A few weeks ago, I stumbled on a unique version of adobo in one of Jerry Traunfeld's wonderful books on cooking with herbs. He adds sage, of all things. I'm not a big fan of sage, but decided to give it a try. My sage plant has been growing profusely these past few months, and using it an adobo intrigued me, so I figured, "Why not?" I'm glad I did, as this is a truly delicious adobo. Traunfeld calls it "Cuban adobo," so when I rubbed it all over a pork shoulder that I then braised, I decided to use it for one of my favorite sandwiches, the "Cuban." I provide a recipe below for a braise-roasted pork shoulder, which is based loosely on the method Alice Waters uses, as described in her marvelous, "The Art of Simple Food." Traunfeld does not provide any ratios in his adobo ingredient list, so I went heavy on the herbs relative to the cumin, which can overwhelm if not used judiciously. If you like a stronger cumin flavor in your adobo, feel free to adjust to taste. Frankly, you can use any other good pork roast on this, but the herb-laced adobo here works particularly well. Cuban sandwiches, a local favorite in Tampa, are always available at the Florida state fair when it's in town. I daresay that none there, however, are quite like this one. Enjoy!! - AntoniaJames

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