Comments on: Carnitas (Little Bits of Meat) http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html A Historian's Take on Food and Food Politics Fri, 5 Dec 2008 08:50:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: The Piggery! » Blog Archive » Carnitas are coming! And confit. http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-1787 The Piggery! » Blog Archive » Carnitas are coming! And confit. Sun, 13 Jul 2008 19:59:53 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-1787 [...] Which brings us to the question of what exactly are carnitas and pork confit. According to this, carnitas are “little chunks of meat, meat meaning pork, cooked in its own fat, with [...] [...] Which brings us to the question of what exactly are carnitas and pork confit. According to this, carnitas are “little chunks of meat, meat meaning pork, cooked in its own fat, with [...]

]]> By: Rachel Laudan http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-809 Rachel Laudan Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:59:25 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-809 Holly, I love your comment because it links so directly to traditions in other parts of the world. I'm mulling over its implications and will include comments in future posts. Holly, I love your comment because it links so directly to traditions in other parts of the world. I’m mulling over its implications and will include comments in future posts.

]]> By: Rachel Laudan http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-786 Rachel Laudan Fri, 30 May 2008 14:47:03 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-786 This comment is from Holly Chase holly@hollychase.com but I'm posting it for tedious reasons you don't want to know about. Think of confit and using rendered fat to seal a vessel of cooked meat. In Turkey, where much of the country has a long cold season, this is called “kavurma” and has been done with lamb and mutton. As required, the preserved meat is removed from the fat-covered container to be fried in a shallow “sac, a thin iron pan like a very shallow wok. It is served with bread, and perhaps a bulgur pilav. Although the preservation technique is no longer so common, the idea of “sac kavurma”persists, and it is a dish to be found in many humble eateries: little bits of fresh lamb fried are sauteed in oil, seasoned with onion, green pepper (hot or not) and perhaps with a little tomato paste– rather like the citrus addition to carnitas. It is often made over a campfire, and is unusual for an outdoor dish in that it is soupy not a grilled. Sac Kavurma is associated with an outdoor cooking culture, and thus is romantically linked to the Turks’ nomadic past. Indeed, the cooking vessel, the lightweight and versatile sac, is a good example of a dual-purpose element of a migrant’s battery de cuisine. When inverted over coals the same sac is used as a griddle on which breads are cooked. But I digress… Because lamb and pig fat can be remain solid at relatively high room temperatures, I suspect that carnitas may well have evolved from the Old World technique of preservation. A thick layer of fat– even if not very hard — will retard spoilage of cooked meat for some time if the vessel is kept dark and cool. It is the resulting taste and everything nostalgically associated with the dish that keeps kavurma current in Turkey. I would suggest the same may be true for carnitas in Mexico. The big difference now is that there is not even the pretense of preservation because all the meat of one animal can be consumed in a short time. This comment is from Holly Chase holly@hollychase.com but I’m posting it for tedious reasons you don’t want to know about.

Think of confit and using rendered fat to seal a vessel of cooked meat.

In Turkey, where much of the country has a long cold season, this is called “kavurma” and has been done with lamb and mutton. As required, the preserved meat is removed from the fat-covered container to be fried in a shallow “sac, a thin iron pan like a very shallow wok. It is served with bread, and perhaps a bulgur pilav.

Although the preservation technique is no longer so common, the idea of “sac kavurma”persists, and it is a dish to be found in many humble eateries: little bits of fresh lamb fried are sauteed in oil, seasoned with onion, green pepper (hot or not) and perhaps with a little tomato paste– rather like the citrus addition to carnitas.

It is often made over a campfire, and is unusual for an outdoor dish in that it is soupy not a grilled. Sac Kavurma is associated with an outdoor cooking culture, and thus is romantically linked to the Turks’ nomadic past. Indeed, the cooking vessel, the lightweight and versatile sac, is a good example of a dual-purpose element of a migrant’s battery de cuisine. When inverted over coals the same sac is used as a griddle on which breads are cooked.

But I digress…

Because lamb and pig fat can be remain solid at relatively high room temperatures, I suspect that carnitas may well have evolved from the Old World technique of preservation. A thick layer of fat– even if not very hard — will retard spoilage of cooked meat for some time if the vessel is kept dark and cool.

It is the resulting taste and everything nostalgically associated with the dish that keeps kavurma current in Turkey. I would suggest the same may be true for carnitas in Mexico. The big difference now is that there is not even the pretense of preservation because all the meat of one animal can be consumed in a short time.

]]> By: Steve Sando http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-778 Steve Sando Thu, 29 May 2008 15:24:30 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-778 Bob, that's a great bit of info. Here in Northern California at many of the wineries, it's not uncommon to make carnitas at the end of the grape harvest and have a party. A lot of the milpero tomatillos that have naturalized in the vineyards are used for a salsa. Bob, that’s a great bit of info. Here in Northern California at many of the wineries, it’s not uncommon to make carnitas at the end of the grape harvest and have a party. A lot of the milpero tomatillos that have naturalized in the vineyards are used for a salsa.

