Three Sisters Chorizo for Paella and Charcuterie Plates

Spicy, savory, and undeniably Spanish, my first bites of Three Sisters chorizo threw together two of my great culinary loves — sausage and the Iberian peninsula — while simultaneously nodding toward California. This chorizo is the creation of Jaime Fernández, whose parents settled in Colusa County back in 1972, where his dad worked as a cowboy. They were the keepers of a sausage recipe from the hills of León that was passed down through the generations, so Fernández decided to build a company atop the salty snack from his new home in Boise, Idaho.

The dry-cured, sliced chorizo that I sampled was loaded with the pimentón red pepper spice that Fernández imports from the Spanish province of Extremadura. It’s a steady heat that’s more paprika-smoky than hot-spicy, great to grab attention on a cheese plate and well-suited for adding to batches of paella and bean stew, as its bloody, meaty, even mineral qualities extend across dishes. The pork product relies on just nine ingredients and is aged for at least 35 days, without any artificial flavors, sugar, gluten, or nitrates/nitrites.

“We are authentically Spanish but made in America,” explained Fernández, who named the brand after his mother and her two sisters. “This chorizo is a way to honor and pay respect to my family and its culture.” His parents still live near where he grew up in College City, home to fewer than 300 folks about an hour north of Sacramento.