Oaxaca Style Pork #FoodnFlix

Welcome to this month’s Food n’ Flix! 

It’s been Frida-palooza over here at Amy’s Cooking Adventures, because I got slightly obsessed with Frida and couldn’t stop myself (for more on that, check out my Guacamole Skull).

This month’s movie is Frida hosted by Debra at Eliot’s Eats.  Both the book (more on that here with my Slow Cooker Chicken Mole) and the movie follow the life of Frida Kahlo, a Mexican painter in the early 1900’s.  

Frida Kahlo’s life is amazing given all she endured.  She survived polio as a child and a horrific bus accident when she was 18.  She began painting when she was bed-ridden during her recovery.  Her self-portraits can be quite dark as she works through her pain.

I loved the movie Frida.  It was fun to watch it after reading a fictional book about the life the Frida Kahlo (and also the biography and cookbook, recipe found at Squash Blossom Quesadillas). 

I loved how the movie incorporated her art.  It was brilliantly done!

The only thing that bothered me, and this is for both the book and the movie, is that both included an explicit sex scenes (Frida was very *ahem* active), and while Frida Kahlo was known to be bisexual, both explicit scenes involved other women.  Which begs the question A) why does the book/movie need an explicit sex scene, since Frida is interesting enough without it, and B) why with the women?  Why the heck are people so obsessed with the fact that she was bisexual?  In both the book and the movie the scenes were abrupt and completely stopped the flow of the story.

But I digress.

Throughout her adult life, Frida Kahlo embraced Mexican culture, dressing in traditional Oaxaca clothing, though it was not fashionable at the time.  The long, voluminous tehuana dresses also helped her to conceal her “ugly” leg (the one affected by both polio and the bus accident.)

So when I came across this recipe for Oaxaca-style pork, I couldn’t resist! 

The pork is absolutely delicious!  It is perfectly spiced for my tastes (the kids thought it was a bit too spicy, so if you’re sensitive to spice, use half the amount of ancho).

I served the pork over homemade corn tortillas with lettuce and guacamole, but feel free to add any of your favorite taco accompaniments!

Oaxaca Style Pork

Recipe from This is How I Cook

1 ½ lb boneless pork tenderloin

1 cup white vinegar

¼ cup ancho chili powder

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tso ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

Cut the pork into ½-inch cutlets and place into a zipper bag.

Whisk together the remaining ingredients and pour over the marinade over the pork.  Close the zipper bag then massage the marinade to coat the pork.  Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Preheat the grill.

Cook for about 5 minutes per side or until browned and cooked through.

Serve over homemade corn tortillas with guacamole and lettuce.

Serves 4-6