"Tassot Cabrit"
Fried Goat

Although goat meat is not typically found in American fare, it is quite a common choice of meat in Caribbean cuisine. It's not a cut of meat you usually find at your local chain grocery store. You'll usually find it in ethnic/multicultural grocery stores, like Spanish or African. It doesn't taste like chicken and it doesn't taste quite like beef but it's similar. When cooked in the right recipe, it is delicious! Jamaican curry goat is one of my favorite goat dishes. So is Tassot. Tassot is a Haitian-influenced dish. Think of griot, except for goat meat.  
I'll be honest and mention that goat meat isn't very much aromatically appealing. It has a very distinctive scent that is intensified when it's cooking. During my pregnancy, I could not handle the smell at all! I don't cook it very often but when I do, it's either as Tassot (this recipe) or in an okra draw soup (my husband's favorite). ​
I really like Tassot and you can usually find it on the menu of any authentic Haitian restaurant. Unfortunately, I no longer live in Florida where Haitian restaurants are just a hop and a skip away. So if I'm in the mood for some Tassot, I make it at home. It's wonderfully paired with "Pikliz" and some "Bunun Peze" or with a good rice and sauce. I hope you give this one a try. If by any chance you have trouble locating goat meat, substitue it for beef and follow the same recipe. We call it "Tassot Bef". It's just as delicious. If you use pork, then it becomes "Griot", a wonderful traditional recipe that all Haitians love. 

Ingredients:

3 lbs Goat Meat
3 tbsp Epis
Sour Oranges or Sour Orange Concentrate and/or Limes
1-2 tsp. Goya Adobo
1 tsp. Seasoned Salt
Thyme
2 cloves Garlic
Salt
Oil
Water
1 tbsp. Piman Bouk Sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. It's important to clean this particular meat before you prepare it. As previously mentioned, goat tends to have a strong, distinctive odor. Therefore, we want to mellow it out as much as possible.

Remove all the excess fat/skin and discard. Then, in a bowl with the goat meat, squeeze the juices of 2 sour oranges and rub it onto the meat. If you don't have fresh sour oranges, you can easily substitute it for the concentrated bottled version. Limes work just as good, fresh or bottled. We just need something sour and citric. 
If you're not familiar with sour oranges, they're basically unripened oranges. Growing up in Florida, they were everywhere. My parents have an orange tree in their backyard so that's where I got these. Cut them in quarters and squeeze all it's juices on the goat. Then, throw in the peels into the bowl as well. 
2. Generously pour a good amount of salt onto the meat and pour just enough water to cover all the pieces. Let the salt and citric acid do it's work anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour at room temperature. ​
This sour orange and salt water combination is a method my family taught me to clean all our meats. Sometimes we also use vinegar. In this case, I also added about 1/4 cup of vinegar to the water and let the meat soak in it close to an hour. If you don't have any sour oranges or limes, then definitely use a vinegar salt water combo for the meat to soak in by increasing it to 1/2 cup of vinegar. Refer to the Cleaning Meat page for more information.  
3. After the soaking process, dump the contents into a clean sink and briefly rinse out the bowl. Rinse off each piece of meat under cool running water, squeeze out as much of its juices, and return it to the bowl. Next it is VERY important to "shode" your meat. This is basically pouring hot boiling water on the meat for a few seconds and draining the meat prior to seasoning. This helps to decrease the strong odor of the goat. 
4. In the bowl with the goat meat, put in 3 tbsp of Epice, 1/4 cup of Sour Orange concentrate (or fresh sour orange), 1-2 tsp of Adobo, 1 tsp. of Seasoned Salt, fresh thyme, 2 crushed cloves of garlic, and 1 tbsp of piman bouk sauce (optional). Mix the contents well to incorporate within the goat meat. Marinate in the refrigerator for a couple hours or overnight. The longer, the better. I marinated this overnight. 
5. Place the marinated meat into a pot and add water until all pieces are covered. Cover the pot with it's lid, set heat to high and allow it to come to a boil. 
6. Boil the meat for about 30 - 45 minutes, even up to an hour, adding extra water if it happens to dry out prior to complete cooking time. Depending on the thickness of the chunks, the time can be varied. 30 minutes for much smaller pieces whereas closer to an hour for larger chunks. Keep an eye on the meat periodically. 
7. Once the goat is tender, remove it from the stock and set aside. If desired, the liquid left behind can be used to make a separate sauce or to make a flavorful rice. Just be sure to skim of the fat/oil off from the top. 

8. In a medium size sauce pan, add about 2 cups of vegetable oil, or enough to level up to about 1 - 1 1/2 inches high and bring to a medium-high heat. You will know the oil is ready when a wooden spoon placed into the oil starts to form bubbles. Fry the goat meat in batches being sure not to overcrowd the pan for about 3 - 5 minutes, depending on the size of the pieces and how high the temperature is. 
​9. Remove goat meat from pan with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain off any excess oil. Once it cools down to handle, enjoy it with pikliz, diri, bunun peze, or even alone!
Posted July 4th, 2019
Have you had Tassot Cabrit before? How do you like this recipe?
​Let me know and comment below!