I want some sausage!

November 8, 2006 9:37 PM

Help me get some linguica sausage in New York City tomorrow afternoon. I want to make some Portuguese Bean Soup for a guest from Hawaii!

I live in the Upper West Side, I don't have a car, and I've already seen this thread: Source for Portuguese-style chourico in Astoria?. So I guess my best bet right now is to head to Newark and pick some up, please tell me there's a better option, or what sausage I can use to 'fake' it. (Mexican-style smoked chorizo?)

posted by onalark to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

Try Gristedes, Citarella or any grocer for Spanish chorizo?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:18 PM on November 8, 2006

There are a number of Brazilian/Portuguese restaurants on 46th Street. You could try calling them to see who their supplier is. (I suspect they may tell you to go to Newark, but who knows.)

I found three or four just by searching menupages.com.
posted by anjamu at 10:21 PM on November 8, 2006

I'd be very surprised if you trucked over to Citarella and Fairway at B'way and 73rd and neither of them had some. I always used to see it.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:46 PM on November 8, 2006

I had to track some down myself a while back, and I wound up ordering online. The closest place I could find was in Newark (which is where Alfama, the one Portuguese restaraunt in town, gets theirs from). Since then, I've seen it at Whole Foods, though I haven't tried it.

Check your local butcher shops, mine has something called "Portuguese Chorizo" that is pretty darn close.
posted by Brian James at 12:33 AM on November 9, 2006

FWIW, I'm a bit of an anal retentive linguica connoisseur -- in my experience, the closest you'll find to Hawaiian linguica is the variety in Southeastern Massachusetts. The best brand unfortunately looks like it wouldn't get there in time but for future reference try: http://www.gasparssausage.com/internetorder.html. Amaral's isn't bad either.

Also, "Portuguese Chourico" isn't really that close to linguica. Tastes quite different and is a very different texture -- more "crumbly" when cooked. It doesn't really work all that well in the soup that onalark wants to make.

Good luck.
posted by lazywhinerkid at 2:40 AM on November 9, 2006

Smoked sausage such as chorizo/chourico is not really what you're looking for, and you'd be better off faking it with something garlicky, spicy, but not smoked. I eat way too much of this stuff whenever I'm in Hawaii. It also comes in many varieties, of the mild->really freaking hot sort.
posted by mek at 2:47 AM on November 9, 2006

I always thought of the crumbly stuff as Mexican chorizo. In Spain, chorizo is hard and bright red, seasoned with lots of paprika. In fact, a purist might call them two different sausages. Is the Portuguese version really that different? (Ooh, Everything2 agrees with me.)
posted by msittig at 5:07 AM on November 9, 2006

IIRC correctly, Fairway on 74th and Broadway carries Portugese linguica.

Alternately, for faking, why not use Italian linguiza sausage? It's a close first cousin and easily obtainable from any Southern Italian butcher in Brooklyn (I recommend G. Esposito on Court Street in Caroll Gardens).
posted by huskerdont at 5:08 AM on November 9, 2006