Lomo Mechado Conventual Poblano

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Larding needle or long thin boning knife
• •Kitchen twine
• •Cast iron comal
• •Heavy Dutch oven or deep clay cazuela with lid
• •Blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the pork

   Pat the pork loin dry. Rub it all over with the kosher salt and black pepper, then refrigerate it uncovered for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours. This is not decoration. Salt needs time to enter the meat, especially with a lean cut like lomo. If you salt it only at the end, the outside tastes seasoned and the center tastes forgotten.

2. 2

   Prepare the mechas

   Soak half the raisins in 1/4 cup of the red wine for 15 minutes. Cut the ham and tocino into thin batons. Set aside half the almonds, half the olives, and the soaked raisins for stuffing. Keep the remaining almonds, olives, and raisins for the sauce. The stuffing should be small enough to pass through the meat cleanly, not tear it open.

3. 3

   Mechar the loin

   Using a larding needle or a long thin knife, make 10 to 12 channels through the pork loin lengthwise. Thread in the ham, tocino, almonds, soaked raisins, and a few olive pieces, distributing them so every slice will show the work. Stud the outside with the whole cloves, pushing them in just enough to hold. Tie the loin with kitchen twine every 2 inches so it keeps its shape.

   Do not butterfly and roll this like a supermarket roast. Mechado means the meat is pierced and threaded. The technique is the identity of the dish. Asi se hace y punto.
4. 4

   Toast the ancho

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile ancho for about 20 seconds per side, just until the skin darkens slightly and smells sweet. Do not burn it. Cover the toasted chiles with hot water and soak for 15 minutes. Chile ancho gives Puebla its dark fruit color here. This is not a hot dish. Not all Mexican food is built to punish your tongue.

5. 5

   Roast the sauce base

   On the same comal, roast the tomatoes, onion, and unpeeled garlic until the tomato skins blister, the onion edges char, and the garlic softens inside its paper. Peel the garlic. Blend the tomatoes, onion, garlic, soaked chile ancho, and 1/2 cup stock until smooth. Strain the puree through a fine-mesh sieve. A convent sauce should be polished, not rough.

6. 6

   Brown the pork

   Heat the manteca de cerdo in a heavy Dutch oven or deep clay cazuela over medium heat. Brown the stuffed loin on all sides until the surface is golden and the fat cap starts to render. Take your time. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable oil will brown the meat, yes, but it will not give the sauce the same body.

7. 7

   Fry the sauce

   Remove the pork to a plate. Pour the strained tomato and ancho puree into the hot fat. It will sputter. Stir for 8 to 10 minutes, until the sauce darkens to brick red and the fat begins to shine at the edges. Add the remaining 3/4 cup red wine and cook 5 minutes more, until the raw wine smell leaves and the sauce smells deep, sharp, and sweet all at once.

8. 8

   Braise the lomo

   Return the pork to the pot. Add the remaining stock, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, thyme, marjoram, capers, remaining raisins, remaining almonds, and remaining olives. The liquid should come about halfway up the meat. Cover and braise over low heat, or in a 325F oven, for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, turning once, until a skewer slides in easily and the center registers about 150F. This is lomo, not carnitas. Tender means the slices bend and pull apart under the fork, not that the roast collapses into shreds.

9. 9

   Rest and serve

   Transfer the pork to a board and rest it for 15 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and visible cloves from the sauce. Simmer the sauce uncovered until glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon. Taste for salt. If the tomatoes are too sharp, add the piloncillo and cook 2 minutes more. Slice the lomo thickly, lay it on a Puebla Talavera platter, and spoon the sauce over the top. Serve with arroz blanco or warm corn tortillas. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Buy pork loin with a thin fat cap. A completely trimmed loin is easier for the butcher and worse for you. The fat protects the meat during the braise.
• •Choose chile ancho that is flexible, dark, and smells like raisins and tobacco. If it cracks like old paper, it is stale. Preguntale a las senoras del mercado.
• •Use dry red wine, not sweet cooking wine. Cooking wine is already salted and tired before it reaches the pot. If you would not drink a small glass of it, do not put it in a convent sauce.
• •Jamon serrano gives the right Spanish note. If you cannot find it, use a good unsweetened ham. That is a compromise, not an upgrade, but the dish will still stand.
• •Clove is powerful. Eight whole cloves are enough. More is not more Mexican, more is medicine.

Advance Preparation

• •Salt the pork loin the day before. The texture and seasoning improve, and the stuffing channels hold better in cold meat.
• •The entire dish can be cooked one day ahead. Refrigerate the sliced pork in its sauce, then reheat gently, covered, over low heat. The wine, chile ancho, raisins, and clove settle into each other overnight.
• •For the cleanest slices, chill the cooked lomo whole, slice it cold, then warm the slices in the sauce before serving.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 315g)