Nick Gilman and carnitas
March 22nd, 2010
In “Regrets,” one of the short stories in my book Travel Advisory, a character refers to carnitas as “Swollen slabs of brown and fatty flesh — hooves and haunches, maws and jaws, cross-hatched tripes, deflated udders, unidentifiable viscera gleaming golden with grease. Stringy, squiggly, plump as pillows, flat as pennies. All on offer in a hole in the wall, protected behind a glass shield, kept warm under an infrared lamp. Carnitas: Mexican mystery meat. This is as deep into a pig as you can go, puerco profundo.”
Carnitas are, in fact, hunks of pork, shoulder or butt, mixed with the rest of the pig — liver, heart, snout, skin, even reproductive organs. They are braised in water or milk, seasoned, subsequently fried and then chopped into bits before being made into tacos. The squeamish order pura maciza (only the white-meat flesh of the pig, unadorned by anything that has to do with bodily functions). But the surtida – the whole lot mixed together — is sublime. Before I was diagnosed with high cholesterol, I ate it all the time.
My friend Nick Gilman, pictured above at a presentation for his charming culinary guidebook, Good Food in Mexico City, not long ago on his website touted La Reina de la Roma, on Calle Campeche between Monterrey and Medellín, as his favorite purveyor of carnitas. I couldn’t agree with him more. Whenever I whistle in the dark past the cardiologist, I make a beeline for that changarro.
Labels: Mexico City
3 Responses to “Nick Gilman and carnitas”
By Don Cuevas on Mar 22, 2010
Without benefit of guidebook, we stumbled across La Reina de La roma in late December, 2005. We had a fantastic huarache and a damned good gordita.
On another visit to the Mercado Medellín area, it looked as if La Reina was closed, but on a subsequent visit, it was open.
However, at that time we were headed to Ostionería La Morenita (this time using Nick’s food guide) and we didn’t get to La Reina. So, it’s on our delayed pleasures list for a future visit.
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
By Judy on Mar 22, 2010
Across the street, in the Mercado de Medellin proper, on Saturdays only, there is a pork butcher who makes unbelievable tacos de carnitas, which to me are even superior to those of La Reina de la Roma.
By Anthony on Mar 27, 2010
Wonderful place and a wonderful blog! There is also a place in the oolonia Anahuac–El Grano de Oro. It peaked in quality and popularity about 15-20 yrs ago. I still know the owners and they are a flashy bunch of folks who travel the world, live in Polanco and serve up their own carnitas to patrons while wearing aprons. Try their quesadillas de sesos–flavored with just enough kidney to give them a deliciously complex flavor.