The King and Queen of CHORIZO
My Lola Sally,caterer extraordinaire and
the original foodie of the Hizon Clan,
swore by MARCA EL REY;
no other brand of Chorizo de Bilbao
was allowed into any of her famous dishes.
One of her, and my Lolo Ompong's greatest legacies
was to instill an appreciation in their family~~
nay, make that a DEMAND~
to have only the best ingredients in our food.
These large 4-lb. emerald green cans
were omnipresent in her house in
San Agustin, San Fernando, Pampanga,
because her kids & grandkids just had to have
DACAL A CHORIZO!
To this day,
my cousins and I violently grapple with each other,
Ultimate Fighting Championship-style,
to get first dibs at the chorizos
in our Paella, Callos, and Pochero!
Our Clan's CHORIZO Tradition continues,
and Ninong Raffy, the Krispy Kreme King of Seattle,
regularly sends us our Marca El Rey stocks
via overstuffed door-to-door boxes from Washington.
And around this time of the year,
after the green cans have arrived
in time for all the Christmas Cooking,
I'm able to steal a couple of chorizos
every so often, and make the most sozy "silog" ever:
Mmmmm...
the perfect meal for a Saturday DiBiDi Marathon!!!
posted by spanx at 11:21 PM
8 Comments:
I love eating this too.
The canned Purefoods is my chorizo of choice when it's for frying.
These are NOT the original "Marca El Rey Chorizo Bilbao" anymore.
The one you have in the picture is already made in the U.S. by John Morrel.
When you open the can, the chorizos are simply there inside the can (in bunches).
The truly original "Marca El Rey" Chorizos were made in Bilbao, Spain.
The cans came in two different sizes which were shorter and longer than the one you have pictured.
Most importantly, when you open the cans, the chorizos were embedded in lard.
Those were the original "Marca El Rey" Chorizo Bilbao. Those were the truly yummy ones that we had all our lives...and still have.
We buy them direct from Spain.
I know of the difference,
I grew up with the original.
You're very lucky
you can get directly
from Spain.
Chorizo de Bilbao was a product made by a Filipino, Genato, who also named his chorizo brand "de Bilbao. While in Los Angeles, sold it kto Cudahy, who in turn sold it to ConAgra of Nebraska. They still mkanufacture the Marca El Rey, but for export only. Chorizo de Bilbao DID NOT come from Bilbao, Spain. It was a Philippine product sold to a US company.
Can you ask your Ninong where in Seattle does he buy marca el Rey. I've been trying to find it since my in laws brought some from Guam recently and I don't want to have to order online lol.
Where can I buy it?
The original WAS FROM SPAIN. Before WWII & up to late 70's. The green can was about 10 inches square. The chorizos inside were about 6 inches long & packed in lard. The current ones are not as good as the original.
According to Wikipedia the original Chorizo de Bilbao was "invented" in the Philippines by Genato Commercial. There is no such thing as Chorizo de Bilbao in Bilbao, Spain. The rights were purchased by the American John Morrel and production transferred to the US. The taste of the American version is not the same however according to old timers.
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