Chouriça de Bofe da Guarda

Description: The Bofe da Guarda Sausages weigh between 150 and 250 g, have a diameter of 2.5 to 3.5 cm and a length of 20 to 25 cm (when stretched). Filled with dark color, rough outer texture, presented in the form of a horseshoe. In its composition, in addition to the bofe (lungs) and the heart, there are also bloody pork, water or wine (or both) and condiments (salt, garlic, sweet paprika and ground chili).

Region: Center.

Particularity: Sausage in which the spleen and the pig's heart traditionally entered. It has a spongy consistency and the inner mass is not very cohesive, disintegrating when cut into slices. It has a slightly spicy taste.

History: The spleen and the pig's heart were part of the composition of this sausage, whose origin it is not possible to indicate precisely. What can be said is that the older people in the region have always known these sausages. Currently, the bofe and the heart are re-placed by pork meats with traces of blood.

Use: In the preparation of regional cuisine dishes and as a snack, after cooking.

Know-how: Cut the meat into relatively small pieces that are placed in a container, in garlic vines, for 3 to 4 days. After this period, the casing is filled, the ends are tied, it is given the shape of a horseshoe and placed in the smokehouse (oak and chestnut wood) for 2 to 3 weeks, the necessary period for the good conservation of the product.

Source: Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001