has anyone ever made tasso?

[tc fish bum]

so i have this craving for cajun beans and rice...... i already have a boat load of smoked pork hocks and shanks, im just gonna buy sausage, but tasso i think i can do. ive started 1 inch sliced pork steaks{ shoulder} on basic brine yesterday. im prolly gonna pull then today; 24 hrs later. from what i have seen is just rubem up, sit in the fridge for a few days, and smoke at 175-200 till internal of 165 then set in fridge another day or so. how close am i? I just know some new orleans good old boy is gunna read this and and know exactly what to do,,, I hope

 

[foamheart]

Tasso is nothing but cured pork with the sausage seasoning rubbed on the outside. I'll send you a /PM

 

[stovebolt]

 
Tasso is nothing but cured pork with the sausage seasoning rubbed on the outside. I'll send you a /PM

 Hey, Foamheart, why not share that recipe with all of us.

Chuck

 

[foamheart]

I am not sure that this should be posted, its a link to a book page I believe. I try hard not to infringe upon a writers rights even if they are about the same as my Pops always make. I can't believe there is anything out there that has not been done already, but to blatantly give a link .....well....... This guy wrote it down, he paid for the publishing, he deserves his royalties.

I will gladly do the same for you.

 

[bkleinsmid]

 
I am not sure that this should be posted, its a link to a book page I believe. I try hard not to infringe upon a writers rights even if they are about the same as my Pops always make. I can't believe there is anything out there that has not been done already, but to blatantly give a link .....well....... This guy wrote it down, he paid for the publishing, he deserves his royalties.

I will gladly do the same for you.

I agree with you..........but could you give up the book name? That way we could buy it if we wanted to......

Thanks,

Brad

 

[foamheart]

Ok, upon looking into it more because of the interest...... Its says its non-commercial, free site. So......... Its a great place for info. Although I can no longer see this Tasso. there is usually a pretty good recipe there.

"Somona Mountain Sausages"

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Tasso.pdf

Their home site is:

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index.htm

It has some great resources, it was given to me when I first joined the boards by a pretty nice fellar!

BTW the only thing I disagree with is the cross grain cutting of meat. Not true, usually the tasso was made with large scrap when everyone was tired of making sausage. No grinding cutting stuffing involved. Its like a Cajun Buckboard bacon. Tasso is usually only used like Andouille as a seasoning. Its primary purpose is in veggies where today we use bacon. I said primary! Beans, greens, etc... but I have found it makes the most excellent sauces also. Pop says you can cover Labrador pooh with tasso crème sauce and sell it all day long! 

Tasso is any meat, cured and rolled in the sausage seasoning and hung and or smoked. LOL... First tasso I ever saw, the neighbor had come back from her home up in Bunkie, La. and was so proud she had brought us some "Tasso". Heck we had no idea what it was but Mom being smart AND gracious made a BIG deal about getting it and put it in the reefer and thanked and thanked the neighbor for it. It set in the reefer a couple a days before Mom opened the butchers wrapping to look at what a tasso was. LOL..... she threw it away, it had mold, and she didn't realize it was real country cured meat.....

It was so funny because she had been so gracious about it not knowing what it was, then threw it away not knowing what it was. The same thing happened to Pop about a bushel, that's right a whole bushel of soft shelled crabs a contractor gave him. When we first got to Louisiana they sent me to the neighbors a lot to eat and come home and explain what it was....ROFLMAO!

ANYWAY I don't recommend cutting it at all, just figure your cure accordingly.

 

[tc fish bum]

im kinda new to brine cure pork. can i let it sit out and funk up a bit before i use it when its not dry cured? i did put it on a rack and draind it today, lost a lot of h2o in the process was gonna leave it in the fridge till this weekend to fire up the smoker. i loooooove funky aged ham, and cheese and sausage..... sorry got distracted any ways got andullie, hocks, shanks ready for my beans just wating on the tasso. gotta try it in for no other reason than to say ive had it

 

[mdboatbum]

I'm curious, could you use cure #1 and treat it as you would fresh ham, meaning keep it refrigerated?

 

[foamheart]

I am going by how my Pop used to make it. You must realize he never saw Cure #1, all they ever used was cure #2. That's why I was so enamored with Pop's brine cures here.

My humble understandings are if you want it to not require refrigeration you must use Cure #2, If you are going to refrigerate it you can use cure#1. Cure #2 can be refrigerated. Its why in the old days the butchering was a winter project.

TC. I don't know about leaving foods out for the funky taste unless they are cured, and with cure #2. I believe that cure #1, and the meat kept in a chill box is OK, but I am guessing that the government guide lines which is how you'd go here on the board, to insure safe food, would say basically the same thing. Yours may work fine and be delicious but I couldn't tell you its ok to leave it out unrefrigerated. I believe that the USDA is over safe and the voice of doom and gloom, but they are what we have to go by.

