Hispanic Heritage · República Dominicana

El Cibao

Santiago de los Caballeros · Moca · La Vega · Jarabacoa · Constanza · Salcedo

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Chivo guisado cibaeño

Descubre

The Cibao’s chivo guisado puts goat, oregano, garlic, and sour citrus at the center of a slow-cooked stew. It offers a rich introduction to the relationship between a fragrant marinade and a patient simmer.

La Gente

Give the meat time to become tender and taste the sauce as it reduces. Oregano should remain noticeable without overwhelming the other ingredients. Rice or another simple accompaniment makes room for the stew’s full flavor.

Sabor

The Cibao cooks with oregano the way other kitchens cook with salt. It is in the marinade, the sauce, the beans, and often the salad. Sour orange does the acid work. Garlic does the rest. Heat is rare, sweetness is rarer, and the food is meant to taste like the farm it came from.

Spice DNA · Herb high · Acid high · Smoke low · Sweet none · Heat low

Seasonings to explore

Oregano, whole. More than you think. Then a little more.
Sour Orange marinade. The acid in the overnight marinade. Fresh sour oranges if you can find them; this bottle if you cannot.
Minced Garlic in Olive Oil. Into the marinade and the sofrito.
Adobo with Pepper. On the meat before the sour orange.
Sazón with Coriander and Annatto. A pinch for the color of the sauce.
Black Pepper, ground. With the adobo.

From your market: two pounds of goat meat, bone-in, cut for stew. A Latin or Caribbean butcher will have it. Tomato paste, ajíes or a bell pepper, an onion, and a bunch of cilantro. If goat is impossible, bone-in lamb shoulder takes the same recipe.

Cocina

Chivo guisado cibaeño

Stewed goat, the Sunday pot of the valley. The marinade is the day before. The rest is time.

Serves 6

2 lb bone-in goat meat, cut into 2-inch pieces
½ cup Badia Sour Orange marinade, or the juice of 3 sour oranges
2 tbsp Badia Minced Garlic in Olive Oil, or 6 garlic cloves crushed
2 tbsp Badia Oregano, whole
1½ tsp Badia Adobo with Pepper
½ tsp Badia Black Pepper, ground
3 tbsp oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 ajíes cubanela or 1 green bell pepper, sliced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp Badia Sazón with Coriander and Annatto
2 cups water
2 tbsp rum (optional, and most cooks say not optional)
Salt
¼ cup cilantro, chopped

The night before. Toss the goat with the sour orange, garlic, oregano, adobo, and black pepper. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The meat should smell like the Cibao by morning.
Brown. Lift the meat out of the marinade and pat it dry, saving the marinade. Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium-high and brown the goat in batches, taking your time. Do not crowd the pot. Set the browned meat aside.
Sofrito. Lower the heat. Cook the onion and ajíes in the same pot until soft, 5 minutes, scraping up the brown bits. Add the tomato paste and sazón and stir until the paste darkens.
Stew. Return the meat with the reserved marinade, the water, and the rum. Bring to a boil, then cover and drop to a low simmer. Cook 1½ to 2 hours, until the meat pulls from the bone and the sauce has thickened. Check every 30 minutes and add water if it looks dry. Salt at the end, not the beginning; the adobo already brought some.
Finish. Stir in the cilantro. Let it rest 10 minutes off the heat.
Serve over white rice with tostones on the side. The sauce goes on the rice. All of it.

Pueblos del Cibao

Santiago de los Caballeros · Moca · La Vega · Jarabacoa · Constanza · Salcedo · San Francisco de Macorís · Bonao · Cotuí · Puerto Plata · Sosúa · Nagua · Mao · Montecristi · Dajabón · Santiago Rodríguez