Pork is Yummy!

Carnitas

It’s my turn to cook tonight and I don’t have a clue what I’m going to do.  I really hadn’t thought much about it, to tell you the truth.  I’m usually good about planning meals in advance because I’m not particularly good at improvising; that’s Derek’s area of expertise.  I don’t know what happened to me today, but I figured that since I have no ideas, I’d talk about the Carnitas Derek made last night.  Carnitas means “little pieces of meat” in Spanish, and that’s exactly what they are.  Carnitas are typically served with tortillas, sometimes soft and sometimes on a tostada, which is a “toasted” tortilla.  Almost every cuisine has its special pork preparations; the Italians have many, including prosciutto, pancetta, and the lesser known guanciale, which is the salt cured meat used in the traditional version of Pasta Carbonara.  The Spanish have Jamón Serrano and Ibérico, as well as their dry cured version of chorizo.  Cajun cuisine favors andouille and tasso, while the traditional French pretty much eat any part of an animal that doesn’t eat them first!  One of the better known pork preparations in Mexico is chorizo, but tacos al pastor and tacos de carnitas are very popular as well.  When I lived in Cozumel, pork was the best meat you could get on the island, as they brought live pigs over every day on the car ferry, so the pork was as fresh as it gets.  I’ve never found pork in the U.S. that compares with that of Mexican pork, but Derek has found a way to make me believe I’m in Mexico, at least during dinner.  He uses a foolproof recipe from Cook’s Illustrated, which is our bible for all things food.  I can’t begin to describe the perfection of that pork, with its thin crunchy exterior, and moist porky interior, but maybe the pictures will help.  He served the Carnitas  with fresh corn tortillas from our Mexican grocery store down the street, black beans and a beautiful salsa made from our gorgeous Juliets and Poblano peppers, which he roasted and peeled.  I could have eaten those little nuggets of joy 'til my head caved in.  Derek stopped me.