We, I, have done and seen a bunch of things were we think are perfectly safe or know not to be, that we got away with. I just wouldn't/couldn't cross that line here.

I am not able to pick and chose with any knowledge, I have to go by what I know or by the recipe, but I can't do major design changes in how the recipe is used then calculate the out come. LOL... I tried that before, the corned beef tasted delightful but you needed a chainsaw because of the texture. Sorry guys.

MBB, I am sure that is how all the commercial tasso sold today is made. Its like sausage, bacon, ham, and everything else, injected with all the flavors instead of developing them so it takes a short cure. And you are right, all todays tasso is refridgeratored. Mass produced for a quick turn over. BUT even when cured in #2 I still keep my meat in the reefer/freezer.

 

[stovebolt]

  Foamheart, thanks for the PM and the explanation. I will have to give that a try some time.

Chuck

 

[mdboatbum]

Thanks for the info Kevin! I don't have anyplace to store dry cured (#2) meats, so I was just thinking if I were to do it with a dry cure of cure #1 like I've done with Canadian Bacon (different ingredients, obviously) I could maybe get most of the flavor and texture but with the space and equipment I have. I know it wouldn't be the real thing, but for now, working with what I have it might do the trick.

 

[foamheart]

Boat, I am now doing my Andouille with cure number #1, its not how the old timers did it either. But I can't think of a single old timer that had 3 large freezers and 4 large reefers like me either. They did it for lack of a better way. I do it the best I can remember looking to rekindle the old ways while at the same time I store it all in the freezers. Its a better safer way. BTW That last Andouille could have won at the state fair! Its uncooked and so tender totally awesome. Not saying what's right, only what I know.

I bet his Tasso will be great, I just don't have the experience or knowledge to back that up.

 

[bigwheel]

http://www.jfolse.com/recipes/meats/pork31.htm

 

[darwin101]

My grandparents would convert the scraps from beef or pork after a boucherie into tasso and smoke it for up to 2 days.  This was before refrigeration and this was a method to preserve the meats, so think heavily smoked and dry. This was around the Ville Platte, Mamou, Point Blue areas of Acadiana.  The recipe on Nolacuise is not bad, just a bit mild for me.

 

[tc fish bum]

 im guessing tasso came from you guys making links and running out of one ing or another, ie; casings or filler, and just coating the meat you still have and smoking it when you smoke your sausage. now its preserved and not wasted, just a deconstructed budin or andouille that does wonders in a braised dish?  soooooo in the spirit of tasso one could make say polish spiced to go with cabbage, or itialian spiced to go in a ragu, ect ect. just trying to get a feel for what it was, I like food history as much as the food. makes the experience just better. and foam Im gonna start stalking you down about how to make real deal la. sausage here soon as I get my grinder going. how you all do it the right way, we yanks couldn't get good creole/cajun if we wanted to so a few of us take matters into our own hands and beg you guys for help

 

[foamheart]

I am not an expert. I am learning everytime I try again. Mine is more right now about remembering what I saw as a kid. Tasso and Andouille were made for when times when not only food but spices weren't as plentiful. They weren't made to stand alone as a meal, there are not any Tasso recipes, or Andouille recipes. There were recipes for other foods which used these as seasoning. Andouille and tasso had all the spice and flavor accompanying a little bit of meat, and in Andouille's case some fat to render. There is no Andouille Po-boys nor tasso gumbo (LOL and there is a gumbo for everything), or any recipe. Well there may be on the WWW but its someone's Noveau invention.

There are as many ways to make it as there are to use it. Like everyone else I am just looking for that way, that taste, that smell I remember.

I'll be glad to help, I'll be happier when I get it where I am satisfied with the finial product. I am thinking now that it maybe be like that adage, "its not about the destination, its the journey". I am really wanting with the next Andouille I make to try a #2 cure and hang the Andouille. That would be totally awesome.

You are never finished. But its sure fun.

 

[tc fish bum]

the poorest folks make for the best dishes. it takes a talented person to turn scraps into something wonderful, and it is those dishes im looking for.why get Andouille made from the best cuts of everything in a pro kitchen with a pro chef when the real thing comes from the crabby old guy that lives on the end of your street somewhere in back roads la!!!! you cant put a price on that.

 

[bigwheel]

I could sure see throwing a cure on it to let it slow smoke for two or three days. I had a brilliant idea to smoke dehydrate some pork loin here while back. It smell a bit porky or something. Would have made great doggy treats. Wound up; throwing over the fence for the possums.