Cajun Tasso ~ Foamheart

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foamheart

Gone but not forgotten. RIP
Original poster
OTBS Member
Lets talk Tasso. Tasso is the last pieces of lean meat at a Boucherie. Everyone is tired, the kids are grumpy for the all day affair, and at least 1/2 (Probably a lot more), of the men are slurring there words. Tasso can be any piece of lean meat, Usually scrapas but the first tasso I ever saw a whole blade end pork roast, covered in green mold btw! My Mom threw it out because she didn't think it was good. LOL Its funny now, how naive they were when we first moved to La.. Tasso is a seasoning meat. Its not a stand alone meat. Its generally used only with fresh veggies and beans. Its like andouille , not meant to be consumed along. Basically Tasso is fatless bacon with a lot more flavors.

MY meat this time was a butt out of a cryo-pac. This is all the pure meat in a a butt. I wanted some ham, so I put one half in the cure and this half I diligently practiced all these new found butchering skills and removed just the muscles saving the fat for sausage if needed. I now see a bunch of the pictures disappeared, so please bear with my pitureless narration.

Heres all the meat......

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I had pictures before I rubbed it, after I had put the fan on it. I sliced two large muscles along the grain because they were just too big in my humble opinion. I rubbed these down with some sausage seasoning, so you can use what ever you want. Way too many recipes out there. You want to rub 'em down well till you get a thick crust of seasoning. Of course its gonna draw out fluids. Note the pan.

So instead of just sliding them in the reefer like I planned, they went in a zip-loc to prevent a mess. Back into the reefer for 3 days.

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In the reefer maintaining its kewl! This typing is wearing me out, I've had a few cocktails, Tia Maria+rum+caramel baileys, Diesn't have a name I made it up. Its kind of like a shooter called and orgasm, but this is a full drink, did I mention the are good, but they will sneak right up on ya....LOL Thank Gawd for spell check!

Took 'em outta the bag today gonna smoke 'em. The old timers didn't smoke 'em, its a new thing. Just like smoking Boudin, or using cure all the time. Originally for what I can ascertain these were not cured either, just salted and spiced. But today we do everything the way you want it, its the advantage of doing stuff yourself.

I fire up the smoker, get everything ready, using pecan on this BTW. I look all over for the special sharpened "S" hooks I had and had put up as not to lose them..... I put those rascals up well. LOL Not to be beaten out by some silly hooks,I use skewers thru the meat and hung across the sausage hanging dowels.

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I let it set up in the smoke for 4 hours until completely dry and retaining that sausage spice coating.

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Brought 'em in and let 'em cool. Did I mention how hot it is outside and not even a hint of a breeze.

So I removed the skewers, and it had a very good smell.

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Wish I had a better camera, or I knew how to operate use one....LOL

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I slice it and taste it. Not bad, a bit salty, I mean I watched the pepper, never thought of the salt. The pepper was way way hot before the 3 day reefer trip, but the finished product is really pretty good. I mean it is seasoning meat so I guess it should be a little salty.

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That almost looks like pork tenderloin. Of course its perfect timimg on my part, I use it mostly for seasoning just for fresh veggies. I think the garedens are about all gone here

Oh well really nothing to it. Like I said I use just sausage seasoning on it to cure, Poli, Folse and NOLA all have lots of them to chose from.

Thats it any questions, just let me know, but its like Boudin, everyone has their recipe and the good cooks never use one so they are never the same twice. LOL

Thank for checking it out. Gotta go and vac-pack 'em now. Maybe just one more drink....LoL
 
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Super awesome I want to do this real soon!

Ya know I would tell you there is really nothing to it, but this was my third try and there is really nothing to it, if ya know what you wanta do. LOL We did not ever have tasso here as a kid, that is more from Acadian Louisiana.

I said above the neighbor, she was damn sure a coonazz, was so proud when she brought Mom back some tasso from her mothers house. It was a blade end 3 bone roast and was covered in green mold. Mom threw it away....LOL She didn't know it was supposed to be like that and how special it was. She wasn't going to tell the neighbor and embarrass her because she probably didn't know it was covered in mold. LOL Finially Anna Lee pressed the point on the tasso and Mom told her, I am sure they are both up ijn heaven still laughing about it. LOL

Long as we are laughing here, my Pop threw away a whole bushel (Hamper) of soft shell crabs cause he couldn't figure out how to boil them....LOL These both happened in the early 60's when we first got here. This is a special place, you should never be scared to ask if you don't know. LOL
 
Evening Foamy.... When I looked at the first picture, I thought you made this batch of Tasso out of chicken breasts... "How cool is that", I mumbled to myself... I never cease to amaze myself... It ain't easy being me...
 
Every time I see Foamy has a new thing up I love reading it. You actually explain the origins of what we're seeing!

Thank you.

Some things need an explanation. There are people that live here that have never seen, used or even heard of tasso. Its a very limited geographical area in which it is made and used. So I try and explain where and why as well as its uses.

