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PIG ROAST CUBAN STYLE

June 20, 2006
Show #451

Summer is the time for ritualized outdoor cooking, big communal feasts centered around a big glowing fire. One of the most common of these semi-tribal hoe-downs is the Pig Roast. A little research plus a few decades of life experience suggests that there are as many ways to roast a pig as there are regions in our country. In North Carolina, they dig a hold in the ground, pour in the hardwood charcoal, on which they set on the spring from a mattress. The pig goes on that, burlap goes over the pig, and sauce is applied with a mop. In Hawaii they use hot stones and banana leaves. Elsewhere it's an old oil drum on its side.

But if you're going to roast a pig Cuban style, you need to get a special piece of equipment which could change your life. It's the Caja China, or Cuban "China Box". Thought to resemble the crates used to send tea from China, this portable barbecue pit is a plywood box on wheels, lined with aluminum and fitted with roasting racks. The pig sits above a drip tray, tied between two racks. Above it is a grill which holds an enormous mound of burning charcoal. The heat cooks down, and the roasting chamber is tightly sealed. It takes about 4 hours and nearly 30 pounds of charcoal to do a 60 pound pig. What makes this approach interesting is the lack of basting sauce. The pig is internally marinated with injections of commercially prepared "mojo." The result is a truly succulent, amazingly flavorful meat that will delight a crowd of hundreds.

Our thanks to Raul Cuervo of Virginia, who invited us to his highly anticipated annual pig roast. A Cuban native, Raul is a master of the Caja China and a thoroughly gracious host. You can get information on the Caja China by simply going to www.lacajachina.com. And you can use it for Thanksgiving turkeys as well.

 

Summer is the time for ritualized outdoor cooking, big communal feasts centered around a big glowing fire.  One of the most common of these semi-tribal hoe-downs is the Pig Roast.  A little research plus a few decades of life experience suggests that there are as many ways to roast a pig as there are regions in our country.  In North Carolina, they dig a hold in the ground, pour in the hardwood charcoal, on which they set on the spring from a mattress.  The pig goes on that, burlap goes over the pig, and sauce is applied with a mop.  In Hawaii they use hot stones and banana leaves. Elsewhere it's an old oil drum on its side.

But if you're going to roast a pig Cuban style, you need to get a special piece of equipment which could change your life.  It's the Caja China, or Cuban "China Box".

Thought to resemble the crates used to send tea from China, this portable barbecue pit is a plywood box on wheels, lined with aluminum and fitted with roasting racks. 

The pig sits above a drip tray, tied between two racks.  Above it is a grill which holds an enormous mound of burning charcoal.  The heat cooks down, and the roasting chamber is tightly sealed.  It takes about 4 hours and nearly 30 pounds of charcoal to do a 60 pound pig.  What makes this approach interesting is the lack of basting sauce.    The pig is internally marinated with injections of commercially prepared "mojo."  The result is a truly succulent, amazingly flavorful meat that will delight a crowd of hundreds.

 

Our thanks to Raul Cuervo of Virginia, who invited us to his highly anticipated annual pig roast. 

A Cuban native, Raul is a master of the Caja China and a thoroughly gracious host.  You can get

information on the Caja China by simply going to http://www.lacajachina.com. And you can use it for Thanksgiving turkeys as well.

 

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