Cuban Pig

Name: Cuban Pig
Yield: serves 50
Ingredients: 1 whole dressed pig, butterflied approximately 90 pounds (see Pitmaster’s Tip, page 159); 30 Naranja Agria (sour orange) or seville oranges (12 cups juice), or the juice of 25 limes (3 cups), 20 sweet oranges (8 cups), and 12 lemons (1 cup); 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil; 1 cup dark rum; 1/4 cup garlic salt; 8 teaspoons salt; 8 teaspoons soy sauce; 4 teaspoons onion powder; 8 heads of garlic; 1 cup chopped green onions; 5 tablespoons dried oregano; 5 tablespoons black pepper; 8 teaspoons salt; Carribean Mojo Sauce (page 236)

December 9, 2011

One of the highlights in my culinary career was cooking for a Caribbean and Low-Country Food Festival I catered for Johnson & Wales University at the Middleton Place plantation outside of Charleston, South Carolina. We had just won the International Jamaican Jerk Style/Southern Barbecue Cook-Off, and we were invited to cook the Caribbean portion of the menu. Two 120-pound whole pigs were prepared for the event; one was cooked in the Jamaican jerk style, and the other was prepared Cuban-style with a sour-orange marinade. Once the guests were seated, the pigs were carried from the cooker like ancient royalty in a sedan-chair procession and presented at the head of the buffet. This was the only dinner I have ever attended where the main course, not the chef, got the standing ovation. I love the intensity and acidity of a sour-orange marinade, and over the years I have tried many ways to get these wonderful flavors dispersed throughout very thick cuts of meat. After much experimentation I’ve found that two solutions work best: a generous soaking with sour-orange flavors throughout the cooking process or a simple sour-orange injection. With apologies to traditionalists, I chose the latter.

Recipe notes