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Tchassina (Salt-Cured Dried Goat Meat with Root Vegetables)

Name: Tchassina (Salt-Cured Dried Goat Meat with Root Vegetables)
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 90 min
Total time: 130 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Cabo Verde
Ingredients: 800 g tchassina (salt-cured dried goat meat on bone, cut into 4 cm pieces); 300 g fresh cassava (mandioca), peeled and cut into 3 cm chunks; 300 g white-fleshed sweet potatoes (batata-doce), peeled and cut into 4 cm chunks; 250 g semi-ripe green plantains, peeled and sliced into 3 cm rounds; 200 g green cabbage, core removed and cut into thick wedges; 150 g yellow onion, finely chopped; 20 g garlic cloves, crushed; 30 g double-concentrated tomato paste; 2 g dried bay leaves; 1 g fresh whole malagueta chili pepper, pierced once; 30 ml refined vegetable oil; 2 g freshly ground black pepper; 15 g fresh coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped; 1500 ml water for simmering

Rich and hearty stew of salt-cured sun-dried goat meat simmered tender with cassava, sweet potatoes, green plantains, and cabbage.

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cape-verdeangoat-stewsantiago-islandcomfort-foodtraditional-curd

The story

In the arid interior highlands of Santiago, tchassina represents an ingenious dry-season preservation method central to family celebrations and harvest gatherings. Badio communities traditionally salted and wind-dried goat meat on wooden racks under the intense trade winds before storing it for months. Desalting the meat via overnight soaking and gentle parboiling allows the concentrated, gamey depth of the cured goat to perfume the starchy root vegetable broth without overwhelming salinity.

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