Omnivore - As if: carnitas in 6 minutes!
Mexican meat from Kroger
WTF? You never know what you’re going to encounter at the Kroger after midnight. I can’t bring myself to do it, but someone else please try these six-minute, thin-sliced, ready-to-grill, low-fat carnitas from Kroger.
I became a carnitas freak during my Houston years in the mid-’80s. When I returned to Atlanta for a second stint of editing Creative Loafing, I could not find them anywhere. Even after the explosion of taquerias along Buford Highway, it was difficult to find more than pulled pork posing as carnitas. Hell, you couldn’t even find pico de gallo or salsa verde then.
There are many ways of making carnitas in Mexico, but, believe me, carnitas auténticas are a lot more than pulled pork. They gotta be caramelized, crispy, tender, juicy, salty. My favorite recipe has always been Diana Kennedy’s in “The Cuisines of Mexico.” It’s lardless and a bit labor-intensive compared to throwing a hunk of pork in the oven, but vale la pena.
Meanwhile, please be advised that carnitas can cause your brain to swell with worms and induce epileptic seizures. Yes, they are that good!