Cabrit fricassee at TiGeorge's with all the Caribbean fixings, May 2011
Goats are cute. And unfortunately for them, they are also tasty.
The beloved, beady-eyed petting zoo favorites are considered delectable in many parts of the world. This includes in much of Southern California, where Mexican bírria – a spicy and much-eaten goat stew– is hardly a rarity.
But there are less common goat delicacies in these parts that merit a try. Notably is a savory Hatian dish of marinated, slow-roasted goat, referred to there as cabrit or kabrit.
Hatian-style cabrit is very different from bírria, in which the goat meat is served with a spicy broth. But done right, no broth is needed, as the meat is delectably tender. Those who grew up with it sing its praises, although there are the inevitable goat-related childhood stories.
Gary Dauphin, a Los Angeles writer and director of new media for KCET, remembers his first goat dinner while visiting his grandmother:
My first taste of kabrit was instructive on numerous levels.
During my first trip to Haiti at about 6, I spent most the summer befriending a goat my grandmother kept behind her house. As you would likely expect, they ended up serving her to me on my last night in Port-au-Prince. The odd mix of horror – that was a good goat!
– and pleasure – that was a good goat!
– I felt as I realized exactly what/who I was eating remains with me to this day.
I had my first taste of of the dish the other day at TiGeorge’s Chicken, a Haitian restaurant just south of Echo Park. And I concur – that was a good goat. The meat in the “cabrit fricassee” was fall-off-the-bone tender. It was also surprisingly not gamy, gaminess being goat’s bad reputation.
Proprietor and chef George Laguerre explained the preparation: A marinade of spices and fruit juices like key lime and sour orange followed by several hours’ worth of cooking, along with a rendering process that involves adding cold water while the meat is cooking to remove fat, which tones down the gaminess. Most important is to have patience.
