Spanish cuisine is something I’ve come to love in recent years, so any opportunity to enjoy more of it is always welcome. This week’s Home Supper Club provided just such a possibility, serving a choripán alongside batatas al pomo and followed by alfajores.

First up, the choripán. The name is a portmanteau of chorizo and pán, the Spanish word for bread. It’s literally a chorizo sandwich. As a huge fan of chorizo, I was very excited by this – and it vastly exceeded my expectations. I’d never had chorizo in the small sausage format as presented in the sandwich, but it was well-cooked and had a good bite to it without being too chewy. The same can also be said of the vegan version. The paprika and spice of the chorizo merged well with the pickled cabbage (which offered a splash of colour to the mix), and the chimichurri served as an excellent spread – though it did make the bread slightly soggy in places. However, that’s something we can blame on having to serve the sandwiches in a take-away format: if they were served fresh, it undoubtedly wouldn’t have been an issue.

At this juncture, it’s worth me confessing that I love potatoes. Barring potato salad, I have never come across a method of cooking them that has disappointed me. Chips, mash, waffles, hash browns, if it’s a potato and it’s cooked, chances are I’ll like it. With this in mind, I devoured the batatas al pomo almost in one bite. The potatoes were lightly mashed, roasted, and covered in chimichurri – a green sauce of chopped parsley, oregano, garlic, onion, chili, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, and olive oil. The chimichurri offered a piquant, garlicky, spicy flavour to the potatoes, which were the right combination of mashed and roasted to be dipped in the accompanying salsa pot without losing structural integrity. In short, an absolutely perfect combination of flavours and textures.

For dessert were the alfajores. If you can imagine two NICE biscuits joined together by dulce de leche, you’re in roughly the right ballpark (and no, I haven’t tried that idea out - yet). The homemade biscuits had an almost cakey texture, which worked well with the dulce de leche, and a sprinkling of desiccated coconut stopped the whole thing from feeling too sweet.

The choripán itself is something that could easily be eaten at either lunch or dinner. Versatile and spicy without overwhelming heat, it works well served fresh. The potatoes would be an excellent accompaniment to any tapas meal or served alongside enchiladas. And as biscuits go, I will be checking the local global food stores to see if they sell alfajores. Bring on the next course!

Written By Nick Dunn