Bocadillo de Chorizo de Teror

Bocadillo de Chorizo de Teror is Gran Canaria's, and more exactly Teror's: a crusty roll opened, spread with soft paprika-red chorizo, and warmed until the fat sinks into the crumb. It is not a sandwich of sliced chorizo. The sausage is para untar, for spreading, loose enough to move with a knife, red with pimentón and garlic, and richer than it looks.

The method that decides it is gentle heat. Let the chorizo lose its refrigerator chill, spread it in an even layer, then warm the bread just until the filling turns glossy and stains the crumb red. Too much heat and the fat runs out. Too little and you get cold paste in bread, which is food, yes, but not the bocadillo people line up for in Teror.

If you can't find Chorizo de Teror, look first for chorizo canario para untar, the Canarian spreadable kind. After that, sobrasada de Mallorca is the closest Spanish substitute in texture, though the flavor moves to the Balearics and tastes sweeter and heavier. Use a little less. No hace falta haber pisado España, but you do have to buy the right sort of sausage.

In the Margin beside this one I wrote only: no lo frías. Don't fry it. Warm it. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.