It may be autumn outside but in a corner of north Derbyshire warm, summery, sunshine flavours are never far away. Fiona Stubbs meets the couple behind Casa Gomez Ltd – creating chorizo and sauces based on traditional Spanish recipes.
FELIX Gomez fondly remembers his childhood in rural Spain… a life of self-sufficiency, where people grew their own food, loading up their mules to exchange produce with other villagers. While families lacked many of the conveniences we now take for granted, food was simple, sustainable – and healthy.
Now Felix and his wife Sheila have captured the essence of traditional Spanish cuisine in their business, Casa Gomez Ltd. Specialising in natural homemade chorizo, Felix now also produces pancetta. Authentic accompaniments include chorizo paste, brava sauce and Spanish pisto and pisto picante – sauces including tomatoes, mixed peppers and onions.
Since launching their business in 2020, Felix and Sheila have built a loyal following, selling online and through markets across Derbyshire and South Yorkshire.
Chorizos and pancettas are handmade, using simple, natural and local ingredients and – like the sauces – are based on recipes passed down the generations from Felix’s grandmother Gabina, his father Felix and mother Bernarda.
The chorizo is cured in temperature-controlled cabinets sourced from northern Spain… a more sophisticated process than of old. Sheila says: “In the past, people in Spain didn’t have fridges and freezers, so curing meat was a way of keeping it safe to eat throughout the year. It was a similar process with the sauces – when there was a glut of tomatoes, peppers and onions in the summer, they’d make pisto and bottle it. Every single house prepared pisto. It was very organised – they didn’t waste anything.”
Felix adds: “At Christmas and at festival times, we’d bring out all the foods we’d been saving. Tables would be full of chorizo, black puddings, jamon serrano – all produced without freezers. There’d be bread and pisto, locally-made wine and olive oil. It’s important for our health to eat a wide variety of foods and we had plenty of vitamins.”
Felix grew up in a small village near Cuenca in the mountains of east-central Spain. Founded by Moors, Cuenca lies on a limestone spur above the Júcar and Huécar rivers. It is famous for its well-preserved, cantilevered ‘hanging houses’ which appear to cling to the cliffs over the Huécar gorge.
“When Felix was a young child, it was like going back 200 years,” says Sheila. “His family didn’t have a car; they had a mule to take them to the market. They grew everything themselves – they were very self-sufficient.
“Wine was also made in the area by many people – including Felix’s dad. People in another village grew olives and made olive oil. Others produced cereals, cutting their crops by hand. Families used to collect lavender for perfumes and make their own soap, too.
“People would meet up with their mules and exchange goods. I love it when Felix tells me stories about life in the village when he was growing up. It sounds idyllic, but it wasn’t always so. During the Spanish Civil War – quickly followed by the Second World War – there wasn’t much food. If people didn’t grow their own, they didn’t eat.”
The couple met in Tenerife in 1983, when Felix was working as a waiter and Sheila was on holiday. “It was a holiday romance,” smiles Sheila. “They said it would never last but I immediately knew I was going to marry him. I was a student nurse and kept going over to see him. After two years, I went to live in Tenerife.”
Sheila’s family lived in Eckington and the couple – who have four grown up children – returned 31 years ago.
Both keen cooks, they launched Casa Gomez Ltd partly as a retirement project for Felix, while Sheila continues to work in the NHS.
Coinciding with the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was a difficult beginning and, unable to sell their first batch of chorizos due to lockdown, they donated them to Chesterfield Royal Hospital.
As restrictions eased, however, Casa Gomez grew, with Sheila and Felix adding a specially-built unit in the garden of their Eckington home. Used for chorizo and pancetta production, customers are assured that the meats are free not only of additives, preservatives, gluten and dairy but allergens, too.
Chorizo is produced as closely as possible to traditional principles. The pork is outdoor reared by a local farmer and other ingredients – except paprika – are locally produced. The paprika is sourced from Spain to ensure Casa Gomez chorizo has an authentic, distinct, smoky aroma.
A bay tree outside their house provides bay leaves to use in the sauces throughout the year and Felix loves to cook with other herbs grown in the garden.
Each month, he produces 72kg of chorizo and 40kg of pancetta. Chorizo is cured for 24 to 26 days and pancetta for 28 days. Felix makes chorizo paste at nearby Moss Valley Meats, while the other sauces are made in Sheffield.
Both Felix and Sheila enjoy sharing their foods and related recipes with customers at markets – and through their Facebook and Instagram accounts. “We love talking to people,” says Sheila. “Our customers regularly post [on social media] how they have used our chorizos and sauces in their own recipes, which is great to see.”
Sheila is vegetarian so doesn’t eat chorizo – but their tried and tested recipes can be easily adapted to be enjoyed by non-meat eaters.
For those who do indulge in this most Spanish of delicacies, there are many ways to enjoy chorizo, says Felix. “Our chorizos are ready to eat – they can be eaten cold with salad in the summer or any time with bread, cheese and wine. In the winter, they add delicious flavour to casseroles and soups.”
Editor’s Note: Learn more at www.chorizocasagomez.com Orders via chorizosgomez@btinternet.com or 07549 034563. Try the flavours of Casa Gomez at Christmas markets, including: 7th December – Wirksworth; 8th December – Nether Edge, Sheffield; 15th December – Pollen Market, Sheffield; 21st December – Bakewell; 22nd December – Cutlery Works, Sheffield.