Longganisa, Jazz Variations on a Theme
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Longganisa being made at Don Domingo Market in Tuguegarao (Photo by Lory Tan)
Anthony Bourdain (standing)
Longganisa was originally a Spanish sausage, closely associated with the Portuguese linguiça. In Spain, longganisa is a long pork sausage seasoned with paprika, cinnamon, aniseed, garlic, and vinegar. It is sold fresh, and must be cooked. Chorizo is a different beast. Although some Spanish chorizos, are fresh, most are fermented, smoked or cured. They are sliced and eaten with no cooking needed, or added as an ingredient to add flavor to a variety of dishes.
Longganisa has traveled far and wide. It is popular in the cuisines of several regions of Spain, as well as in most of the Latin belt, i.e., Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and the Philippines. Through several centuries, the defining characteristics of the original Spanish longganisa have changed, with different interpretations emerging from region to region, and from country to country.
“The Filipino longganisa is a living tradition. Some stellar versions persist. They can still be traced to specific family kitchens and cooks of legend.”
The Filipino longganisa tradition appears to have passed through a Mexican filter, rather than coming directly from Spain. But why not? A Mexican conquistador founded Manila. And for centuries, silver galleons plied the Pacific from Mexico to the Philippines. We were always a spoke of Mexico, rather than a hub of empire. It is no surprise, therefore, that for the Philippines and Mexico, both longganisa and chorizo are sold fresh and uncooked. This is not true for Spain. In the Philippines, the term recado is used to distinguish spicy longganisa from sweet (hamonado). In Mexico, “recado” refers to a spice mix that is used to impart both flavor and color to food. In Spain, the word “recado” has nothing to do with flavors or cooking. It simply means “message” or “errand.. Today, most Filipinos use the terms “longganisa” and “chorizo” inter-changeably. In fact, some areas (such as Bacolod) do not call these fresh sausages "longganisa," and prefer to use "chorizo."
Where do you find the best Philippine longganisa? Are they sweet or spicy? It depends.
There is no standard recipe or list of ingredients for the Filipino longganisa. Like many Philippine dishes, the preparation of longganisa has always stayed open to both local creativity and inter-generational innovation. In a sense, it is like jazz served as food. This wide assortment of fresh pork sausages are traditionally made for local audiences, and use an improvised range of locally-available spices, with each province, town, or sausage-maker having flavor or textural variations of its own.
Longganisa "de recado" is spicy. Exuding garlic, it appears to borrow more from a Spanish / Mexican influence. Some highly regarded examples of spicy longganisa come from the finest artisanal sausage-makers of Bais, Lucban, Taal, Dipolog, Tuguegarao, Cabanatuan, Calumpit, Batac, and Vigan.
Batac, Ilocos Norte longganisa (Photo by Lory Tan)
Tuguegarao longganisa (Photo by Lory Tan)
Longganisa “hamonado” is sweet. It rides the draft created by the long-running Filipino love affair with sugar and most things sweet. This is a marinated space they share with a range of fired barbecued street food, often basted sweet as the lively cuts of pork or chicken. It can be argued that this tradition draws from the influence of Malay sate and the “sweeter” Chinese sausages, such as lap cheong or siang jiang. The longganisa of Bacolod, Cebu, San Pablo, and Baguio are examples of the hamonado tradition.
Cebu longganisa (Photo by Lory Tan)
San Pablo longganisa (Photo by Lory Tan)
There are also distinctive versions with much narrower distribution. The sausages from Candaba and Guagua in Central Luzon, are said to be salty-sour – a possible influence of pindang, the Kapampangan practice of using fermentation to tenderize meat. The longganisa of Lucban in Quezon, uses a native oregano from the forests of Banahaw. The variations on this theme are virtually endless. More than just jazz, the Filipino longganisa is fusion at its best, of East and West, of forms, flavors, and formulas that have traveled the world, while remaining down home. Very much like Filipinos.
Lucban longganisa (Source: The House of Goodies)
In a number of towns I visited, the best known longganisa continue to follow time-tested artisanal traditions. They are cased daily, use no preservatives, and are always sold fresh – never touching the sun, or smoke, or ice. Yes, commercial versions are now available, but like most processed food, they often pale in comparison. In step with the standards that define Asia’s high cuisines, traditional longganisa makers say that smoking, air-drying, or long-term freezing alters the character of their sausages. To them, fresh remains best. Are commercial longganisa still good? Probably, at least, to uninitiated palates. But, they are just not the same.
Most longganisa are stuffed into casings made from fresh pork intestines (bihis). But others, especially homemade versions, are often served skinless (hubad or bungkag). One version, in San Pablo, was wrapped in the diaphanous membrane lining a pig’s stomach, called gapen or sinsal. Most longganisa are made with ground meat, however, the towns of Taal and Guinobatan prefer the texture of rough-chopped pork.
Taal longganisa (Photo by Lory Tan)
Supermarket-sourced longganisa are usually boiled first, in a little bit of water, then pan-fried. But, artisanal sausage-makers say that if your sausages are fresh, then boiling is not necessary. And when they are delivered fresh, grilling them is preferred by more and more people. Many people like to eat them well-cooked, with small bits of casing and filling toasted, to an almost-candied crisp. In Guinobatan, the sausage casings are sun-dried prior to stuffing in order to help guarantee that crispness.
The Filipino longganisa is a living tradition. Some stellar versions persist. They can still be traced to specific family kitchens and cooks of legend. Many remain true to their artisanal roots, i.e., "sina-una," and are still prepared at home, or right in the wet market, in smaller batches. For traditional longganisa, freshness remains the paramount aesthetic, i.e., only buy what you will consume. You can always order again. In a sense, a similar philosophy separates grand cru vintages from run-of-the-mill table wines.
It is no surprise, therefore, that like many Filipinos dishes, e.g. kinilaw, sinigang, adobo, there is no single recipe for longganisa. Philippine longganisa reflects the wide diversity of cultures. If you want to savor the full spectrum of flavors that define this living phenomenon, then you must travel to where these traditional sausages are made.
What is the best longganisa? It is the ones that are so fresh, as to never having touched ice. Ultimately, like so many other culinary adventures, it is the one that you like the best, and the ones that you dream of.
Lory Tan is Vice Chairman of the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Philippines National Advisory Council.
