Carnita fiesta

Carnitas

Our friend Luis is building a bodega (storage building) on a lot he owns in El Pitallal. The lot is probably ¼ acre or so and has a mango tree and a bunch of palm trees along the wall around the property. The bodega is on one side of the lot, there are 2 palapas being built in the center of the lot, and in one corner is a kitchen area with a sink, fridge and wood-cooking pit.
The building is now 2 stories tall. Yesterday, Luis and the construction crew had a concrete truck come out to pour the roof. The building, while not finished, is now basically closed in. After pouring the roof, Luis hosted a party for the crew and some of their families. They cooked carnitas. We had heard of carnitas, but didn’t know what it was. It is basically a bunch of various pork parts boiled in lard. Now if that doesn’t stop your heart on the spot, what will?
The carnita cooking took place in one of those giant copper pots you see for sale along the side of the road. A 55-gallon drum was split in half. One half was fashioned into the base for the copper pot. A gas burner was placed in the drum and the copper pot on top. The other half of the barrel became the cooking surface for the tortillas. Another gas burner went under that half.
The lard was put into the pot and then heated up some. As the pork cooked, it provided more lard for cooking. The pork was cooked for a while just in the lard. It had to be stirred with what looked like a wooden oar. As the meat got almost done, the cook added Coca Cola, beer and salt to the lard. He then put some fruit on a huge fork that looked like Neptune’s spear. There was pineapple, oranges, limes and onion. All that was cooked in the lard, too, to give the meat a different flavor.
While the meat was cooking, the corn tortillas were being made. First, the cooking surface was prepared by spreading a mixture of lime (the powdered stone kind, not the fruit) and water on it and heating it. The tortillas were made by forming balls from the dough and pressing them in a wooden tortilla press. The woman who was cooking them flipped them by using her fingers, not a spatula.
I helped press the tortillas but wasn’t very good at flipping them. Ouch! My fingers aren’t insulated enough.
The woman who was making the tortillas also made several different types of salsa. They were varying degrees of hot-ness and all were very good. A pot of beans was coked, too.
When the meat was done, it just fell apart into shreds. The meat went into the tortillas along with salsa and beans. They were very good! There was way more food than we could eat so the workers took some home to their families.
Along with the carnitas, plenty of beer was consumed. Since the lot is enclosed, the kids could run around without any worry as to where they were. The only thing missing was the hammocks that Luis will add between the trees after construction is done.
We also got to see how palapas are made. The palm fronds that are used must be green when they are put on. They are tied in place with baling wire. It is a lot of work!
When it is all completed, Luis and family will have a great place for fiestas. They will also have a nice large storage building of 4 or 6 units. We hope to store some of our extra things there at some point. Our Bucerias house doesn’t have a lot of storage space, so maybe out of season things like Christmas decorations, etc could be stored in the bodega.
The biggest downside of the day was that Monika was not feeling well so she and the kids did not come to the fiesta. I guess we’ll have to have another one!