Among the DVD extras on Richard Rodriguez's trilogy-ending Once Upon a Time in Mexico, you'll find a short film offering a delicious recipe for slow-cooked pork shoulder, drowned in a spicy Annato-seed sauce. It's not an easy recipe -- the spices aren't commonplace and the grinding will require some gear -- but the finished dish is well worth the effort. In the film, Johnny Depp even kills for it. If the idea of learning a recipe from a film director lights your burner, you might also want to try the Aloo Gobi from Bend it Like Beckham.

Harold Check