Butifarra Chiapaneca de San Cristobal de las Casas

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Meat grinder with medium die
• •Sausage stuffer
• •Cast iron comal or heavy skillet
• •Instant-read thermometer
• •Volcanic stone molcajete

Instructions

1. 1

   Chill the meat

   Spread the pork shoulder and back fat on a tray and put them in the freezer for 25 to 30 minutes, until firm at the edges but not frozen solid. Sausage begins with temperature. Warm meat smears in the grinder and gives you a greasy filling. Cold meat cuts clean and holds the fat in small white flecks.

2. 2

   Toast the anise

   Set a small dry skillet over medium heat. Toast the anise seed for 30 to 45 seconds, shaking the pan, until it smells sweet and sharp. Crush it in a molcajete with the oregano, black pepper, clove, cinnamon, and allspice. Do not make powder. You want a coarse seasoning that perfumes the pork.

3. 3

   Season the pork

   In a cold mixing bowl, combine the chilled pork, chilled back fat, salt, pounded garlic, crushed spices, white wine, and vinegar. Mix with your hands for 2 minutes, until the meat feels sticky and the wine is absorbed. That stickiness is what binds the sausage. If liquid is sloshing at the bottom, keep mixing.

   This butifarra is not a dried sausage and it is not shelf-stable. Keep it cold, rest it in the refrigerator, and cook it fully before serving.
4. 4

   Grind the mixture

   Fit a meat grinder with the medium die. Grind the pork mixture into a chilled bowl. Keep the bowl over ice if your kitchen is warm. The ground meat should look loose but cohesive, with visible fat flecks. If it looks pasty, the meat got too warm. Put it back in the freezer for 10 minutes before continuing.

5. 5

   Test the seasoning

   Fry one small spoonful of the sausage mixture in a dry skillet. Taste it. It should be savory first, then wine and oregano, then the anise at the end. Adjust salt only if needed. Do not bury this sausage under chile. San Cristobal butifarra is aromatic, not fiery. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

6. 6

   Stuff the casings

   Thread the soaked hog casing onto the sausage stuffer. Fill it slowly, keeping the casing evenly packed but not tight. Twist into short links, about 3 to 4 inches each. Prick any air pockets with a clean needle. Work calmly. Sausage punishes rushing.

7. 7

   Rest overnight

   Lay the links on a tray, uncovered or lightly covered with parchment, and refrigerate at least 12 hours. This rest lets the wine, garlic, oregano, and anise settle into the pork. It also dries the surface slightly, which helps the links brown instead of weep on the comal.

8. 8

   Poach gently

   Place the links in a wide pot and cover with water. Bring to a bare simmer, not a boil, and cook until the center of the sausage reaches 150F, about 18 to 22 minutes. A hard boil bursts casings and toughens the meat. Gentle heat keeps the sausage juicy.

9. 9

   Brown on comal

   Drain the sausages and pat them dry. Heat a comal or heavy skillet over medium and melt the manteca de cerdo. Brown the links for 6 to 8 minutes, turning often, until the casing is taut, speckled gold, and glossy from the lard. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable oil gives you shine without memory.

10. 10

    Serve sliced

    Let the butifarra rest for 5 minutes, then slice into thick coins. Serve warm or room temperature with pickled red onion, pickled carrots and jalapeños, lime halves, and warm corn tortillas. Put it on a clay plate with the escabeche beside it. This is food for passing around the table, not arranging with tweezers.

Chef Tips

• •Ask a real butcher for pork shoulder and back fat. Do not use pre-ground pork unless you watched it being ground. If you don't know what fat went into it, you don't know your sausage.
• •The anise seed is essential. Fennel seed is not the same. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •White wine belongs here because this sausage carries its Catalan root through Chiapas. Use a dry wine you would drink. Sweet wine makes the filling taste clumsy.
• •If you cannot stuff casings, shape the mixture into small patties and rest them overnight. It will taste good, but it will not be butifarra as sold in San Cristobal. Say the truth and cook anyway.
• •Serve it with escabeche because the vinegar cuts the pork fat. That is not decoration. That is balance.

Advance Preparation

• •The seasoned meat can be mixed and refrigerated up to 24 hours before grinding and stuffing.
• •The stuffed raw links can rest refrigerated for 12 to 24 hours before poaching.
• •Poached butifarras keep refrigerated for 3 days. Brown them in manteca de cerdo just before serving.
• •Do not dry or hang these sausages at room temperature. This home version is fresh sausage and must stay refrigerated.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 125g)