Chorizo Verde

Sometimes you find things when you least expect them... Chorizo Verde is such an example.

Over the summer, before Reserve was any concern of mine, I had taken employment at a Holland restaurant offering Latin American inspired dishes. Not any one particular region was a focus, but took elements from Central and South America, Cuba as well. I chose this style of cooking as a change of pace knowing it would only be temporary. The restaurant was in the wake of the departure of their chef, and the menu stayed nearly static for my three month stay. The food and the concept quickly became only work, petty tasks, and my enthusiasm fizzled. I noticed that many of the employees (a safe 90% Hispanic) would not typically eat from the menu, instead making dishes they knew from their homes and were never very similar to what we were putting out in the dining room. Already a fan of chorizo and an active home sausage maker, I brought in a few pounds of a chorizo I had been fine tuning. Nearly all of my co-workers were surprised, and delighted. Even while they had exposed me to many things concerning their food culture, none were making their own sausage, and only a few had relatives that did. El Popular was the brand of choice.. I never did try it but they said there was no point for me to do so if I was able to make what I had brought in.

Over the following two months until I had left the restaurant, I continued to take food education and culture in from my co-workers. We would talk about Mexico and the atmosphere of the villages in the morning from the tortillerias; the smell of hot masa filling the air for hours. Debates over whose grandmother made the best chalupas or tamales never ran out of steam. I learned a little Spanish, I ate what they put in front of me, and over time was able to eat habaneros like a jalapeno. Ialso came to understand the chile/heat aspect of their food as well, a topic for another discussion however.

My interest re-ignited, yet my prime interest stayed with sausage, and charcuterie. Does Mexico have charcuterie? Would a climate with no harsh winters need to develop this type of food preservation? My search for an answer took a little while, necessitating a full departure from English speaking websites. Indeed there are techniques, and more than I would have thought. Truly inspired now, my search lead me down the road to an odd chorizo I hadn't seen or heard of before. Chorizo verde de Toluca. A specialty of the region of the same name. I asked my friends at work the next day, no one heard of it. This was perfect! It was also very vague and confusing. Translation problems and the obscurity of the recipe made interpretation a challenge. I had spent countless hours on the internet, gone to several supermercados in the Holland area, inquiring and investigating. In the end, it took several formulations, lots of willing taste-testers, and some clever sourcing when I figured out what I wanted.

At the end of August I said goodbye to that job and my good friends that had played an important role in my new discoveries that I never expected to make. Good food can and will be found everywhere, and if you keep your eyes open and remain receptive to new ideas, they will present themselves. Chorizo verde was a souvenir I took from a time and place where I was not entirely happy and not excited by the food I was making. Today that chorizo is available on our menu, paired happily with Manila clams. I'd make the claim it is at its best right now, largely composed of ingredients found at the Fulton St. Farmers Market. The best cilantro I've ever used, a unique pumpkin from Trillium Farms that forms hull-less seeds, spicy serrano chiles, and Visser spinach fresh from the ground. It's a good time for chorizo verde, and an even better time for you to come to Reserve and make some new discoveries for yourself.