The guy with the twinkling eye below is our friend, Conrad. He grew up in Alabama and has lived, worked and cooked in Atlanta, Barcelona, San Francisco and New York. And Conrad knows more than just a thing or two about cooking.
Conrad knows that real Bar B Que is about slow cooked pig and smoke, - and not beef with a sauce that masks the flavor of the meat. Real Bar B Que is a subtle thing, - sweet smokey pork cooked long and low with a light vinegar sauce. And boy does Conrad know how to do it right!
Last week Conrad and I went together to a favorite butcher shop in the nearby city of Silao where we buy wonderful Chorizos de Almendrada, a special chorizo made with dried fruits and almonds in addition to chirozo's normal meat and spice sausage stuffing. While we were there we asked them if they could get 'hombro de cerdo completo'. We had been heretofore unable to find a pork shoulder that still had sufficient fat on it for self basting long cooking. The fat on pork in Mexico is usually removed as lard and cracklins (chicharones), are highly desired. To our surprise our little carniceros friends carted out and flopped on the counter a whole pig not yet butchered and asked us just how we would like it cut. Conrad directed them and we got a beautiful pork shoulder still covered with a thick layer of fat.
Conrad cooked the shoulder overnight very slowly with a gentle smoke and the ensuing party was not unlike any 'pig pickin' you may have attended in North Carolina, Georgia or Alabama. - except it was better. After chopping the pork just the correct amount, Conrad served sandwiches with the pork and a perfectly complimentary cole slaw that he had prepared. Our friends, Southerners, Yankees and Mexican alike were all awed.
!5 Hours of slow cook and smoke
Just Right!
The Chop Kibitz
- Asombroso Conrad! Hog heaven!
- Asombroso Conrad! Hog heaven!
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