YuMama

The email has been ringing off the hook -- OK, we need new cyber- imagery -- since Plotnik posted the reverse strip tease photos (thank you Chef Pickle for that fantastic image) of Tacos Plotnikos. Here are the ingredients you need to start the sauce for the Cochito Chiapaneco. The top ones are Ancho chiles, from La Palma on 24th Street, which give the sauce body and deep flavor. The middles ones are jocotes that Plotnik brought from this family in the Central Market in Cuzco, Peru in 2004. You can use Mexican guajillo chiles, that are a little larger, but give a similar spicy taste plus a little heat.
The bottom chiles are little cherry bombs Plotnik bought at the Central Market in Antigua, Guatemala this January. Their purpose is to remove all traces of Gringoism from your character. Swallow one of these and you begin speaking Maya and channeling the Great King Chocolate. But when you remove the seeds, they lose much of their heat.

You're going to need 3 lb. of Boston Butt or boneless country style ribs. The point is to reconstitute the dried chiles into a sauce that you use to coat the meat, then bake it slowly in the oven until it comes out looking like this:

The meat is not sweet, like Southern bbq, though it looks the same. It is smoky, and gets better the longer it stays in the fridge.

Here's a recipe for Cochito Chiapaneco, with thanks to Ric Bayless's 'Mexican Kitchen' page 378. This is the best Mexican cookbook in the world, in The Great Plotnik's opinion, better than his later books because he goes into detail about the most important steps: the chili pastes.

Take 3 ancho chiles, 3 guajillo chiles and 1 hot tiny chile (chile pequin, or Thai bird chile, or habanero). Cut off stems and remove seeds. Soak in hot water to cover for half an hour. Drain, but save the liquid. Put the chili pieces in a blender.

2) Add to the blender: a small white, diced onion, several bay leaves, 2 T vinegar, 2 garlic cloves, 2T fresh oregano (2t dried oregano is fine) and pinches of ground cloves and allspice. Blend them into a paste, adding a few T of chile water from time to time so it comes out as a thick paste.

3) Chop the pork into equal sized pieces -- maybe an inch thick and two inches long. It doesn't matter what they look like -- they're all going to cook a long time and be shredded at the end. Put the pork pieces in an oven proof casserole dish and pour the blender spice paste over them. Work the paste into the pork with your hands.

4) Drink a beer. Lick your fingers. This is a very important step.

5) Cook the meat three hours, COVERED, at 325, basting if necessary. Don't let it dry out -- add more chile water if the liquid disappears. The Cochito is done when you stick a fork into a piece and it shreds.

6) Shred the pork with two forks. Drink another beer. Taste the meat. SALT TO TASTE, but under-salt at first, maybe 1/2t and as much as another 1/2t. Remember, the meat's purpose is to blend with fresh salsa, guacamole, yellow rice, tortillas and beans, all that have previously been salted.

Call your Mama. This is the essence of YuMama cooking. We'll go into that later.