Brian Wheeler's Pernil, or Roast Pork

1. Night before: marinate pork butt overnight in a mixture of orange juice (enough to submerge the meat), oregano and a ton of garlic slices. Remove from fridge at least one hour before cooking.

2. 12 noon: Cut small slits into the pork all over, and push in cloves of garlic. Cover the pork in a dry rub made in the food processor: whole onion, one bulb of garlic, oregano, lots of cayenne pepper, salt, garlic powder, lots of black pepper, 1/4 cup white vinegar, and a few slices of fresh ginger (ginger and cayenne give a really good heat). Drizzle in a bit of olive oil during the blending to turn all of this into a paste. Let sit at room temperature for one hour.

3. 1pm: Put Pernil into the oven. Cook long and low: 275 degrees for 6-7 hours, uncovered, turning every 90 mins. Make sure there's always a little water in the bottom of the roasting pan to create a bit of steam. The internal temperature of the pork butt after 7 hours should be 160 degrees. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

4. 8pm: Slice at the table, allowing the steam to rise up and convince people it's delicious even before they take a bite.