What is a Cabrito?

Okay, Okay so I'm not a writer as we all know so some things will be a little off and way all over the place, but thank god for spell check....LOL


So the other day I was invited to a birthday party for a 1 year old baby girl. I was told that there would be a Roast of two whole Goats called a  Cabrito or baby goat kid that is milk fed. Me being the Culinary student I am wanted to see this first hand what was going to be going on here, so I arrived early and actually got my hands dirty "Literally". What I found the most interesting about the whole experience was that no part of the Cabrito gets wasted because it is all used in some way or another. "This I will try t explain throughout the blog". 

The Host of the party is from Monterrey, Mexico, which is generally viewed as the world headquarters of Cabrito, and many restaurants in the united states prepare their Cabrito “Monterrey Style.” There are actually several traditional ways to make roast Cabrito; one of the most common ways to make this dish is to roast a whole kid on a spit over a slow-burning charcoal fire, turning it frequently and basting well to enhance the flavor or it can also be prepared in a pit roast, which is popular for big parties, as the kid can be buried and then ignored for several hours before being dug up to eat.

  
The way that the Cabrito was cooked at this party was in a Hot box called an Ataud which means Coffin in English. Which I found quite scary because if you research it all you come up with real coffins on Google.

So the actual process of making the Cabrito (baby goats) is to brine them for at least 24 hours. The insides of the Cabrito are set to the side for later use. All of  the organs are cleaned and  cut up to be made later into Fritadas. 

The Cabrito's are roasted in the Ataud for about 2 hours depending on the pound of the Cabrito.Once they have been Roasted for a few hours remove the coal covered top (make sure you put it on logs or you will burn your grass) Rub it down with butter to keep it from drying out during the next hours or so of roasting. Put the top of coals back on top of the Cabrito's and roast for another two hours and then test to see if its done (if it falls off the bone  when you touch it its pretty much done). 

Meanwhile 1n an cast iron skillet on the top rack of the Ataud while the roast is cooking on the other side Dice up the stomach, liver intestines, and all of the other inside organs of the goat into bite sized pieces. 

Dice up some Green Peppers, Onions, jalapenos, Cilantro, and cook until it is half way done. Add a bottle of beer and cook until it vaporizes, making sure it is all well cooked. Warm up some shells on the Ataud rack and now you have a starter meal until the Goat is done.

I hope you enjoy the Cabrito and the Fritadas I did....I also seen it as a way to enjoy good company while also cooking a great meal. ENJOY

Please feel free to email me with any questions....Yiemonad@hotmail.com