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Meat from Spain

Chorizo de Cantimpalos PGIChorizo de Cantimpalos

Chorizo de Cantimpalos is a paprika chorizo from the Segovia highlands. Fresh fatty pork is minced with salt and paprika, and sometimes garlic and oregano, rested cold for 12 to 36 hours, stuffed and cured at 6 to 16 °C for at least 21 to 40 days depending on the format. Over 40 % of the curing must happen in natural curing houses. A whitish mould covers the achorizado and cular formats.

Fully documentedMeat22 days – 23 daysPGI (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 533/2011 of 31 May 2011)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification names the ingredients but not their amounts.
Fresh fatty porkFrom white-breed fatty pigs fed at least 75 % barley, wheat and rye in their last three months[eu-cantimpalos-2010]
Salt[eu-cantimpalos-2010]
Paprika (pimentón)[eu-cantimpalos-2010]
Garlic and oreganoOptional[eu-cantimpalos-2010]
CasingPig gut for the cular format[eu-cantimpalos-2010]
StarterThe single document says that while the mixed meat rests before stuffing, a bacterial flora settles in it and lowers the pH, which helps the later drying.

Total time across the recorded steps: 22 days – 23 days

Start
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0–2 °C

What changes: Cold fatty pork is trimmed and minced

Step 1 of 4
Trim and mince the cold pork
Time
Not documented
Temperature
0–2 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Chorizo de Cantimpalos is a paprika chorizo from the Segovia highlands. Fresh fatty pork is minced with salt and paprika, and sometimes garlic and oregano, rested cold for 12 to 36 hours, stuffed and cured at 6 to 16 °C for at least 21 to 40 days depending on the format. Over 40 % of the curing must happen in natural curing houses. A whitish mould covers the achorizado and cular formats. Made in 4 steps over 22 days – 23 days. The longest step, mature and dry in curing houses, takes at least 21 days (Single document 2007) and runs at 6–16 °C (Single document 2007). Surface moulds of Penicillium subgenus Penicillium, mainly P. commune and P. olsonii does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 21 daysSet[eu-cantimpalos-2010]Mature and dry in curing houses
Temperature6–16 °CSet[eu-cantimpalos-2010]Mature and dry in curing houses
AciditypH 5–6Set[eu-cantimpalos-2010]Mature and dry in curing houses

What makes this one different

Cantimpalos must spend over 40 % of its curing in natural curing houses in the cold Segovia highlands, and its achorizado and cular formats carry a white surface mould. Chorizo Riojano is made without sugar or nitrite.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Sarta25–35 mm, one piece; at least 21 days curing.
  • Achorizado30–50 mm, tied in a string; whitish mould; at least 24 days.
  • CularOver 35 mm in pig gut; mould over a greenish casing; at least 40 days.

Safety

The specification fixes a final pH of 5.0 to 6.0 and 20 to 40 % moisture. Some natural surface moulds (Penicillium commune) can make cyclopiazonic acid; a study suggested non-toxic P. olsonii strains as possible surface starters. This is raw pork eaten without cooking. Curing and drying alone do not consistently kill Trichinella worms in pork (CDC). CDC tells people who are pregnant, 65 or older or have a weakened immune system to avoid unheated fermented or dry sausages, or to heat them until steaming hot.

Hazards the sources name: Penicillium commune isolates from the surface all produced cyclopiazonic acid, a mycotoxin.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The name was entered in the EU register as a PGI by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 533/2011 of 31 May 2011, published on 1 June 2011. The specification credits the area with at least 50 years of sausage making and an average yearly temperature below 12 °C.

  1. [cdc-trichinella] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, How to Prevent Trichinellosis (12 March 2024)gov
  2. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov
  3. [eu-cantimpalos-2010] Single document: 'Chorizo de Cantimpalos', EC No ES-PGI-0005-0632-17.07.2007, Official Journal of the European Union C 265, 30.9.2010 (CELEX 52010XC0930(05))spec
  4. [reg-533-2011] European Commission 2011, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 533/2011 of 31 May 2011 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications [Chorizo de Cantimpalos (PGI)], Official Journal L 146, 1.6.2011, p. 11, read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  5. [lopezdiaz2001] López-Díaz T.M., Santos J.A., García-López M.L., Otero A. 2001, Surface mycoflora of a Spanish fermented meat sausage and toxigenicity of Penicillium isolates, International Journal of Food Microbiology 68(1-2):69-74 (abstract)paper