Recipe Spanish chorizo and potato chips

Chorizo is not one but hundreds of different Spanish sausages. These can be smoked or unsmoked, made with or without wine and with varying strengths of garlic but, say sausage and charcuterie experts, the two things that are in common to all are pork and pimento. A picante chorizo will be spicy hot. The big bore slicing chorizo can be eaten just like salami. Smaller, softer chorizo are usually made to be cooked and served whole.

As with all fried foods, they are best eaten as soon as they are cooked. You will need a good chipping potato, such as Mans Piper or Desirée, and a mandoline for this recipe.

Ingredients (Serves 8)
• 1 large potato (suitable for chips, peeled)
• 2 cooking chorizo sausages
• Vegetable or groundnut oil for deep-frying
• Few chives

Instructions
Using a mandoline set to slice as finely as possible, cut the potato into wafer-thin slices; you will need about 20 perfect slices. Remove the skin from the chorizo, and then cut into finger length pieces.

Lay a piece of chorizo across each potato slice. Roll the potato around the chorizo carefully to form a cylinder and lay seam side down. If the potato slice is thin enough, it will stick to the chorizo and stay in place.

Heat the oil in deep-fryer or deep saucepan to 180°c. Carefully lower four or five chorizo and potato rolls into the hot oil and deep-fry for three minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Repeat to cook the rest (in batches). Pile on to a plate, top with chives and serve at once.