Garlic pork

Ingredients

Cure

• 1.5 kgpork shoulder, cut in 3 cm cubes
• 3whole heads garlic, cloves peeled and crushed
• 1large bunch fresh thyme
• 6wiri wiri or bird’s eye chillies, whole
• about 750 ml white vinegar, enough to cover
• 2 tbspsalt
• 2 tspblack peppercorns
• 6cloves

To cook

• 2 tbspoil
• some of the curing vinegar

To serve

• plait bread or crusty rolls
• pepper sauce

Directions

1. Bring the vinegar to a boil with the salt, peppercorns and cloves, then cool it completely. Boiling drives off some of the harshness and sterilises it; pouring it hot over raw pork would part-cook the outside.
2. Blanch the pork cubes in boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain and dry them thoroughly. This is a Guyanese step that firms the surface and helps the cure take evenly.
3. Pack the pork into a large glass jar in layers with the crushed garlic, thyme sprigs and whole chillies.
4. Pour over the cold vinegar until the meat is completely submerged, with at least 2 cm above it. Anything not under the vinegar will spoil, and the acid is the only thing preserving this.
5. Seal and keep in the fridge — not a cupboard — for three to seven days. Traditionally the jar sat in a cool larder, but a modern kitchen is warmer than a Georgetown larder in December and the fridge is the honest answer.
6. The pork will turn pale and firm as the acid works through it. It is ready when a cube cut open is uniformly white rather than pink in the middle.
7. To cook, lift the pork out with a slotted spoon and fry in hot oil for 10 minutes until browned, then add a few spoonfuls of the curing vinegar and let it bubble away until the pan is nearly dry and the meat is glazed.
8. Serve hot in plait bread with pepper sauce, on Christmas morning.

Technique

• Keep it refrigerated and fully submerged. Vinegar curing raw pork is safe because of the acid, and both of those conditions are part of that.
• Cut it open to check before cooking. A cube still pink in the centre has not cured through and needs another day.
• It is always fried before eating. This is a cure that produces something to cook, not something to eat raw.

Substitutions

• Cane vinegar, which is what Guyanese households actually use and which is milder.
• Scotch bonnet in place of wiri wiri, used whole and unbroken.
• Pork belly for a fattier, richer version.

Variations

• Some families add a little sugar to the vinegar, which rounds it.
• The Madeiran carne de vinha d’alhos it descends from is the same cure, cooked the same way.

History

Pork cured in vinegar, garlic and thyme, brought by Madeiran indentured migrants who came from 1835 and eaten at Christmas.

Frequently asked questions

What is Garlic pork?

Garlic pork is a fermented & pickled from Guyana: portuguese-Guyanese pork cured in garlic vinegar, fried for Christmas. Pork cured in vinegar, garlic and thyme, brought by Madeiran indentured migrants who came from 1835 and eaten at Christmas.

How long does Garlic pork take to make?

Garlic pork takes 30 min plus 3 to 7 days curing of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Garlic pork?

Yes, within limits. Cane vinegar, which is what Guyanese households actually use and which is milder. Scotch bonnet in place of wiri wiri, used whole and unbroken. Pork belly for a fattier, richer version.

What is the most important thing to get right in Garlic pork?

Pour over the cold vinegar until the meat is completely submerged, with at least 2 cm above it. Anything not under the vinegar will spoil, and the acid is the only thing preserving this.