Chivo Guisado Picante

Ingredients

• 1.4 kg goat on the bone, in pieces
• juice of 2 bitter oranges, or 1 orange and 2 limes
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 8 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 red onions, sliced
• 1 green pepper, in strips
• 1 scotch bonnet, whole or split to taste
• 2½ tbsp tomato purée
• 4 culantro leaves
• 700 ml stock or water
• 60 ml dark rum — optional

Method

1. Wash the goat well

   Rinse the goat in water sharpened with some of the bitter orange, then drain it. Goat carries a strong smell that the citrus wash is there to take off — skip it and it stays in the pot all day.

2. Marinate overnight if you can

   Rub in the rest of the citrus, the oregano, garlic, salt and pepper and leave it in the fridge for a few hours, ideally overnight. Goat is lean and tough and takes seasoning slowly.

   2 h

3. Burn the sugar

   Darken the sugar in the hot oil until it smokes faintly, exactly as for any other guiso.

   3 min

4. Sear hard

   Brown the goat in batches until the pieces have a real crust. This is where the depth comes from; goat does not give much up later.

   15 min

5. Aromatics and heat

   Add the onions, pepper, scotch bonnet, tomato purée and culantro. Leave the chilli whole for perfume and split it only if you want the dish genuinely hot — a burst scotch bonnet is not reversible.

   7 min

6. Long braise

   Pour in the stock and the rum if using, cover and cook at the barest simmer for two hours, topping up with water if it runs dry. Goat is done when it pulls off the bone with a spoon and not a minute before.

   2 h

7. Reduce and serve

   Take the lid off for the last fifteen minutes to thicken the sauce, fish out the chilli, and serve with white rice and tostones.

   15 min