Cochinita Pibil

I’ve always wanted to try something wrapped in banana leaves. When I saw this recipe on Simply Recipes, I decided it was time.

Now, her recipe calls for the traditional orange and lime juices to be used as the base for the marinade. When I went looking for the ingredients, I thought that I had a can of orange juice concentrate in the freezer.. but alas, it was not so.

Stumped, I stared into our freezer. My eyes lit upon the cranberry juice container and I took it out, thoughtfully weighing it in my palm. “Do you think we could use cranberry juice?” I asked my husband, who replied, “well, we use cranberry and lemon often and it’s acidic, so I don’t see why not.”

And, wonder of wonders, I had half a bag of cranberries in the freezer door! Problem solved.

The cranberry/lemon mixture doesn’t seem to be terribly different from how I imagine the orange/lime tastes. It’s fruity and acidic – all that matters. The banana leaves were everything I had hoped for – fun to use and they definitely added to the dish. Besides the wonderful flavor, what I loved was once it went into the oven, I was done! I didn’t have to poke at it or check it until 3 hours later. (And it was done!)

This is some seriously wonderful stuff. I’m definitely making this one again. The only bad thing I can say is that it takes almost one entire achiote packet. I have a half ounce left over, so I think I’ll buy the bigger size next time so it divides more evenly. I probably could have used the entire packet without problem, however, so it’s my own fault. :)

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