Even more troubling is talk of the government banning the use of open fires altogether, wood or otherwise. It’d be a tremendous blow to the culinary world. Imagine every barbecue joint in Texas suddenly switching from wood and coal to gas pits. There’d be an understandable uproar. My recommendation: Get down there and try it before it’s too late.
Of all the meats on offer, pork is oddly enough the only one I’ve eaten with consistently mediocre results. Perhaps the Colombian pork is drier, or perhaps it’s that the Colombians are wise enough to use the fatty cuts like the butt, belly, and ham in their wonderful, lightly fermented and semi-dried chorizo and longaniza, leaving the drier loin cuts for the pits. They do develop crisp skin and a great smoke ring, and forget about making pulled pork out of it, but doused with enough aji—the Colombian version of Mexican salsa that ranges from mild boiled egg-based versions to fiery chili sauces—almost any meat is edible.
