Girella
Also known as Girella catalana
Alta Ribagorça, Pallars Jussà and Pallars Sobirà, Spain
Overview
Girella is a cooked lamb-offal and rice pudding from the Catalan Pyrenees, especially Alta Ribagorça and the counties of Pallars Jussà and Pallars Sobirà. The filling is enclosed in sewn pieces of lamb stomach, so each piece takes the irregular oval form of that casing. The Generalitat identifies it as one of the most representative sausages of Alta Ribagorça. It is related to Aragón's Chireta, but the Atlas retains separate articles because each name is attached to a documented regional setting and its own customary composition.
Where it's from
Identity and terminology
The origin of the word girella is not securely established in the official product record, and an invented etymology would be misleading. Spanish meat-product law recognises Girella or Chireta among traditional-use names, but that statutory grouping does not make every local version identical. In Catalonia, Girella names the lamb-based product of the high Pyrenean counties. The source page's statement that it is simply the Catalan name for Chireta therefore needs qualification: they are close relatives across a cultural border, not interchangeable formulas.
Composition and characteristics
The casing and filling both come largely from lamb. Cleaned stomach forms pale sewn bags; heart, lung, head meat and finely chopped edible intestine produce a dark, slightly granular cut face. Raw rice, breadcrumbs and egg extend and bind the filling while absorbing cooking liquor. Garlic, parsley, pepper, nutmeg and a little saffron provide aroma without hiding the offal. Pieces commonly weigh several hundred grams and may vary substantially because the natural stomach determines the shape.
Production and process
The stomach is thoroughly cleaned, cut into bags and partially sewn. Heart and the edible pluck are simmered, the head is cooked and picked, and the meats and intestines are chopped. They are mixed with rice, bread, egg and seasoning, then packed loosely so the rice can expand. The bags are sewn closed and cooked gently in a kettle under temperature control. For a home adaptation, inspected edible offal, a centre temperature of 74°C and rapid cooling are essential. Vinegar rinsing alone does not sanitise offal.
History and regional forms
The Generalitat records a long but not precisely proven history. Association with meals of the Confraternity of Saint Sebastian at El Pont de Suert has led to a proposed sixteenth-century origin, yet the record states that certainty is lacking. Girella survived because mountain households used the lamb's stomach, pluck, head and intestines rather than wasting them. In Pallars Sobirà it came close to disappearing when this whole-carcass practice declined, but continued local production and renewed interest supported its recovery.
Use, storage and related products
Girella may be eaten hot from the cooking pot, sliced and fried, battered with egg or flour, or warmed in an onion, garlic and tomato sauce that can include wild mushrooms. It is often served at supper in its production area. The rice and sewn stomach distinguish it from ordinary botifarra, while its lamb emphasis separates it from the pork-heavy formula on the source page. Refrigerate cooked pieces at 0–4°C and reheat slices thoroughly; the product is not fermented, dried or shelf stable.
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, 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 →“Make this” opens the same cure as a measured recipe, scaled to your batch.
- Meat
- Raw short-grain rice, rinsed
- Cut
- Raw short-grain rice, rinsed
- Salt (%)
- 2.2
- Curing salt
- None
- Fermented
- No
- Starter or mould
- None; this product is not fermented
- Smoked
- No
- Maturation
- Refrigerate at 0–4°C; use within 4 days or freeze promptly
- Basis
- per 1,000 g raw short-grain rice
- Style
- cooked Catalan lamb-offal and rice stomach pudding
Ingredients
- Lamb heart90% · 900 g
- Edible lamb lung, inspected and lawful for sale75% · 750 g
- Cooked meat picked from lamb head85% · 850 g
- Cleaned edible lamb intestine, finely chopped25% · 250 g
- Raw short-grain rice, rinsed36.4% · 1000 g
- Fresh white breadcrumbs12.7% · 350 g
- Beaten whole egg18.2% · 500 g
- Cold unsalted lamb broth9.1% · 250 g
- Fine salt2.2% · 60 g
- White pepper0.36% · 10 g
- Fresh garlic, crushed1.3% · 35 g
- Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped1.8% · 50 g
- Ground nutmeg0.09% · 2.5 g
- Saffron threads, crushed0.01% · 0.3 g
Method
- Clean the edible lamb stomach under approved offal-handling practice, cut it into bags, partially sew and keep chilled.
- Simmer heart and lung for about 20 minutes and cook the lamb head until the meat can be picked cleanly.
- Chop the cooked offal, head meat and intestine, then cool promptly before mixing.
- Combine meat, offal, rinsed raw rice, breadcrumbs, egg, broth and seasonings.
- Fill stomach bags loosely, expel large air pockets and sew closed.
- Poach gently until the rice is tender and the cold point reaches 74°C.
Safety. Use only inspected edible lamb offal and stomach, leave expansion room, cook the thickest bag to a measured endpoint and cool rapidly.