I was at New World doing a grocery shop recently and the guy from Harrington’s was doing an in-store demo. A variety of Harrington's sausages were available for tasting. I have talked to this guy before and he informed me that Harrington’s are making a new smoked chorizo, which was on display in the ever expanding snarler section of Thorndon New World.
Harrington's have rebranded the company, now under the logo it says artisan sausages. My definition of artisan is probably different from Harrington's. They do make a very good product, however they are a maker of lots of sausages. I consider that the term artisan means you can see the hand of the maker in the product. So I regard this addition to their logo as a marketing exercise, in much the same way as Lion or DB Breweries saying they are makers of craft beer.
At home my wife made pizza bases, that were cooked on a pizza stone in the oven. Our pizza had balsamic onions, mushrooms, capsicum, anchovies and the Harrington’s smoked chorizo.
The chorizo are primarily finely ground meat with a few lumps of a larger grind. They are a mixture of pork and beef. The meat is complemented the acidy of vinegar, while the hotness of paprika adds balance and complexity to the smokiness of flavour. There is an element of smoke but I would have preferred this to be more prominent. The heat from the paprika is on the hotter side, but not overpowering.
These are a nice sausage that would appeal to the kiwi palate. If you are looking for a chorizo then this could be for you. I will buy these again.
The boys made a pizza with ham and pineapple - the palates of youth. As parents we have tried to bring our kids up to appreciate a wide range of hopefully quality food, but when given the choice they make a bog standard ham and pineapple pizza. They don’t know what they are missing sometimes!