Tasso is like everything else everyone has their own idea what it is and how its made. Some say its cured, some disagree, some say its smoked, and some disagree. The size, thickness is nearly always a dispute as well. And we won't even start into how its supposed to be used......LOL I finially decided a gumbo is a warm soup with a roux that is served with rice... Thats about as broad basd as you can describe it. Its all in how you perceive it's production and use.
 
Thank you.

Some things need an explanation. There are people that live here that have never seen, used or even heard of tasso. Its a very limited geographical area in which it is made and used. So I try and explain where and why as well as its uses.

Tasso is like everything else everyone has their own idea what it is and how its made. Some say its cured, some disagree, some say its smoked, and some disagree. The size, thickness is nearly always a dispute as well. And we won't even start into how its supposed to be used......LOL I finially decided a gumbo is a warm soup with a roux that is served with rice... Thats about as broad basd as you can describe it. Its all in how you perceive it's production and use.
And this is why it's interesting when you do a post. If I did a post on on 'regional' cuisine, I'd just be like 'and this is a johnsonville brat, we'll put them on a grill after we drink a case of beer and suffer a second degree burn! Woo wisconsin!' Rofl.
 
Evening Foamy.... When I looked at the first picture, I thought you made this batch of Tasso out of chicken breasts... "How cool is that", I mumbled to myself... I never cease to amaze myself... It ain't easy being me...

Evening my friend. I am laughing because I had earlier thought of that, here amongst the real coonazz, Turkey head cheese is almost as popular as pork. Turkey tasso is the same, I think the doctors fostered the introduction for the unhealthy people so they could eat without guilt. I am not as wild about the turkey tasso, I believe that tasso needs to be whole muscle. if not all the meat scraps would be ground for sausage, see what I mean. That means that turkey tasso would need be breast meat. I find that turkey, even brined the breast is almost flavorless. With No fat on the pork, I think it would be pretty low cholesterol.

So I may in the future try some , right now I am just excited to find a combination that I like for making tasso. To me its just not that versatile cooking. You don't just eat it, its not considered a stand alone meat. Its like pickled pork. I could eat it, but boy it would be a sad day when I need to.
 
Looking pretty GOOD foam. Something I still want to try but have not had the chance to yet. LIKE
 
And this is why it's interesting when you do a post. If I did a post on on 'regional' cuisine, I'd just be like 'and this is a johnsonville brat, we'll put them on a grill after we drink a case of beer and suffer a second degree burn! Woo wisconsin!' Rofl.

Hey, its all about where you live. I was 30 years old before I even even heard of a brat. Seriously, it was SLN with the "Da Bears". LOL You are the hub of cheese, whats the name of those fresh curds you eat? Isn't it cheese curds and chili on top of french fries? What about mooses? Pike? We spent a Thanksgiving week in Minn/Canada in a provisional park camping. Big assed fish swamped the canoe in the lake, being in tip top shape at the time, I corraled the fish in the boat and when I saw the teeth, I let him have it. Damn that water was cold....LOL And peameal bacon, these are part of you area.

There is stuff, you just don't see it as different. I have been for years trying to make a German sausage, are not all those "wurst" sausages from up in your area?

We all come here to learn, doesn't matter what you do there is always someone who appreciates the help. It maybe be as simple as how to separate natural casing or tube loaded casing. We all enjoy watching each other's achievements as well as their disasters. Its all for fun and learning.
 
Hey, its all about where you live. I was 30 years old before I even even heard of a brat. Seriously, it was SLN with the "Da Bears". LOL You are the hub of cheese, whats the name of those fresh curds you eat? Isn't it cheese curds and chili on top of french fries? What about mooses? Pike? We spent a Thanksgiving week in Minn/Canada in a provisional park camping. Big assed fish swamped the canoe in the lake, being in tip top shape at the time, I corraled the fish in the boat and when I saw the teeth, I let him have it. Damn that water was cold....LOL And peameal bacon, these are part of you area.

There is stuff, you just don't see it as different. I have been for years trying to make a German sausage, are not all those "wurst" sausages from up in your area?

We all come here to learn, doesn't matter what you do there is always someone who appreciates the help. It maybe be as simple as how to separate natural casing or tube loaded casing. We all enjoy watching each other's achievements as well as their disasters. Its all for fun and learning.
We don't have moose in Wisconsin ;) And the Curds on fries with Gravy is Canadian, as is Peameal bacon. <Though I might try to make peameal bacon, it sounds interesting!>

WI is largely German and Irish for the ethnicity. Some parts got Russian and Jewish groups as well. Which is how I discovered borscht... Funny thing about the sausage. For the most part, people like the same flavour for bratwurst, you try some thing new and they almost won't try it. If it's not the same as the next and good in the beer bath, they act like it ain't good to eat!
 
Kevin Looks great but I doubt if I will make it.I enjoyed the story so a big Like
Richie
 
Tasso looks great Foamy! It has become my go to seasoning meat for beans lately. I tried it in red, white, and butter beans and it was great. Last week, I made a pot of pinto beans with Chilerellenos recipe but I added a 1/2 pound of tasso and simmered them all day. Delicious!

Mike
 
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