]]> By: Bob Mrotek http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-775 Bob Mrotek Wed, 28 May 2008 23:55:40 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-775 Around Christmastime, when people in the market sell the various little plaster figures that make up the "nacimientos" or "manger scenes" the figure of a man standing with a knife over a dead pig that is laying next to a big pot is a very common item. I have one in my house and people always ask me why I have it out when it isn't even Christmas. The fact is that up until about the 1960's carnitas was a Christmas thing. People would buy a little piglet in the spring and feed it scraps all year and then butcher it for carnitas to be eaten on Nochebuena which is Christmas Eve. The majority of people didn't have much meat in their diets and many still don't, especially here in Central Mexico outside of the big cities. Anyone who can afford carnitas on a regular basis would be considered a "rico". At the plant where I work the boss gives a fiesta for the workers several times a year and we usually kill a pig and have carnitas which the people really appreciate. Another thing...generally the pig is cooked in a liquid like orange juice and beer until its own fat starts to render and so it ends up being cooked in its own fat. Around Christmastime, when people in the market sell the various little plaster figures that make up the “nacimientos” or “manger scenes” the figure of a man standing with a knife over a dead pig that is laying next to a big pot is a very common item. I have one in my house and people always ask me why I have it out when it isn’t even Christmas. The fact is that up until about the 1960’s carnitas was a Christmas thing. People would buy a little piglet in the spring and feed it scraps all year and then butcher it for carnitas to be eaten on Nochebuena which is Christmas Eve. The majority of people didn’t have much meat in their diets and many still don’t, especially here in Central Mexico outside of the big cities. Anyone who can afford carnitas on a regular basis would be considered a “rico”. At the plant where I work the boss gives a fiesta for the workers several times a year and we usually kill a pig and have carnitas which the people really appreciate. Another thing…generally the pig is cooked in a liquid like orange juice and beer until its own fat starts to render and so it ends up being cooked in its own fat.

]]> By: Adam Balic http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-770 Adam Balic Wed, 28 May 2008 20:52:41 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-770 Yes, for most cultures the idea of eating the whole pig like this would be completely insane. On the other-hand for special occassions a whole pig is often the centre piece of a feast. More often then not it is roasted whole, on a spit or in a pit. Visually this is more impressive I guess. The fact that the whole pig is chopped up and put into a pot for carnitas really does say that killing a pig very common place. Yes, for most cultures the idea of eating the whole pig like this would be completely insane.

On the other-hand for special occassions a whole pig is often the centre piece of a feast. More often then not it is roasted whole, on a spit or in a pit. Visually this is more impressive I guess. The fact that the whole pig is chopped up and put into a pot for carnitas really does say that killing a pig very common place.

]]> By: Steve Sando http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-769 Steve Sando Wed, 28 May 2008 19:27:08 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-769 Hey! That place looks familiar! I think you took me there and yes, it was all good but the "variety" pieces were incredible, just as you say. Hey! That place looks familiar! I think you took me there and yes, it was all good but the “variety” pieces were incredible, just as you say.

]]> By: Rachel Laudan http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-768 Rachel Laudan Wed, 28 May 2008 18:13:26 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-768 Oh, and in response to Adam, even though there are examples such as the one Diana cites, I can't think of a whole lot. What I say to myself about Mexico was that meat was abundant after the conquest and did not have to be carefully preserved for the whole winter or year. But at the same time for a family a whole dead pig is a lot to handle. Hence have a party. And boiled in fat is more appealing than boiled in water and most villages did not have bread ovens. Oh, and in response to Adam, even though there are examples such as the one Diana cites, I can’t think of a whole lot. What I say to myself about Mexico was that meat was abundant after the conquest and did not have to be carefully preserved for the whole winter or year. But at the same time for a family a whole dead pig is a lot to handle. Hence have a party. And boiled in fat is more appealing than boiled in water and most villages did not have bread ovens.

]]> By: Rachel Laudan http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-767 Rachel Laudan Wed, 28 May 2008 18:09:03 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-767 Bib, you're right. I do mean aldilla. I've never been lucky enough to get the kidneys. Diana I love your Burundi examples. And is there anywhere in the world where Knorr stock powder or cubes has not penetrated? I don't think so. Bib, you’re right. I do mean aldilla. I’ve never been lucky enough to get the kidneys. Diana I love your Burundi examples. And is there anywhere in the world where Knorr stock powder or cubes has not penetrated? I don’t think so.

]]> By: Bob Mrotek http://www.rachellaudan.com/2008/05/carnitas-little-bits-of-meat.html#comment-765 Bob Mrotek Wed, 28 May 2008 16:10:32 +0000 http://www.rachellaudan.com/?p=345#comment-765 Rachel, I think for adillo you mean aldilla. My favorite parts of carnitas are the riñones which are the kidneys. There are only two in each pig so you really have to fight for them. They are usually about the size of a large mamey pit. Everyone has a favorite recipe for cooking carnitas. Many of them include orange juice, lime juice, and beer. If you don't want to eat much fat you can always choose the lean pieces which are very tasty. This blog makes me very hungry. I think I'll go out and have carnitas for lunch! This is a great blog by the way. Very well done! Rachel,
I think for adillo you mean aldilla. My favorite parts of carnitas are the riñones which are the kidneys. There are only two in each pig so you really have to fight for them. They are usually about the size of a large mamey pit. Everyone has a favorite recipe for cooking carnitas. Many of them include orange juice, lime juice, and beer. If you don’t want to eat much fat you can always choose the lean pieces which are very tasty. This blog makes me very hungry. I think I’ll go out and have carnitas for lunch! This is a great blog by the way. Very well done!

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