Homemade Tasso

OK . . I remembered that a few of you may not know what Tasso is so I will describe it for you.  First, you might like to know . . I am not a cajun girl.  My parents were from what they call “north Louisiana” but I think it’s more like central Louisiana.

See the top little button?  That’s Many, Louisiana.  That’s where I was born.  That’s where my parents grew up.  See the bottom little button?  That’s Westlake, Louisiana.  That’s where we moved when I was 5 years old and where we lived the rest of my life, til I moved to Texas in about 1989 and then moved back to Westlake in 1992 and stayed there til Vince and I married in 1997.  This map shows “Acadiana” which is the heart of cajun area. There was not much cajun influence in our home.  I was almost 30 before I had crawfish.  A neighbor in the early 80’s was an authentic cajun and she taught me a lot about cooking.  There’s still a lot I don’t know but cajun food and traditional New Orleans type foods . . those are the best!  Texas and Kansas City may have good BBQ, other areas may have some really good food but if I had my choice, I’d eat at little mom and pop type cafes in cajun country every meal for the rest of my life!

OK . . what’s Tasso?  This is one of the best definitions/descriptions I’ve found.  I use it in beans, in gumbo, in jambalaya, in mustard and turnip greens.  It’s not something that we eat by itself but we use it to season dishes. My favorite brand isn’t available here and since leaving Louisiana in 1997, I always take a cooler with me when I visit home and bring back the things I can’t get here — Savoie’s Rice Dressing Mix,  boudin and good, cajun smoked sausage, which seems to be different from sausage from anywhere else.  I’ve trired recipe after recipe and now can make my own andouille and tasso, so that’s two less things I have to bring back.

Monday, in the middle of putting up peppers, I had to smoke the tasso that I had started making.  When Vince walked in the house after work, he began sniffing and he said “It smells cajun in here!”  He knew I had started the tasso a few days before and I said “yes” and he said “No . . REALLY!  It smells cajun in here!”  I took that as a compliment that my tasso was a good batch.

If you google “tasso recipes”, you’ll find quite a few and the spices vary from recipe to recipe.  I’ve come up with one that we like.  I do not like white pepper at all . . not one bit! Vince isn’t crazy about paprika.  If you decide to make it and you like those spices, you may want to add more of them.  Some recipes call for brining the meat before seasoning.  I’m not sure I agree with that.  One thing brining does is causes the meat to plump up and stay moist.  For tasso, I like mine on the dry side so I haven’t been brining.

Here’s how I make my tasso:

Start with a 5 – 7 pound boneless pork butt or pork roast.  You need a good bit amount of fat.

Slice it into about 1″ thick slices.  Remember that this will be added as seasoning to what you’re cooking, and not served as a meat portion.

Remember that you can adjust these seasonings to suit your own taste and you can also add additional seasonings to your dish.  These are the seasonings I use.

• 3 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

I put a little of the seasoning on a plate and dip the meat in the seasonings to coat on both sides.  If I dip the meat into my main bowl of seasonings, before I’ve seasoned all the meat, I have a big clumpy mess of seasoning.

Once the meat is seasoned, put it into zipper bag and refrigerate for 3 – 4 days.

In order to dry the meat out a bit before smoking, I spread it out on a large tray and stick it on a table outside with a heavy duty fan blowing on it.  I set the tray down into a larger tray of ice to keep it cold.  Leave the fan blowing on one side for about an hour and then flip the meat over and let the fan blow on the other side, keeping the tray on ice to keep the meat cold.

The seasoned pork is loaded into the smoker and cooked at a low heat (200º) for 5 or 6 hours.

Oops!  I started taking meat off the bottom shelf before remembering to take a picture!

Here it is . . all done and smelling all “cajun-y”.  At this point, I spread it back out on that tray and sit it in a container of ice, turn the fans on for another hour or so to dry it out a bit.

Once it’s done and I’ve nibbled on a piece to make sure it’s good, I vacuum seal it in FoodSaver bags.  I use larger bags and sea them at the very end.  I will cut them open, take out what I need and then re-seal a little farther down on the bag.  If I sealed these in individual portions, I would have used probably 20 bags and I didn’t want to do that.

Just seeing it makes me want to make a big pot of red beans with tasso.