Carnitas Carnitas Carnitas, literally meaning "little meats", is a dish of Mexican cuisine originating from the state of Michoacán. Carnitas are made by braising or simmering pork in oil or preferably lard until tender. The process takes three to four hours, and the result is very tender and juicy meat, which is then typically served with chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) and diced onion, salsa, guacamole, tortillas, and refried beans ("frijoles refritos"). Pork carnitas are traditionally made using the heavily marbled, rich boston butt or picnic ham cuts of pork. The 6–16 lb (3–7 kg) sections are usually cut down to a
Mexican cuisine They are often prepared to feed around five hundred guests, requiring groups of cooks. The cooking is part of the social custom meant to bind families and communities. Mexican regional home cooking is completely different from the food served in most Mexican restaurants outside Mexico, which is usually some variety of Tex-Mex. Some of Mexico’s traditional foods involved complex or long cooking processes. Before industrialization, traditional women spent several hours a day boiling dried corn then grinding them on a metate to make the dough for tortillas, cooking them one-by-one on a comal griddle. In some areas, tortillas are still