I grew up with a sensitivity to multi-culturalism (in food and other cultural aspects) because my mom is American (which in her case means european caucasian mixed with native american) and my dad was from Colombia (mix of Spanish [which in itself is a huge mix itself] and south american native groups). I guess I grew up asking my mom “Where did this food come from, here or Colombia?” Maybe I should have gotten a PhD in ethnocuisines or something instead of cell biology huh?

My experience with Spanish vs Mexican is that the spices are different as you’ve called out, I’ve had both aged (mostly) and fresh Spanish but Mexican is always fresh. The textures are much different though- at least in the ones I’ve had. Mexican is more of a finely ground mixture, while Spanish is a bit chunky and has a real texture.

I find it so amazing how all that early travel and conquering can be seen in the food, drink, customs, language etc. People have been mixing cultures for years – what people think of as “native” to a region is so often influenced by whoever happened to be traveling through.

I think the Basques are really interesting – that should be fun research!

Colombian chorizos – Pork, fat back, garlic, green onions, cumin (lots!), cilantro and they are AGED (this is a very important part of Colombian chorizo making.. gives it a tart almost citric flavor). No chilis.

Mexican chorizos – hot pepper powder, various other chilli powders and fresh chopped, garlic, oregano, cilantro, cumin, and generally NOT AGED (but remember, you will probably find ALL kinds of chorizos in Mexico, I am thinking of the ones I have had, I have not had them all!)

Spanish Chorizos – I have not had much experience with Spanish chorizos but here is a link on how to make them ( http://www.marketuno.com/products/chor_article_2.htm ) From that link it says they use “paprika, garlic, salt and a dash of sherry” Then they hang it to dry and age. So their “chili” is the paprika (which they didnt get until the new world was explored.

I just learned recently that my family and my family name likely originated from the Basque region of Spain (and thus has affected the way that Colombian spanish sounds in the region I come from and thus the bit of spanish I speak sounds different from other Colombians, definitely different from Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and other south american sorts of spanish) I am going to be looking into Basque food as well as jewish dyaspora food in spain and south america to see how it compares to the Colombian food I know.

Lisa: yep, we made it several times when I lived at home. Sometimes straight from a fresh pig carcass.