Chorizo al Vino Tinto Riojano

Chorizo al vino tinto is Riojan, and it belongs to the same table as the wines that made La Rioja famous: sliced cured chorizo, red wine, garlic, and bay, cooked down until the wine clings to the sausage in a dark, glossy glaze. It is not a trick dish. It is the cured larder meeting the bottle already open on the table.

The method that decides it is the simmer. Keep it gentle and uncovered so the wine reduces slowly while the fat from the chorizo loosens into it. Boil it hard and the skins tighten, the wine turns harsh, and the sauce goes greasy instead of shiny. Ten calm minutes do more than five angry ones. There, that's the whole sermon.

Use Riojan cooking chorizo if you can, the semi-cured kind that still gives a little under the knife. If you are far from Spain, use a good Spanish-style cured chorizo with pimentón, not fresh Mexican chorizo; the fresh one collapses into mince and gives you another dish. A Tempranillo from Rioja is right, but any dry red you would drink will do. No hace falta haber pisado España. Slice it thick, reduce it gently, and put bread beside it. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.

In the Margin beside this one I wrote only: "do not sweeten the wine." If the chorizo and the bottle are decent, they need no help.