Pernil (Puerto Rican and Dominican Christmas Roast Pork)

Pernil — the slow-roasted pork shoulder of Christmas celebrations in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic — is the definitive centrepiece of the Caribbean holiday table, and its fragrance (garlic, oregano, adobo, and roasting pork) is the smell of Christmas across the Puerto Rican and Dominican diaspora. The preparation is essentially low-and-slow pork shoulder: a bone-in shoulder (with skin on for the critical chicharrón crust) is marinated for 24 hours in a sofrito-sazón rub of garlic, oregano, sazon, achiote, and olive oil, then roasted for 4–6 hours at low heat until the meat is completely falling from the bone. The final 30 minutes at high heat crisps the skin to chicharrón — the crackling that everyone fights over and the mark of a properly made pernil. A pernil without a crackling skin is considered incomplete.