If you want to try authentic Portuguese cuisine, New Bedford is the place to go.  Last weekend my Aunt and Uncle treated me to a delicious meal at Anotonio’s located in the North End of the city.  I wasn’t familiar with many of the Portuguese dishes listed on the menu but luckily my Uncle had already picked out what I had to try: Carne a Ribatajana.  It’s very similar to Carne de Porco a Alentejana except the pork is not fried, but slow cooked so it shreds easily off the bone.  I split this dish with my Man Crow and when it arrived at the table I quickly realized it was enough to feed 4, maybe even 5 hungry adults.

I should have taken Anthony Bourdain’s advice and skip the bread and potatoes and focus right in on the meat but i couldn’t deny my love for carbs, especially dipped in delicious meat juices.  We ate ourselves into a food coma and ended up leaving Anotonio’s with an ungodly portion of pork.  We ended our New Bedford experience with a trip to Lydia’s Bakery for some much needed coffee and sweets.

The next morning i had a revelation on what I should do with my leftover mountain of pork: make one of my favorite sandwiches, the Cubano.  I waited a day, then shredded up the pork, chopped my lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles and created an assembly line.

My man crow and I each made two Cubano’s each- one for dinner and one for lunch the following day at work.  Since we both have different preferences, mine being extra pickles and mustard- hold the mayo, and his being extra pork and mayo- hold the mustard, we decided to construct our own.  My kitchen lacks a panini press so i had to brainstorm an alternative.  This is how you construct a make shift panini press: heat olive oil in a large skillet, add the Cubanos, spray the top of the sandwiches with extra virgin olive oil spray, place a layer of aluminum foil over them then top that with a smaller skillet.  To weigh it all down and achieve the “press” put a tea kettle full of water on the top skillet.  The set up is not visually appealing  but it does the job!

Finished Product served w/ a simple slaw