Geera Pork, as promised

I promised the recipe for Geera Pork a week ago - oh, well.  Our time on the boat is growing short - we will be on our way to Trinidad in a week or so - and I will have to continue building the repertoire and posting to the blog while we are landside.

This recipe is straight from Ann VanderHoof's second book, Spice Necklace.  She got it from "Miss Pat", who had a restaurant of sorts in the back of a bar in Port of Spain; I have gathered from Ann's more recent posts that she no longer cooks for the general public.  This recipe is deceptively simple, and totally delicious and addictive.  You will not be able to believe that something that cooks so long, and is essentially "dry" at the end, can taste so marvelous.  I made white rice, and pulled the Pumpkin Lentil Stew from the freezer and every bite of that pork was gone (and yes, it was just the three of us).

Recipe: Geera Pork
First prepared: aboard Raconteur in early 2012

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons demerara or brown sugar
1 and a half pounds boneless pork (I use tenderloin), cut into cubes
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
4 teaspoons ground roasted cumin, aka geera
2 cups hot water
Hot pepper sauce, to taste


Heat the oil in a large pot.  Add the sugar.  Cook, stirring frequently (more like constantly), until it is bubbling and dark brown and you can smell the caramel, about 3 to 4 minutes.  


Carefully add the meat, sprinkle with salt and geera, and stir until the meat is coated in the caramelized sugar.  Cook, uncovered, until the meat has released its juices and is very brown, stirring frequently - about 15-20 minutes.


Add the two cups of hot water, pouring it into the side of the pot, NOT on top of the pork.  Once the water is sizzling, stir and continue cooking for about 1 hour, until the pork is tender and the sauce has cooked down.  The finished dish should be fairly dry, not a stew. The sauce should be very dark brown and coat the meat.


Stir in hot pepper sauce and additional geera and salt to taste; there should be sufficient geera to give the dish a slight grittiness.  Continue to cook for a few minutes to blend the flavors.


Serves 4, just.

Here's the final dish.