I made some carnitas the other day and used it to make quesadillas with flour tortillas which we ate with guacamole, sour cream and salsa.

I expect most American readers will recognize the foods mentioned in that sentence but others may not be altogether familiar with some of them. For those who may not be familiar, here is a breakdown:

Carnitas is a Mexican dish made by deep-frying chunks of pork (typically pork shoulder) in pork fat until it is crispy on the outside and deliciously succulent on the inside. The cooked pork is then shredded into bite sized pieces. It may sound like the meat would be grossly unhealthy and greasy but in fact it isn’t. Duck confit is cooked in a similar way with pieces of duck cooked in duck fat. If you have ever had it you know it is actually quite lean but very delicious. And so it is with the pork.

Quesadillas are a traditional Mexican street food made by warming tortillas (either corn or flour), spread with cheese (queso in Spanish – hence the name) and any number of different fillings.

Tortillas. If you are in Spain and ask for a tortilla you will be served a kind of omelet made with potatoes and onions. Tortillas are typically served in tapas bars accompanied with allioli (a kind of garlicky mayonnaise and spelled aioli in France). In Mexico a tortilla is something completely different. It is a kind of flat bread made with either ground corn (called Masa) or with regular white flour, mixed to a dough with lard and water. Both kinds of tortilla are used to make quesadillas, burritos, tacos and the like. Filled with a huge variety of fillings these foods are typically “finger food”, eaten out of hand rather than with a knife and fork. Messy sometimes, but very satisfying.

Guacamole. Guac is the Aztec word for avocado and Mole means sauce. So, guacamole is simply avocado sauce. In it’s basic form guacamole is just mashed avocado with a spritz of lime juice (for flavor and to slow down oxidation) and a pinch of salt. Other versions are tarted up with onion, tomato, cilantro (called coriander leaves in the UK and otherwise sometimes called Chinese parsley) amongst other things. Some guacamoles are smooth and liquid to the point of being pourable while others are thick and chunky. They are all very delicious.

But today we are focusing on the Carnitas. I don’t imagine many households have huge vats of pork fat in the kitchen so this version is for the home cook and is one of many ways Mexican home cooks prepare carnitas. It takes 2-3 hours to make but most of that time is unattended; that is to say, the pork bubbles away on the stove top and needs only an occasional peek to monitor its progress.

No “Buts”, it’s got to be Butt

The preferred cut of pork for carnitas is the upper shoulder of the pig, sold in the US as pork butt; a name that is a bit off-putting because some people think it is the pig’s butt. In fact, the name comes from the barrel or butt used in the bad old days to store pig parts. When the hog was butchered some of the pieces not used right away or cured (like the belly for bacon) were stored in the butt, covered with melted pork fat. The fat would exclude oxygen and bacteria, thereby inhibiting spoilage. The very perishable pork meat could be stored for extended periods this way.

I don’t know how pork shoulder is sold in the UK (or anywhere else outside the US) but ask the butcher if in doubt. You want a piece that has a good proportion of fat and connective tissue. The connective tissue will break down as it cooks and give the meat a luxurious texture and the fat will add lots of flavor. You may need to trim some of the larger pieces of fat if it is a particularly fatty piece of meat, but don’t be tempted to trim too much. And don’t try this with lean pork; it will cook up dry and tough. If you can’t get pork shoulder, give up the carnitas idea and grill a chop instead!

Easy Peasy

Our carnitas couldn’t be simpler; the pork is braised in a mix of water and orange juice for a couple of hours until the liquid boils away. The fully cooked meat then fries in its own fat till the outside crisps up, approximating the crispy deep fried version.

Waste not, want not!

If you do trim some of the fat cap, don’t throw it away. Cut it into small pieces and put it in a small pot over very low heat to render the fat. Pork fat is great for sautéing and for making tortillas, which is what I usually do with it.

What are you going to do with all this lovely meat? Make quesadillas? Good idea. Today at the store I bought some sweet potatoes to mash up and serve with the pork cuz, you know, anything sweet goes with pork. You could mix in a little BBQ sauce and put this on a sandwich or serve it with creamy mashed potatoes or roasted vegetables.

Bon Appetite!