I often say that the best part of Christmas for me is being Cuban.
Our traditional Nochebuena celebration begins with the fabulousness that is Lechón Asado. A roasted pig. Or, if you don't have 50 of your closest relatives coming for dinner on Christmas Eve, then a 20 lb. pork shoulder will do. If you're a cheater, like me, you can also get your lechón happening in a slow-cooker. (Don't judge me.)
Slow-roasted in a low temperature oven (or Crockpot!) from around midnight the night before, the house smells of intoxicatingly awesome garlicky pork all day.
We have our extended family celebration on December the 24th. We call it Nochebuena (the Good Night) and have a late and leisurely Cuban feast.
The days leading up to the Cooking of the Pig means there are a lot of culinary preparations, mostly in the form of a garlic marinade which is injected into this same pig (or shoulder, or fat pork chop, or pork roast), which we call Mojo Criollo. (Pronounced MOH-HO, as in Ho-Ho-Ho.) Click this LINK for the recipe.
So, with all these crazy-busy preparation for the Cuban Awesomeness heading our way, I leave you this sentiment:
Stay Cuban, my friends. 😉
I can almost smell it already 🙂 My Gringo hubby’s first Christmas with me was 8 years ago—he thought we were all mad as we stormed the cook for that 1st piece of toasty skin. He has since learned to be quick or he will get the scraps.About 4 yrs ago, he asked for his own caja china (maybe so he could be the first to try the skin)…he has perfected his recipe and now this Massachusetts native makes the best pig this side of Havana 🙂
I like mine roasted, skin on, and I love eating the crispy skin! =)On Christmas, my mom roasts it with citrus juice and LOTS of garlic. It is so good! We have it with frijoles negros, arroz y maduros! mmmm! I cant wait!