Hi Ho Silva

Silva Sausage Breakfast Link Size Linguica

I found these breakfast size Portuguese sausage links at Nielsen's market while in Solvang so I thought I'd give them a try. I've tried Silva's regular Linguica before so I figured the only difference would be in the shape. I found the regular linguica at our local supermarket and having run out of Hawaiian style Portuguese sausage one day, figured it could be a similar enough stand-in.

Growing up in Hawaii we ate a lot of Portuguese sausage, mainly as a breakfast meat along with Spam and bacon or as the key ingredient in Portuguese bean soup, a Hawaiian favorite. Hawaiian style Portuguese sausage, of which there are many different brands today, are all similarly identifiable in flavor; porky, spicy, smoky, salty and very, very garlicky. The main differences between the various brands seems to be hot or mild and the coarseness of the grind. Silva's linguica tastes similar but has a pronounced "paprikaness" to it reminiscent of chorizo. Only slightly spicy hot, the breakfast size links seemed a bit leaner too, perhaps a little lighter in fat content. The hand tied, natural sheep casings give the sausage a good bite resulting in a sausage more a kin to an Algerian merguez in texture.

The Line Up
"Number three, turn to your left"

All things considered, a great tasting sausage. Not exactly like Hawaiian style Portuguese sausage but tasty nonetheless in it's own unique way. If memory serves me correctly, the Portuguese that initially came to Hawaii were from the Azores, so maybe Hawaiian style Portuguese sausage is actually more specifically Azoreian style Portuguese sausage if there is such a thing. In any case, Portuguese sausage, no matter what it's regionality remains one of my favorites.

Good To Go