Flaming chorizo

Name: Flaming chorizo
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 20cm length of dried chorizo sausage; 3 tablespoons high proof drinking alcohol, such as brandy or white rum

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by delicious. team

delicious. team

Aug 28, 2001

This dish is a common sight at Portuguese restaurants, where waiters deftly carry the already flaming dish of dried chouriço (chorizo) sausage to the table, where it flickers and sizzles for a couple of minutes, effectively barbecuing it. This is an edited extract from Lisbon by Rebecca Seal published by Hardie Grant Books $45.00 and is available in stores nationally. Photographer: © Steven Joyce

20cm length of dried chorizo sausage
3 tablespoons high proof drinking alcohol, such as brandy or white rum

Method

1.

Every 5 mm or so, slice the sausage about halfway through the meat, not all the way through, so the heat can penetrate.
2.

Find a heatproof rack that will fit inside a heatproof baking dish or pan.
3.

Place the sausage on top, cuts facing up, and pour the alcohol into the dish.
4.

Just as you would when flaming a Christmas pudding, pour a little more of the alcohol onto a metal spoon.
5.

Warm the spoon gently from beneath, using a long match or lighter, then light the alcohol in the spoon. Once it catches, gently tip the flaming liquid into the bowl, where it will light the alcohol there, too. Stand well back, as the flames will flicker for a couple of minutes, and any fat that drips may also catch and flare up. Use metal tongs to turn the sausage once.
6.

When the flames have died down completely, the sausage is ready to eat.