Picadillo
The internet is full of people who love to go on and on about the difference between ‘Mexican chorizo’ and ‘Spanish chorizo’. Guess what? They’re all wrong, and anyone who has ever visited Spain knows it. Spain has cured chorizos, uncured chorizos, and uncased bulk chorizos, just like Mexico. Here in Asturias, that bulk uncured chorizo mix is called l’adobu or picadillo.[1] In other parts of Spain, it goes by the names jijas, zorza, moraga, chichas, or prueba.
Picadillo in Mexico however refers to a dish made from ground beef, carrot and potato that looks very similar to a Midwestern hamburger hash. Funny how something as simple as a word can separate people. It would be ridiculous to say there is no such thing as hamburger hash in Mexico simply because the local name is different, now wouldn’t it?
Asturian Picadillo
Particularly popular in Asturias, Galicia, León, Palencia, Burgos, and Valladolid, picadillo is exactly what goes into a cured chorizo, just uncased. When making chorizo, people cooked a small amount of the mix to check the final outcome and taste balance. From this practice, picadillo was born. It was also a popular dish during the matanza (hog slaughter), which occurred at Samartín. During that season, people usually served it accompanied by fried eggs and either potatoes or tortos.
If anyone needed concrete proof of how deeply agricultural the Asturian mind is, Samartín is the perfect explanation. Putting aside for a moment how Martin of Tours became so widely venerated in Asturias, let’s instead look at the word in Asturian. Samartín once variously meant:
- slaughtering pigs,
- the season when you slaughter pigs,
- the stuff you make from pigs,
- the specific day that you plan to slaughter pigs,
- November 11th,
- or the entire month of November.[2]
Over time, picadillo became a popular ingredient in its own right. Here in Asturias it is found in every grocery store, no matter how small. The one closest to my house has three to choose from; a regional maker, a local maker, and an in-house mix from the meat counter. So much ‘Mexican chorizo’ to choose from.
Recipes
The following recipes are available using Picadillo:
- ↑ García Arias, Xose Lluis. “Adobu, l’.” Diccionario General de La Lengua Asturiana (DGLA), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, 2021, https://mas.lne.es/diccionario/palabra/21419.
- ↑ García Arias, Xose Lluis. “samartín, el.” Diccionario General de la Lengua Asturiana (DGLA), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, 2021, https://mas.lne.es/diccionario/palabra/67167.
