Zorza (Marinated pork tenderloin)

The other day I remembered a recipe passed down to me by my grandmother. I decided to prepare it right away. This is a very traditional recipe which is normally passed down from generation to generation. It is a traditional way of preparing pork tenderloin in Galicia. In my case, since my mother is from the south of Spain and they don't prepare the meat like this, it was my grandmother who told me how to do it. I love it! :)

There are two traditional ways of serving it:

1) "a la plancha": normally with homemade French fries. You can either serve small slices of pork tenderloin or cut the tenderloin steaks in bites before serving. Either way is great. And don't forget to pour the bit of oil left in the pan over the French fries! :)

2) In "empanada". I have to say from all the "empanadas" my grandmother made, this one was almost my favorite, topped only by the codfish "empanada" she made with a dough of corn flour instead of wheat flour. In Galicia, fish or seafood empanadas are traditionally made with a corn flour dough. The wheat flour dough in normally used for meat "empanadas".

In a more modern fashion, you can skewer the meat after being marinated and BBQ it.

Here's the recipe for the marinade. You will find some recipes on the Internet for this but my grandmother's secret ingredient was the wine. :)

I'm cooking it tonight again and will post a picture of it tomorrow. :) Here's a preview:

Ingredients (4 servings)
2 pounds of pork tenderloin
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 1/4 cups white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbs sweet paprika
1 tsp spicy paprika
Salt

Preparation

1. Mix all the dry ingredients in a large zip lock bag.
2. Add the white wine and the garlic and shake.
3. Add the olive oil and shake again.
4. Place the meat in the bag and close it.
5. Let marinate at least 12 hours.

The best results are achieved if the meat is marinated over a period of 24 hours.

Que aproveite! :)