Longganisa primer

Longganisa in the Philippines traces its roots from the Spanish chorizo, the spicy Spanish pork sausage, introduced by the colonizers in the 16th century. The sausage, spicy chopped or ground meat stuffed in animal intestine or other tube casing, actually is indigenous/common in the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain and its neighbor Portugal.

Like everything introduced to the Filipinos, we accepted chorizo, changed it to suit our taste and took it as our own. What was once the spicy chorizo became sweet, salty and garlicky as well — in some regions, the taste was either one and in others, all at the same time. The Philippine longganisa too evolved through the years. Other meats were used new spices were introduced.
People favored certain tastes and they altered the recipe to suit their tastes. Philippine longganisa developed flavors as diverse and distinct as the adobo, with regions having their own specialty, among them are Vigan’s and Lucban’s garlic longganisa, Cebu’s sweet and spicy spherical longganisa, Nueva Ecija’s batutay and Imus’ adobo longganisa. It doesn’t come as a surprise, because the wide variety of longganisa reflects our multicultural and multilingual country.

My journey will take me across the country to have a taste of juicy and delectable longganisa and their culture. After all, with its its indigenous spices and ingredients, longganisa is more than treated meat -- it's a taste of culture stuffed in a small casing.