As you may know, chorizo is simply the Spanish word for sausage, and not only are there many variations, there are numerous variations within Argentina. In the US, the two broad types of chorizo that are readily available are Spanish, which is generally made with smoked pork, and Mexican, which is made with fresh meat. Much to our chagrin, we weren't able to come up with anything substantive about Argentinean versions, but one of our intrepid readers came to the rescue.

She lived in Argentina for several years and asked a butcher to tell her what makes their chorizo special. The answer? Nutmeg. Here, by way of our helpful friend, is the butcher's recipe:

Chorizo Argentino

Ingredients:

1/2 liter red wine (vino tinto) 1 head of garlic, crushed 20 whole cloves hog casings 10 lbs of pork 5 lbs of beef 6 oz salt pork or bacon 5 cloves garlic, crushed 1/3 cup salt 4 Tbsp pimenton dulce (paprika) 1 Tbsp (heaping) nutmeg 1 Tbsp white pepper

Instructions:

Gently boil wine, head of garlic, and whole cloves for 15 to 20 minutes, then cool. Pass thru a cloth to filter out the sediment.

Cut pork, beef, and bacon into strips and feed thru a meat grinder set on coarse grind. Mix spices together and spread over meat mixture. Crush the garlic cloves and add to meat.

Pour the cooled wine over meat and mix thoroughly to blend all ingredients.

Feed the mixture thru a sausage stuffer into casing. Let sausage rest in a refrigerator for 3 days before cooking or freezing.