fermented apple juice" meaning also expanded to "non-fermented apple juice with some of the apple pulp." Also in the U.S., carbonated cider isn't as common as in the UK, and fermented apple cider is called "hard cider," with the non-fermented type simply called "apple cider."