The La Caja China Box, In Cake and Real-Life Form
When shopping for a home, potential buyers should confirm that at least one neighbor owns a La Caja China Box. Mine thankfully do, and over the weekend we hosted a Cuban-style pig roast with their wooden, crib-sized box which recreates the tradition of charcoal-covered pits, first inspired by Chinese railroad workers in Cuba. Pre-ordered weeks in advance, our 65-pound oinker got strapped between two racks and for four hours, roasted under a total of 40 pounds of charcoal. Hour three is most climactic, when piggy gets flipped, before another final hour of skin crispification.
Like a reverse grill, the meat sits below a tray of burning charcoal. The temperature rests at about 325°F all four hours, so the meat never actually burns in a bad, charred way—it just stays moist and protected inside crispy skin. (Turkey, goat and lamb are also boxable, but Cubans really love their pig). Some roasters get complex with marinade-filled syringes and brines, but ours was dressed with a simple rub of salt, pepper and coriander. Without overdoing the flavors, the meat came out overwhelmingly pig-tasting. Definitely the most pig-tasting pig I've ever eaten.
Almost as exciting as the La Caja China Box and pig itself was the scene reenacted in fondant form atop a chocolate cake.
Friend Sandra Vasquez, a professional baker, is as witty as she is good with buttercream. Her frosted Bavarian chocolate cake displayed a hungry piggy with fork and knife, ready to chow down on two human feet sticking out of a tiny La Caja box. Ah, have the tables have turned in cake world!
She even simulated the burning charcoal with a range of red, gray and black coals. In lieu of a beer station (what we had), fondant piggy could hydrate himself with Vasquez's hand-crafted trough. Even the font of "La Caja China" and the natural-looking wood swirls on the box was spot on. As her web portfolio proves, she can basically fondant-ify anything.
Three lessons learned this weekend: living next door to a La Caja China box owner is awesome; hosting a pig roast with them is also awesome; inviting a friend who brilliantly baked a La Caja China pig roast-themed cake is the awesomest of all.
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9 Comments:
Cris Cosentino recently used a rig by the same company to smoke a whole pig, too. You can see some really nice pics and read Chris' adventure in his Jan. 4th entry at http://www.offalgood.com/site/category/blog/
(Search on whole pig.)
--DanaMc
DanaMc at 3:25PM on 05/12/08
Sorry about the typo in Chris' name in my previous post.
--DanaMc
DanaMc at 3:29PM on 05/12/08
OMG PIGGEH!
I love a good pig-tasting pig. (points to open mouth)
roboppy at 3:33PM on 05/12/08
So very exciting! And that cake is truly stunning. I've always wanted to try out one of these boxes, but alas! The fire department continues to be offended by my attempts to grill in the living room...
missginsu at 4:37PM on 05/12/08
http://www.offalgood.com/site/photos/put-your-pig-in-a-box/ is the direct link to Chris Cosentino's roast pig photos.
zamboni at 6:25PM on 05/12/08
Perhaps a little Spanish is in order here.
"The La Caja China Box"?
That would translate into:
"The The Chinese Box Box"
It's a lovely concept though.
Don Luis at 9:05PM on 05/12/08
Down on the bayou, it's called a "Cajun Microwave."
1stmakearoux at 9:28PM on 05/12/08
The best meat I've ever eaten was a whole pig (I saved a little for the other guests) slow roasted on a spit and this sounds even juicier. I love your word crispification. I think this pig would be even more crispificatious than mine.
Now, that's a seriously creative cake from a devious mind ...... fondant-ify away, but get some therapy!
PerkyMac at 2:59PM on 05/13/08
I'm in New York City and looking for a Caja China. I'd like to purchase a used one, or borrow or rent. Anyone know where I can find one?
jg488 at 7:16PM on 08/18/08