Pork, the holiest of meats.

People close to me know that I feel disadvantaged due to my lack of food culture. Not to throw my parents under the bus but growing up there was no culinary or food tradition, no recipes passed down through the generations. Thankfully my Father instilled a curious palette in me and a belief that everything should be tried once (errrrr food that is...).

So I've struck out on a quest to create a battery of recipes that I can pass on to future Tsangs. I think the first recipe and the beginning of my specialty will be the Easter Pork butt. Pork, is the closest thing to a religious experience for me. Below is the recipe to my Easter tradition, 2 in a row so far.

You need two days for this. Start out with a quality pork shoulder (Boston Butt), I got mine at Ottamanelli Brothers on the Upper East Side. Then you must brine your butt. I used a 1/2 gallon of cider from the Union Square Greenmarket and then water until the butt was submerged (full brine recipe below). I let that sit at least overnight.

Next the butt comes out of the brine and get pat dry. Then I cover with seasonings and give it a good rub (recipe below). Once its good and massaged it hits the oven (I like to use a disposable tin from the store and cover with aluminum foil), an hour per pound @225 or until the meat reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees. When its just about done, around 180 degrees I remove the foil from the top and crank the heat to 450 to get a nice bark (caramelized skin, fat and meat, that's crunchy and delicious). Low and slow is the key if you want falling apart tender pork. It needs the low levels of heat to break down the connective tissue without over cooking the meat and drying out.

The final product is a tender, fall off the bone meat that pulls it self when you put your fork into it. Perfect for a pulled pork sandwich or carnitas in a corn tortilla.

Brine:

1/2 Gallon of Cider

2 cups of kosher salt

1 cup of brown sugar

Rub (I eye ball this):

Salt

Cinnamon

Cumin

Cayenne Pepper

Garlic Powder

black pepper