Cabrito al Azafrán de la Sierra Gorda

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 5- to 6-quart lead-free cazuela de barro or heavy Dutch oven
• •Cast iron comal or clay comal for toasting chiles
• •Blender
• •Fine-mesh strainer
• •Molcajete or spice grinder for the toasted spices

Instructions

1. 1

   Salt the cabrito

   Pat the cabrito dry and season it all over with the coarse sea salt. Let it stand 45 minutes while you prepare the sauce, or salt it the night before and refrigerate it uncovered. Cabrito is young goat, not adult chivo. The bones are part of the flavor, so do not ask the butcher to remove them.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the chile guajillo one or two at a time, about 15 to 20 seconds per side, just until the skin darkens slightly and the chile smells fruity. Do not let them blacken. Put the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water for 20 minutes. Hot water softens the flesh. Boiling water pulls bitterness from the skin.

   A good guajillo is flexible and leathery, not dusty and brittle. You can have perfect technique and bad chiles and still end up with a flat sauce. Start at the market, not the stove.
3. 3

   Toast the spices

   On the same comal, toast the cumin seeds, black peppercorns, and cloves for 30 to 45 seconds, shaking them so they do not scorch. Toast the unpeeled garlic cloves until the skins show dark spots and the cloves soften slightly. Peel the garlic. The cumin is not background here. It is the highland note that tells you this dish is not from the coast.

4. 4

   Bloom the azafrán

   Put the crushed azafrán del país in a small bowl with 1/2 cup of the hot goat stock or hot water. Let it stand 10 minutes, pressing the strands with the back of a spoon until the liquid turns orange-gold. This is not turmeric and not yellow dye. Azafrán del país gives color and a faint bitter-floral edge. That edge belongs in the dish.

5. 5

   Blend the sauce

   Drain the soaked guajillos and put them in a blender with the azafrán liquid and petals, toasted garlic, toasted spices, dried Mexican oregano, chopped half of the onion, vinagre de piña, and 1 cup of hot stock or water. Blend until completely smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the solids. You want a clean sauce that will cling to the goat, not a gritty paste.

6. 6

   Brown the meat

   Heat the manteca de cerdo in a wide heavy pot or lead-free cazuela over medium-high heat. Brown the cabrito in batches, turning until the edges take color and the bones show a little caramelization. Do not crowd the pot. Crowding makes the meat leak water and gray itself. La manteca es el sabor, and browning is where that flavor starts.

7. 7

   Fry the sauce

   Lower the heat to medium. Add the sliced half of the onion to the fat left in the pot and cook until softened. Pour in the strained guajillo and azafrán sauce. It will sputter. Stir and fry the sauce for 8 to 10 minutes, until the raw chile smell leaves, the color deepens to brick-gold, and a thin line of orange fat gathers at the edge. Skip this and the sauce tastes unfinished. No me vengas con atajos.

8. 8

   Braise gently

   Return the browned cabrito to the pot with the bay leaves. Add enough hot stock or hot water to come halfway up the meat, usually 2 cups more. Bring to a low simmer, cover, and cook 2 to 2 1/2 hours, turning the pieces every 40 minutes, until the meat is tender and beginning to pull from the bone. The sauce should thicken, not drown the goat. Add hot water in small splashes only if the bottom looks dry.

9. 9

   Rest and serve

   Uncover the pot and simmer 10 to 15 minutes more if the sauce needs tightening. Taste for salt. Let the cabrito rest off the heat for 20 minutes so the sauce settles back into the meat. Serve from the cazuela with pan de rancho or bolillos for sopping and tortillas calientes wrapped in a servilleta. Onion rings and lime stay on the side. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Chef Tips

• •Ask for cabrito, not adult chivo. You want young goat with bone, ideally shoulder, leg, and rib. Adult goat will work only with a longer braise and a stronger flavor. That is a compromise, not the same dish.
• •Buy chile guajillo that bends. If it cracks like old paper, leave it. At Mercado de La Cruz in Querétaro or the morning market in Jalpan, pregúntale a las señoras del mercado. They know which vendor is selling last year's chiles.
• •Azafrán del país is dried safflower, not turmeric. If all you can find is true saffron threads, use 1/4 teaspoon and understand that the aroma will be sharper and more floral. Do not use yellow coloring. That is not cooking.
• •Use a lead-free cazuela de barro if you have one. If you are not sure the clay is safe, cook in a Dutch oven and serve in barro. Beautiful clay does not excuse lead in your food.
• •Serve with corn tortillas and pan de rancho or bolillos. Flour tortillas belong to other registers. This is Sierra Gorda, not the norteño asada table.

Advance Preparation

• •Salt the cabrito up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerate uncovered. The salt firms the surface and helps the meat brown instead of sweating in the pot.
• •The chile and azafrán sauce can be blended one day ahead and refrigerated, but fry it in manteca on the cooking day. Raw chile paste sitting in a bowl is not the finished flavor.
• •Cabrito al azafrán reheats well. Make it one day ahead, refrigerate it in its sauce, and reheat gently over low heat with a splash of hot water. The sauce deepens overnight.
• •Warm the tortillas at the last moment on a comal. A tortilla wrapped too early turns damp and tired. Así se hace y punto.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 350g)