Recently, we noticed that the sign now also mentions Patzcuaro, Mexico, as another sister city. Apparently it's not enough for Naperville to just have one sister city.
Anyway, it's more than enough of an excuse for a cooking project since my food blog has been lacking ideas for some time. I decided to choose a food project that represents a dish from each sister city. Nitra isn't exactly low-hanging fruit in terms of famous dishes to choose (goulash?), so I went with something classic from the Michoacan region of Mexico, in which Patzcuaro is located.
Carnitas is a fairly well known pork filling for real tacos, especially in the Chicago area or other places with large Mexican-American populations. I could write a whole series of blog posts just about local taquerias!
Carnitas is a fairly simple concept--braise pork shoulder slowly in a citrusy liquid to essentially make soft pulled pork, but then quick fry it in lard for the crispy texture and rich flavor. You can easily get good fresh lard from a local Mexican grocery (ask for "manteca" if you know a little Spanish).
I used both oranges and limes in my version, but most recipes just call for one citrus ingredient. You can find a ton of examples. Citrus and salt are the main ideas though.
The 4-5 pound pork shoulder will take awhile to cook, maybe 3 hours on low heat. Some recipes just call for water, but others might suggest beer or even some milk.
The main thing here is to get some of the lard going hot in a pan and toss around the shredded pulled pork until it is slightly crispy, then drain some (but not all) the juices before adding it to a taco. I like real corn soft tacos with cilantro, onion, and chihuahua cheese, plus some salsa verde. I think in this photo I just used lettuce, chihuahua cheese, and some salsa verde from a jar but you can do what you prefer and don't worry about being "authentic" unless you like it that way!
Buen provecho!
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