Aurelia's Chorizo

Aurelia's Chorizo

Boerne, 830/446-1325, www.aureliaschorizo.com

In case you haven't been paying attention, Spanish cuisine is quite popular these days, paella and tapas in particular. And what's a critical ingredient in paella and many varieties of tapas? It's Spanish chorizo, that smoky, garlicky, dry-cured sausage stained red by pimento and studded with creamy little flecks of pig fat. This addictive delicacy is primarily imported from Spain, but there are a few producers making credible versions in the U.S. One of them is Aurelia's Chorizo in Boerne, right in Austin's own back yard.

Aurelia's owner, Leslie Horne, fell in love with Spanish chorizo 18 years ago when a friend brought her some from Spain (at that time, Spanish meat products were not imported into the U.S.). An avid home cook, she was always interested in preserving, canning, and pickling, and it was just a step to making her own sausage. Soon, the chorizo gifts for friends she made using a traditional Spanish recipe developed into 80-pound batches, research trips all over Spain, and a new career.

"When my son left for college, I was ready to start a business with a product that I wanted to see on the market," Horne says. "But I had no idea how complicated a process it is; wholesaling is a whole other level. I started with the city health department and went all the way to [the U.S. Department of Agriculture]. We got tremendous help from the [Texas Department of Agriculture] Go Texan courses."

The next step was to find a suitable manufacturing plant. "I went all over Central Texas looking for a facility; there are very few set up for dry sausage, and it was hard to find a company that would do handmade steps like chopping fresh garlic." Ultimately, Horne made arrangements at Smokey Denmark in Austin, where the chorizo is smoked, aged, and dried for three to four weeks in a specially built room.

"Our sausage is made with beautiful full cuts of pork shoulder and beef chuck; no fillers or trimmings," Horne emphasizes. "Garlic is freshly ground for each batch. Our smoked paprika is imported from the de la Vera region of Spain ... very important to our sausage's depth of flavor." In Spain, there are as many varieties of chorizo as there are regions. "Each has a personality," says Horne. "This one is based on the Asturian style."

Horne spends weekdays making sausage and sales and weekends doing demos and tastings around the state. "The biggest challenge is that people in Texas don't understand the difference between Spanish- and Mexican-style chorizo." Aurel­ia's Chorizo is available on the website and retail in Austin, Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas; you can find it here at Central Market and Spec's. The chorizo was featured on the Food Channel's Food Finds, and Horne has plans for expanded facilities and distribution.

And the company name? Who's Aurelia? "I named it partly for a woman I know in Spain," Horne says. "And partly for all the Spanish women named Aurelia who are great cooks."