Chorizo

This fantastic salad from Food & Wine’s Laura Rege combines crisp roasted fingerling potatoes and chorizo with fresh, sweet figs, crunchy fennel and sharp arugula.

At their San Antonio restaurant, Mixtli, F&W Best New Chefs 2017 Rico Torres and Diego Galicia rotate their menu based on different regions of Mexico. These addictive sandwiches are a nod to Galicia’s hometown of Toluca, close to Mexico City. He says that molletes are incredibly popular for breakfast or dinner, and are pretty much available on every menu around the city. “The most traditional ones are chorizo,” he says, “mainly because Toluca is the chorizo capital of Mexico, and we Toluqueños are referred to as chorizeros.”

This fragrant chicken stew is a mash-up of Central and South American ingredients--coconut, Mexican chorizo, cilantro, lime--that Top Chef winner CJ Jacobson came across while traveling.

Jim German and his wife, Claire Johnston, make wonderfully simple snacks to accompany his cocktails. A favorite at their restaurant, Jimgermanbar, is this smoky Spanish sausage with garlic, cooked gently in red wine until it's plump and juicy.

Except for its Velveeta-y chile con queso, San Francisco's Tacolicious prizes local ingredients—both at its Ferry Plaza stand and at its restaurant.

These crispy rolls, adapted from the cookbook Nirmala's Edible Diary are a riff on Argentinean street food.

This hearty soup pairs well with an earthy Rioja.

These little patties are moist and dense, almost like a griddle scone. Grace Parisi cooks them on a griddle, just like pancakes, and serves them with a spicy butter made with sambal oelek (Asian chile sauce).

"I don't know if I invented this combo, but since I don't remember stealing it from anyone, I'll take the credit," says Michael Schwartz of his ingenious pizza topping of shrimp, escarole, tangy Manchego and spicy chorizo.

This timeless tapa from Spanish cookbook author Penelope Casas has everything going for it—it's sweet, smoky and savory, all in one bite.

At her restaurant, Brasa, pork-loving chef Tamara Murphy makes her own chorizo for the excellent paella on her menu. As for the seafood in the dish, she breaks with tradition by sautéing the shrimp and steaming the mussels and clams before adding them to the paella during the last few minutes of cooking; this keeps the seafood moist and delicious.

Chef David Kinch loves to say that this hearty combination of crumbled chorizo, chunks of crispy potatoes and eggs—all cooked together in a big cast-iron skillet—is his Mexican-Californian twist on rösti, the classic Swiss fried-potato breakfast.

Jose Garces prepares fresh coca dough, a Spanish dough similar to pizza dough, for the flatbreads. He also cooks dried garbanzos for the bean puree that's spread on top. At home, store-bought pitas take the place of coca dough, topped with good-quality prepared hummus, fresh shrimp and spicy slices of chorizo.

Rather than traditional sausage stuffing, chef George Mendes of NYC's Aldea serves a smoky version using chorizo and hot pimentón de la Vera (smoked paprika).

This stew, like all those in Catalonia, starts with a sofrito, a thick sauce made with sautéed onions and tomatoes. Once you get all the ingredients in the pot, there's not much to do besides enjoy the aroma wafting from this hearty, spicy, soupy stew as it slowly cooks.

The superfast, supertasty marinade for the shrimp, flavored with caraway seeds and ancho powder, would also be delicious with chicken, pork tenderloin and any kind of steak.

The dried butter beans for this simple dish can take as long as two hours to cook. At home, use canned butter beans to cut the prep time to 20 minutes. Serve the dish as a hearty, satisfying main course.

Pairing Suggestion: A sparkling wine or crisp Sauvignon Blanc from California—or even a Mexican beer—is a good foil for this spicy dish.