Androlla
-, Galicia/Bierzo, Spain
Smoky, meaty and boiled, a Galician-Bierzo winter dish akin to botillo.
Overview
Androlla is smoky, meaty and boiled, a galician-bierzo winter dish akin to botillo. A broad smoky red sausage with an irregular loose interior and clearly visible small rib bones and strips of skin.
Where it's from
Climate. Galicia and the neighbouring Bierzo, damp north-west.
Altitude. Mountainous north-west
How to recognise it
A broad smoky red sausage with an irregular loose interior and clearly visible small rib bones and strips of skin. Shape and size: Wide stuffed casing. Lean colour: Dark, meaty. Fat and marbling: Rich. Casing or exterior: Natural, 50 mm. Surface: None. The form is wide stuffed casing. the lean is dark, meaty. the fat or marbling is rich. and the exterior uses natural, 50 mm. A raw or grey centre, split filling, sourness, greasy purge or poor refrigerated handling is unacceptable.
- Shape and size
- Wide stuffed casing
- Lean colour
- Dark, meaty
- Fat and marbling
- Rich
- Casing
- Natural, 50 mm
- Surface bloom
- None
Origins and history
Androlla is a smoked, dry-cured pork sausage from the eastern uplands of Galicia, close kin to the botillo and botelo of neighbouring El Bierzo and León. Unlike a lean forcemeat sausage, it is built from chopped bone-in spare ribs and pork rind, coloured and warmed with sweet and hot pimentón, garlic and oregano. It belonged to the winter economy of the mountain smallholding, made at the matanza, the household pig slaughter, and smoke-dried over the kitchen fire to feed the family through the cold months. The name is protected as Androlla de Galicia, a PGI that ties production to a defined group of municipalities in the provinces of Lugo and Ourense.
The product belongs to the same mountain winter economy as Botillo and Botelo. Packing small rib sections into casing turned awkward bone-in pieces into a smoky food that could hang above the lareira and later be boiled with potatoes and greens. Galicia has previously promoted GI applications for Androlla and related Botelo products, but no current EU registration was located for Androlla. The living cultural evidence is stronger in the Viana do Bolo Carnival and Androlla festival than in present designation law.
Name. Androlla, a local name.
- Production today
- Producers in Galicia and the Bierzo.
- Protection
- Not EU-protected as a general name.
- Tradition vs modern
- Smoked and boiled, like botillo.
- Seasonality
- A winter dish.
Compare with. Botillo del Bierzo, Chosco de Tineo
Serving and cultural significance
Androlla is never eaten raw. It is simmered slowly in water, often for a couple of hours, until the rib meat and rind soften and the smoky, paprika-rich flavour comes through. It is served hot, usually with boiled potatoes and turnip tops, the grelos of Galician cooking, and often forms part of a winter cocido alongside other cured cuts.
Recipe and cure
This is not a finished recipe. It is a window into how this meat is traditionally cured. Before you follow any process, please run it through one of our curing calculators, so the salt, cure and timings are right and safe for your own batch.
Make this — the measured Curesmith version →The cure below is the traditional reference. “Make this” opens the measured Curesmith home recipe, scaled to your batch.
Traditional or protected production
Androlla is made from chopped bone-in pork ribs and skin seasoned with pimentón, garlic, oregano and wine, stuffed in a broad casing, smoked and dried. It is always cooked before eating. Historic documents mention a proposed Androlla de Galicia GI, but the name is absent from the current registered Spanish GI list.
The reference process can be summarised as follows: Traditional production chops ribs and skin, marinates them with salt, pimentón, garlic, oregano and wine, packs the mixture into casing, smokes and dries it, then boils it before service.
- Meat
- pork
- Salt (%)
- 2.4
- Curing salt
- None; a cooked product
- Fermented
- No
- Smoked
- Yes
- Target aW or weight loss
- cooked, not dried
- Temperature (°C)
- cooked through to a safe core temperature
- Humidity (%)
- n/a
- Maturation
- smoked, then boiled for hours
- Basis
- per 1000 g green meat
- Style
- Traditional smoked, then boiled
Ingredients
- Pork spare ribs (base)100% · 1000 g/kg
- Pork skins11.11% · 111 g/kg
- Pimentón, sweet2.5% · 25 g/kg
- Pimentón, hot0.3% · 3 g/kg
- Garlic0.7% · 7 g/kg
- Oregano, ground0.2% · 2 g/kg
- White dry wine6% · 60 g/kg
Method
- Marinate the ribs and belly with paprika, garlic and salt.
- Stuff into a wide casing.
- Smoke, then boil for hours.
- Serve hot with greens and potatoes.
Notes
- This is a cooked product. It must be cooked through before eating. Where a cure is used it is Cure #1 (nitrite), suited to the shorter, cooked process rather than long drying.
In the Codex
What this product teaches, and where to read more.
Temple. Pillar, Meat Quality