Bolita March 2025
A bacon recipe. Where to find us over the next few weeks. A little teaser/news?
Hello friends,
Has Spring sprung? I’m writing this sitting outside of Mother Tongue Cafe in Oakland, enjoying an espresso tonic, and absorbing as much of this sunshine as I can. Just a reminder to find small moments of peace and rest even while working. Capture those little serotonin boosts anywhere you can.
We’ve had some very busy pop-ups as of late, and unfortunately we’ve had long waits. Our brunch pop-ups have been fairly ambitious and the plates require about 5 different components— chilaquiles, fried egg, braised Tamoa heirloom black beans, a lil salad and then the garnishes. And sometimes there are add-ons. As you can imagine, running a brunch shift in a new space can be challenging. But, I love brunch and feel that the East Bay is lacking the ideal Mexican brunch I crave. We’ll keep refining and speeding up our processes, so keep showing up.
Thank you for coming to the last few, we appreciate you— y’all have been loving the food and that bacon!
Recipe: Bolita’s Bacon
A few things to consider:
Recipe Writing - Again, recipe writing is not my strength, so accept this recipe with is.
Tepache - There are a few brands of “Tepache,” but you should make your own. I even have a recipe for it HERE
Cure - This is a simple salt-sugar cure, so technically we are making “un-cured” bacon since we are not using nitrites or smoking. I recommend freezing some of your bacon since it has a brief shelf-life — 2 weeks in the fridge.
Recipe Size - This makes enough cure for 3 bellies. I’ll let you scale it up or down.
Ingredients
5 Tbsp Black Peppercorn, toasted, coarsely ground
1/2 stick of Cinnamon
10 Bay Leaves, lightly toasted and crumbled by hand
10 Avocado Leaves, lightly toasted and crumbled by hand
1 bulb Garlic, cloves separates, unpeeled
3 Tbsp Mexican Oregano
1.25 C Kosher Salt
1 C Piloncillo Sugar
1 C Tepache Reduction (made from 1 gallon of Tepache)
3 Pork bellies, skinless, trimmed
To Prepare
Tepache Reduction: Gently boil 1 gallon of Tepache until it reduces to about 1 cup, about 8 hours. (we also use this to glaze our tepache ribs — yummm)
In a food processor, break up the garlic cloves (skin on) and cinnamon by pulsing 5 times for 3 seconds at a time, it should be coarse. Mix garlic & cinnamon mixture, oregano, Bay, Avocado leaves, peppercorn and salt together.
Dissolve Piloncillo sugar in the Tepache reduction, and let cool. Add the Tepache-Piloncillo syrup to the salt-spice mixture and mix by hand, making sure to break apart any clumps. It should feel like damp sand,
With paper towels, pat your pork bellies dry and place in a large container. You may want to cut them in half. Generously rub the salt mixture on the pork bellies, pressing the rub into the meat. Place bellies in your container, and cover with plastic wrap. Cure the bellies for 1 week in the fridge, making sure to flip them everyday and apply pressure to keep them flat.
After curing for 1 week, rinse your bellies and pat with paper towels until dry. Pre-Heat Oven to 275°F degrees and cook your bellies on sheet trays for 1.5 to 2 hours, until the internal temperature of the thickest part reaches 145°F. Pull from the oven, let rest for 2 hours and then cool in the fridge. Now you have a whole lot of bacon. Slice it off as thin or thick as you like, and roast/fry as you would any bacon.
Thursday 4/3 - Masa Workshop, Preserved, 5032 Telegraph Ave, Oakland
This is out 7th Masa Workshop with Preserved, sign up here!
Friday 4/4- Hammerling Winery First Friday, 1350 Fifth St, Berkeley, 4:00-7:00pm
Sunday 4/6- Brunch at JooDooBoo, 4201 Market St, Oakland. 11:00 AM 3:00 PM
Just a little teaser…
We are toying with the idea of a physical space. We may be raising money soon through SMBX and and we may be signing a lease very soon. Think casual Mexican market style Antojería / Taqueria—super casual. With a little retail component for your masa, tortilla, salsa, chip, tostada, tamal needs. Keep an eye out for our bond offering and/or let me know if you’re interested in investing in this project. It’s a big maybe, but we hope to build something small, accessible, and keep iterating on our mission of masa para todos.
Thank you for supporting Bolita! We hope to see you soon and can’t wait to feed you!