Traditional Christmas recipe: Stuffed Pork Loin

Christmas in Costa Rica is celebrated with great enthusiasm, families decorate their homes with lights and get together to make traditional meals. Some travel to join their relatives, like it happens here in Cóbano. The houses are filled with visitors who live in the large metropolitan area and take the opportunity to visit the beaches, rivers and eat their traditional “comelonas” (large quantities of varied foods). The houses begin to smell like firewood and everyone in the family participates in the preparation of the “platillos”, from the youngest to the older ones. 

And that is why Ticos love this season so much, apart from sharing gifts, they share presence, family love and recharge the energies that are so exhausted by December. 

Stuffed pork loin is a star recipe at these celebrations. It has its origins in Spanish gastronomy and came to Costa Rica with the conquest, being a dish that is prepared for very special events, such as family parties, birthdays, baptisms, weddings, prayers, quinceaños (fifteenth birthday), annual community celebrations, Christmas, New Year's Eve, dances, bingos, festivals, sports or other festive activities. Deeply rooted in the culture of the Los Santos area in the canton of Dota, it is also consumed throughout Costa Rica.

Stuffed pork loin is a very elegant and delicious option for Christmas dinner.

I give you advice to try to get local products, organic if possible, fresh products from nearby farms. Being aware of what we consume, how we consume it and the impact this has, also means spending a Christmas in peace and harmony.

Stuffed Pork Loin: 

Ingredients:

Pork loin (full pork loin, weighs about 5Kg)

-Garlic 
-Oregano
-Paprika 
-2 beers
-1 tomato
-Salt and pepper

For the filling:
-2 cups Rice (previously cooked)
-4 hard boiled eggs
-1 carrot, peeled and cut into sticks
-100g Green beans 
-1 1 sweet chili (pepper) 
-1 stick of celery
-Coriander to taste 
-Salt and pepper to taste  
-Rope to tie

Preparation:

1. The pork loin must be opened, so that it looks flat (you can ask the Butcher to cut it, so that it is perfect) and marinate for 30 hours.
2. Wash all the vegetables, remove the ends of the beans and cut them in half and cut the carrots into sticks.
3. The sweet chili, celery and eggs are cut into quarters.
4. The loin is stuffed by placing the vegetables, eggs and rice in the center lengthwise, rolling it up and delicately tying it with a rope so that nothing comes out.
5. In a very hot pan, the roll that has been made with the loin is sealed. You must make sure that everything browns evenly.
6. Once well sealed, add the marinade liquid and add another smashed head of garlic, and you can add more beer, a crushed tomato as well and an amount of oil so that all the liquid covers at least half of the back.
7. The ideal is to do it over a wood fire, but you can also do it in a conventional oven, at about 300°C for an hour, always being careful to hydrate it with the marinade so that it is very juicy. It will be ready in approximately 60 minutes. 
8. The sauce is made with the juice leftover from cooking, let it reduce, correct flavors and thicken a little with cornstarch.