This recipe comes from the fabulous cookbook Convivir, by Chef Rogelio Garcia, published in 2024. The subtitle of the cookbook is “Modern Mexican Cuisine in California’s Wine Country”.

According to Chef Garcia, convivir means “to live together.” This concept also “speaks to working in harmony with the environment”. Chef Garcia claims that his cooking stems from his mother’s home cooking, his training in France, “garnished with a bit of Spain along the way”! Here is his impressive website.

I don’t know if the words in this book are indeed the chef’s, but the writing is impressive, expressive, and passionate. Garcia tells the story about how his mother crossed the border from Mexico in 1988 when he was two years old, along with his older sister. He writes about how much he respects his mother for having left everything behind in order to chase the American dream.

In his words: “Fortunately, my children have not grown up with the uncertainty that is the hallmark of the life of the undocumented. Thelma grasp how it feels to drive in fear of getting pulled over, to be unable to get a job the right way, to always keep their heads down, to try to take up as little space as possible, to try to be invisible.”

The full name of this recipe is Oven-Braised Pork Belly with Sweet Onions, Apples, and Mexican Chocolate. It’s intriguing, isn’t it?! I have a thing for pork belly, and happened to have a slab in my freezer. The pork belly is first cured, then braised in apple cider along with onions and apples. And chocolate. I couldn’t wait!

Oven-Braised Pork Belly with Sweet Onions, Apples, and Mexican Chocolate
Printable recipe below

Pork belly cure:
1/3 cup other salt
3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon grated Mexican chocolate
1 teaspoon pink curing salt no. 1
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon sweet paprika

1 rectangular slab pork belly, 5-6 pounds, skin removed
4 sweet onions, cut into quarters with the core intact
3 Granny Smith apples, halved and cored
3 ancho chiles
2 fennel bulbs, tops removed and cut into sixths lengthwise
3 cups lard, melted
3 cups apple cider
1/4 cup grated Mexican chocolate

To make the pork belly cure, in a small bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well.

Lay the pork belly, fat side up on a sheet pan. Using a sharp knife, score the fat side in a crisscross pattern, making finger-size diamonds. Spread the cure evenly over both sides of the pork belly. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours.

After 24 hours, lightly rinse the pork belly with cool running water and pat dry with a kitchen towel. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Place the pork belly, sat side up, in a large baking pan or dish. Surround the pork with the onions, apples, ancho chiles, fennel, lard, cider, and chocolate, distributing them evenly and making sure not to cover the fat side.

Transfer the pan to the oven and braise, uncovered, for 4 to 6 hours, or until the meat is tender and the fat has turned crispy and golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes, then cut and serve as is, or use as a taco filling or for ramen.

This recipe was kind of overkill, however, it was so good! I hope you make it!