Baifo Asado Canario

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Kitchen scale
• •Large mortar and pestle or small food processor
• •Heavy roasting pan, about 30 x 40cm
• •Foil or tight-fitting lid
• •Instant-read thermometer, useful but not required

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the baifo

   Pat the kid goat dry. Set aside 3g of the salt for the barrado, the smear, and rub the remaining 15g all over the meat, especially around the bone and the cut sides. If the shoulder or leg pieces are thick, make two or three shallow slashes so the paste can sit in the meat instead of only on top.

2. 2

   Pound the barrado

   In a mortar, pound the 8 garlic cloves with the reserved 3g salt until creamy. Add the sweet pimentón, hot pimentón if using, cumin, oregano, thyme, and black pepper, then work in the 60ml vinegar and 80ml olive oil until you have a red, spoonable paste. Rub it into the goat with your hands. This is the step that decides the dish: if the paste only sits on the surface, the garlic burns and the meat underneath tastes flat.

3. 3

   Rest under paste

   Cover the goat and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight if you have the sense to plan it. Bring it out 1 hour before roasting so the chill comes off. Pésalo, no lo adivines, and give the barrado its time; precision and patience do more work here than fussing at the oven.

   If using lamb shoulder instead of kid goat, keep the same rest. Lamb is sweeter and fattier, but the vinegar and garlic still need time to settle into the meat.
4. 4

   Make the mojo

   For the mojo rojo, pound the 4 garlic cloves, cumin seeds, coarse salt, sweet pimentón, and hot pimentón if using. Stir in the 50ml vinegar, then beat in the 120ml olive oil until loose and red. Divide it into two bowls: one for basting in the oven, one clean bowl for the table. Keep the table bowl away from raw meat. Nadie nace sabiendo, but food safety is not where we improvise.

5. 5

   Roast covered

   Heat the oven to 160 C. Scatter the potatoes, onion, and bay leaves in a heavy roasting pan, pour in the wine and water, and set the goat on top with all its barrado. Cover tightly with a lid or foil and roast for about 1 hour 30 minutes, turning the pieces once and spooning the pan juices over them. Kid goat is lean; the covered roast lets the meat soften before you ask it to brown.

6. 6

   Brown with mojo

   Uncover the pan and raise the oven to 210 C. Brush or spoon the basting bowl of mojo over the goat, then roast 30 to 40 minutes more, spooning pan juices and a little more mojo over the meat every 10 minutes. The edges should go dark red-brown and glossy, the potatoes should be tender, and a skewer should slide into the shoulder with only a little resistance. If you use a thermometer, the best eating texture for shoulder is around 82 to 88 C, not barely cooked.

   If the pan dries before the meat is tender, add a splash of water or wine around the edges, not over the browned top.
7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Rest the baifo for 15 minutes before serving. Spoon the red pan juices over the meat and potatoes, and pass the clean mojo at the table. Don't drown it. The mojo should sharpen the goat, not hide it. No hace falta haber pisado España. Con buenos ingredientes y paciencia, siempre sale, si lo sigues.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for kid goat or young goat, bone-in, from the shoulder, leg, or ribs. Old goat is a different cooking project: good, yes, but it wants a longer covered roast and more liquid before it becomes tender.
• •If kid goat is impossible to find, bone-in lamb shoulder is the honest substitute. It is not baifo, but it will take the barrado well. Expect a sweeter, fattier roast, and skim a little fat from the pan juices before serving.
• •Use wine vinegar with a clean bite. The vinegar is not there to make the dish sour; it cuts through the fat and keeps the garlic and pimentón lively after the long roast.
• •If you can find pimienta palmera or pimienta picona, use a little in the mojo in place of the hot pimentón. If not, sweet pimentón with a pinch of dried chile gets you close enough to cook the dish with dignity.
• •Serve with the roasted potatoes from the pan or with papas arrugadas and more mojo. A dry Canarian white or a light red from Listán Negro is right beside it; heavy wine sits on the goat instead of lifting it.

Advance Preparation

• •Rub the goat with the barrado up to 24 hours ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator. Bring it out 1 hour before roasting.
• •The mojo rojo can be made 2 days ahead. Keep it covered and chilled, then stir it well before using because the oil and vinegar separate.
• •Leftover baifo keeps 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat it covered with a spoonful of water or pan juices until hot, then finish uncovered for a few minutes so the edges come back.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 390g)