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Foodie’s Guide to Regional Gastronomy: Linguiça and Chouriço

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In this series, we hope to highlight and showcase in as interesting a way as possible, the stories behind our favorite, mouth-watering local dishes. While we’ll focus on greater New Bedford and the South Coast, we will occasionally “travel” to places like Plymouth, Providence or even Boston. I will attempt to keep it light-hearted, fun and easy to read. While I can’t promise to keep you compelled and pull you along with prose – that would take a professional writer – I will promise to be liberal with the drool-inducing images of these dishes.

I grew up in a Sicilian household where everyone – man, woman, child – was participating in preparing meals. It was a “trick” to get everyone together, talking, laughing and, of course, the occasional heated debate. Food was a huge part of our identity, where we came from, who we were. There was something special about the atmosphere that revolved around a meal that we prepared.


You haven’t lived until you’ve had at least one Chouriço Bombeiro! (Catavino.net)

This is certainly not unique to a Sicilian household. Every ethnic group in the country has a proud culinary tradition that they grew up around. You can easily replace “Sicilian” with Irish, Vietnamese, Portuguese, Ethiopian, Greek or anything else. This is why food as a topic is always so popular. We humans love our food and that passion goes beyond the gustatory or taste – we crave the aromas, delight in the presentation, are fueled by the atmosphere, and relish – pardon the pun – discussion about our favorite dishes, restaurants or cuisines.

One thing that is often not discussed, is glossed over, or barely touched upon, is the history or background of these dishes. Now, to some, this conjures up the voice of the guy from the “dry eyes” commercial. The terms, for many, are synonymous with “boring,” “dull,” or “It’s time to go.” However, the background can be interesting, fun, or funny and it can be so without being facetious, dumbed-down or popular. I will make every attempt to maintain a fresh balance with this series.

As always, feedback is encouraged. Anecdotes are wanted. Discussion is paramount. Please join in.

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In this inaugural installment, I felt it was fitting to cover something Portuguese. It is perhaps the largest ethnicity in New Bedford and linguiça/chouriço are something we’ve all tried and likely devour frequently. While both are so ubiquitous in this area, outside of Portuguese communities mention either one and you’ll get silence and puzzled faces.

Imagine the horror of never having had Portuguese food, especially linguiça? These poor deprived souls. They must wander through life feeling a sort of emptiness inside but never able to place a finger on what exactly it is. If there is such a thing as hell on earth, it must be a place without Portuguese food.


Little treasures of smoked happiness curing in preparation for your plate or “pop”

Hyperbole aside, linguiça and its sister chouriço, are part and parcel of our everyday lives, whether we are Portuguese or not. It’s like the greater New Bedford’s “Oreo Cookie” in the sense that there is no end to the debate on how one should eat them. Should they be grilled? Slapped on a pop? With mustard or without? Cheese or no cheese? On pizza? Should they just be heated up lightly or cooked until charred? Are they mildly spicy or without heat? Who makes the best? These are fighting words! Epa!

Linguiça and chouriço are of course, types of sausage. The Portuguese excel at a variety of sausages – what they call enchidos – with these two just being the most popular. Other enchidos include the ancient Alheira made with chicken and created to make it a bit easier for Jewish people to convert, morcela or blood sausage, or presunto, their version of Italian prosciutto, to name a few. The word linguiça is derived from the Italian word luganega, from the ancient Lucanians who used to make linguiça-style sausages in ancient Rome.

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About Joe Silvia

When Joe isn't writing, he's coaching people to punch each other in the face. He enjoys ancient cultures, dead and living languages, cooking, benching 999#s, and saving the elderly, babies and puppies from burning buildings. While he enjoys long walks on the beach, he will not be your alarm clock, because he's no ding-a-ling.

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18 comments

  1. My favorite has always been Gaspar’s Linguica. However, now I live in Fall River and know the real diference between Linguica and Chirouco: Fall River favors Chirouco and New Bedford favors Linguica 🙂

    I find linguica to be sweeter and chirouco to be a bit spicier (depending on the brand) and not as sweet.

  2. Our favorite is Gaspar’s. Fortunately we are able to get it locally here in Florida. Our neighborhood Publix Supermarket carries it.

  3. If you think gaspars is good then wait until you have the good stuff ! Lo
    Best chourico to put in food is the Azorean meat market in Bristol,RI
    Best chourico to grill would be JC’s market in west warwick,Ri
    Best chourico that’s commercialized , it would be Michaels from Fall River
    Everyone who knows chourico would agree !

  4. The woman at the salchicharia told me that the difference is just the gauge of the sausage. Linguica being the thinner gauge and chourico being the thicker. But like you said… Everyone has a different answer.

  5. I had never had Linguica before I married my first husband he was from Dartmouth and after we married we came to live in the area and I got hooked on it. We left the area in 1976 and moved to my home town Houston TX and the craving for that sausage was bad so we would have it shipped to us but as the weather here is so hot we would not ship as often as we would have liked so had to stretch what we could get. I have in the 20 years since his death ordered just for myself and enjoy it as much today as I did the first time I tried it in 1967.

  6. Speaking for Azorean type Chourico vs. Linguica, there are several differences. Namely linguica uses ground pork, for the other it is pork butts chopped into small pieces(less fat) it also is spicier because it takes more paprika and red crushed pepper, other spices to makers particular tastes. Both Gaspar’s and Amaral’s are less than stellar for those of us who love the real thing, try the Azores Market’s (Fall River) home made for most authentic and best in region. You’ll never eat the others again and they ship anywhere in the country.

    • I was born in Faial and have been in the states since 1967 and have had linguica that is ground pork. Always chunks of pork. I’ve eaten in many restaurants throughout the islands and when I’ve ordered ljnguica especially with inhames, never have i had ground pork.

  7. Gaspars for me! I grew up with it as a young boy in North Plymouth. I love chourico for it’s spicer taste as opposed to linguica.

  8. Good reading,no surprise though,everything Joe Sylvia writes is interesting.

  9. I use both in my kale soup and it’s always Gaspar’s. Ingre up in New Bedford of Azorean descenr and I grew up with both. Fortunately, i can get it here in Florida.

  10. I grew up in New Bedford and moved to California as a teenager. While they carry linguica in most markets here I didn’t like any of it.Years later I found out I could call Gaspars and they would ship it to me, so once a year I get my years supply in time to use it in my stuffing at Thanksgiving. Have to admit I use both the linguica and chourico, each has a little different flavor. Love the article by the way. Also took me years to replicate my Mom’s American Chop Suey, people here didn’t know what that was !

  11. Philip Paiva-Arena

    Great job to the writer of this food column, for once I actually sat here and enjoyed reading a food article that I was not bored by the second sentence. Obviously being from New Bedford and Portuguese I was brought up eating a lot of items that people look at me like seriously, but my advice is everyone has a specific taste of what they like , just give it a chance and you might be surprised on what you will discover that you like.

  12. Awesome article I’m from fall river and favor reis chourico sliced and sauted with peppers and onions with a little tomatoes sauce I lived in vermont for awhile and when i first arrived I ordered a pizza from dominos and asked for chourico and onion pizza they had no idea I was talking about then they don’t carry coffee milk either

  13. Hey Joe, silly question….the picture of linguicia/chourico in your article says (Dennis Wilkinson). Dennis is my brother and I’m wondering what his connection is to the article. Otherwise, raised in NB, I’m a linguica fan. I now live in the East Bay Area of RI where chourico is more popular (and some people have never heard of linguica). I always felt chourico is the spicier of the two though.

  14. The best that I have eaten, I am from NB and now live in california.

  15. Loved the them both Miss them

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