Low Carb Carnitas

Man, oh, man -- being from the Northeast, I first found out about carnitas at a great burrito place in Cambridge, MA, Boca Grande. They used to make the best burritos (and I'm sure they still do), right in front of you, with big amounts of rice, beans... and carnitas! (And being a Northeasterner, I don't even know if the correct way to say it is carnita or carnitas.) Anyhow, Carnitas is pork, slow cooked in spice, and it literally falls apart.

When I saw the large carnitas package at Costco, in the prepared foods meat case, I practically flipped! This was perfect! Just make my own, with low carb wraps, cheese, and black soy beans (the lowest carbohydrate beans -- and they taste great!) Just skip the rice, or, if you are on South Beach, use brown rice.

However, this traditionally cooked carnitas was so good, I didn't even have time to put it in a burrito! I just ate it plain! My husband, on the other hand, preferred it in a burrito.

I'm in a quandary right now though. Last time I went to Costco, they didn't have it in my store. I called the distributor and they say it is sold through Costco and Sam's Club only. I have an email into Costco to find out if they are just out or if they have stopped carrying it. Please let me know if you can find it in your Costco or Sams Club! I have to make a special trip somehow and stock up!

	Del Real Foods Carnitas
Serving Size	4 oz. (32 oz. in container)
Calories	290
Total Fat	18g
Saturated Fat	8g
Cholesterol	130mg
Sodium	410mg
Total Carbohydrates	0g
Dietary Fiber	0g
Sugar	0g
Protein	33g
Ingredients	Pork, Water Solution (Salt, Maltodexrin, Sodium, Carbonate, Sodium Acetate, Sodium Citrate) Garlic.

Update: I have a love/hate relationship with Costco. They are making me write a note in the book, then I'll wait weeks and weeks or months for a response for them just to say -- we have discontinued the product. Nyah, nyah, and there is nothing you can do about it.

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Comments

[kalyn]

Welcome back! I was getting a little worried about you. Great minds think alike because I wrote a Low Carb Product Rave for this product, Del Real Carnitas, on my blog on September 24. My local Costco in Salt Lake still carries it. I heated the carnitas (pronounced car-nee-tuz) in a crockpot on high, which was a good way to do it. I thought this was really delicious for a pre-cooked product. I don't buy a lot of this kind of thing since I'm such a passionate cook, but I would buy this again for sure. Good luck finding it. Also congratulations on the blog award.

[Healthseeker888]

Last time I was at Costco they still had them her in Colchester (near Burlington) Vermont. Probably a bit far for you though...

Their phone number is: (802)655-0695 They do pick up the phone here.

Good luck!

[Katherine]

Hi - Love the product too. I am online right now searching for another place to buy Del Real carnitas. Costco, just yesterday, told me they discontinued the item.

I too wrote an request to get the product back in the store. They said they have been getting a lot of requests... we'll see if they respond.

It is pronounced car-nee-tas.

Good luck.

[Gonzalo]

Hi there Katherine, Healthseeker888, Kalyn and all you carnitas lovers.

Hopefully you can help me. I was searching for some information about carnitas in the United States and I ran into your comments about these carnitas sold in Costco. My name is Gonzalo Kutz and I live in Mexico City. The thing is I have a friend who owns a restaurant which specializes in carnitas tacos or "tacos de carnitas". In Mexico City, carnitas are mainly eaten in a corn tortilla with chopped onion, coriander and hot sauce. I assume that you've tried carnitas in burritos, they must be very tasty also. My friend's tacos are really good, he's been runnning these kind of restaurants for a lot of years now and he's been pretty successful. An idea has been crossing our minds lately: To export canned or packed carnitas to the U.S. We have a friend living in the U.S., he's very involved with the food industry and he's eager to be our contact, he'd try to create a market for us. Perhaps some of you would be interested too.Who knows, we could be doing business together.

I thought that being such carnitas fans, maybe you could have a word or two about this idea. Assuming that we could come out with a quality product ( fresh meat complying with all U.S. required standards, permits etc.), do you think that there could be a market for this kind of product?, I mean, are there a lot like you out there ? In Mexico, people usually eat carnitas at restaurants or buy it to go, planning to eat them within a short period of time. I don't think that selling packed carnitas in a large food store would be successful here in Mexico because there are a lot of restaurants selling the thing really fresh and tasty. Still, maybe in the U.S. it could be a good option, what do you think ?
Thanks a lot in advance for your comments on this matter.

Best regards,
Gonzalo Kutz
Mexico City
Please reply to:
gonzalo.kutz@mx.smurfitgroup.com
gonkutz@hotmail.com

[Chris]

Hello there! I know that most Trader Joe's grocery stores sells a pre-cooked packaged carnitas that is might tasty. I am not sure on the brand name, but it is just as good as the Costco brand. You might want to see if you have a Trader Joe's in your area.

[Rochelle Malone]

I too am desperate for the del Real Carnitas. In New York Costco they took it out of their system. I don't live too close to Costco, but if they had the Carnitas I was going to join. Really mad about this.