Here’s how you really make cochinita pibil: Dig a pit and build a large wood fire in it. Cover the wood with rocks. When the rocks crack, they’re ready. Rub the pork as directed here, then wrap it in banana leaves. Put in the pit, then cover with leaves and douse the whole thing with water. Cover the pit. Let sit for a day or so. Eat. Or try my method, which is not bad at all.

　　

Ingredients

makes about 10 servings

　　1 boneless pork shoulder (picnic or Boston butt), about 6 pounds

　　6 garlic cloves, slivered

　　1 recipe Recado Rojo (page 609)

　　1/4 cup fresh orange juice

　　1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

　　1 recipe Habanero-Garlic Salsa (page 611)

　　

Step 1

Use a thin-bladed knife to poke holes all over the pork; as you do so, shove slivers of garlic in there. Combine the Recado Rojo with the orange and lemon juices and rub all over the pork. Wrap loosely in foil and refrigerate overnight.

　　

Step 2

Five or 6 hours before you’re ready to eat, turn the oven to 300°F or prepare a charcoal or gas grill to cook over low indirect heat (ideally with some wood or wood chips as a flavoring source; see the headnote on page 352). Open the top of the foil and put the pork in a roasting pan in the oven or directly on the grill rack; if you’re grilling, cover the grill. Cook, checking occasionally and basting with the pan juices (add water or orange juice to the bottom of the foil package if the mixture dries out), until the pork is brown and very, very tender—4 hours or more.

　　

Step 3

Serve hot or at room temperature, with the pan juices and Habanero-Garlic Salsa.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.