Tasso
Also: Tasso kabrit, Haitian fried goat
Haitian goat marinated in sour orange and épis, then fried dry and crisp in the manner of griot.
Identity criteria
- 1Goat meat (cabrit) is the defining protein, distinguishing it from pork griot
- 2Marinated in sour (bitter) orange and épis, the Haitian green seasoning base
- 3Cooked down then fried until the exterior is dry, browned, and crisp
- 4Served chunky, eaten by hand or with starch, as a feast or street food
- 5Almost always accompanied by pikliz, the spicy pickled slaw
Components
Goat meatessentialCabrit, cut into chunks on or off the bone
ÉpisessentialHaitian blended green seasoning of herbs, garlic, peppers, and aromatics
Oil for fryingessentialFries the braised meat to a crisp dry exterior
Sour orange (or lime)essentialUsed to clean and marinate the meat
Scotch bonnet pepperoptionalFor heat in marinade or alongside
Technique
- Sour-orange marination
- Cleans the goat's strong flavour and seasons it deeply, a Haitian fundamental
- Braise-then-fry
- First tenderises the goat, then crisps and dries the exterior — the signature griot/tasso texture
Form & serving
- Served
- Piled in chunks, eaten by hand or with starch
- Temperature
- hot
- Portion
- shared
- Pairs with
- pikliz · diri ak pwa (rice and beans) · fried plantains
Character
Flavour
Texture
crisp, dry, browned exterior with tender meat inside
Eaten
A festive and street-food centerpiece in Haiti, served at celebrations and from roadside vendors with pikliz and rice.
When
year-round
Variations & related
Regional variations
- Tasso dinde · Haiti
Same method applied to turkey instead of goat
- Tasso bèf · Haiti
Beef version
Related dishes
- sibling Griot
The pork version using the same marinate-braise-fry method
- pairs-with Pikliz
The spicy pickled slaw that cuts the rich fried meat
Substitutions
Goat → Porkinadmissible
Becomes griot, a related but distinct dish — dish-breaking for tasso cabrit specifically
Sour orange → Lime plus orange juiceadmissible
Common workaround where sour oranges are unavailable
Common mistakes
- Using pork and calling it tasso cabrit (that is griot)
- Skipping the sour-orange clean, leaving the goat's gaminess
- Frying without first tenderising, leaving the goat tough
- Forgetting the pikliz that traditionally completes the plate
Provenance
A staple of Haitian cuisine, the goat counterpart to pork griot, central to festive and street eating.
References
- 1.Haitian culinary tradition
Confidence: high