My fondest memory of this dish comes from a course on Regional Mexican Food at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone when they invited Silvio Campos, an indigenous Mayan that stood at most 4′ 9″. He prepared this in a specially dug pit and served it with several Mayan specialties such as sikil pak, a delicious pumpkin seed paste or spread, and papadzules, hard-boiled-egg-stuffed little tacos in an intense pumpkin seed purée. It was all wonderful. After lunch, they brought him up to the stage to introduce him and he started crying uncontrollably and it took a long time for him to gain control again. It was very uncomfortable but, when he finally did, he said in a halting voice, “I thank the Culinary Institute of America for giving me this opportunity to put the name of my community so high.”
Slow-cooked Pork Yucatán-style (Cochinita pibil)
Ingredients
- 1 package fresh or frozen banana leaves
- One 4-6 pound pork shoulder or butt cut into three large pieces
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 recipe of
Achiote Paste (Recado de adobo colorado)
Instructions
- Open and wipe clean 6 large banana leaves and line a pan as shown in the recipe picture.
- Season the meat with salt and pepper. Slather the Achiote Paste all over on all sides.
- Place meat in the pan and fold the banana leaves over to enclose the meat thoroughly. Cover the pan tightly with heavy aluminum foil and bake about 4-5 hours, or until the meat is falling off the bone.
