Farinato Salmantino con Huevos

Farinato Salmantino belongs to Salamanca, and most fiercely to Ciudad Rodrigo: a bread sausage made with pork fat, crumbs, pimentón, onion, garlic, and anise, not lean meat. That is what makes it farinato and not a chorizo with less money spent on it. It is softer, sweeter, and more fragile, made to be fried and eaten with eggs.

The method that decides it is the paste. The onion must be cooked down slowly in the pork fat until it is soft and sweet, then the breadcrumbs go in off the hard heat so they swell without scorching. Rush that, and the farinato tastes raw and dusty. Give the crumbs time to drink the fat and spice, and the whole thing turns spreadable, ruddy, and rich.

If you are far from Salamanca, use good fresh pork back fat or unsmoked fatty bacon with no sugar. Use pimentón de la Vera if you can, sweet with a pinch of picante. No hace falta haber pisado España. Make this as a fresh farinato for frying, not a cured sausage unless you have a proper curing setup. Siempre sale, si lo sigues.