Curry Goat Birria-Style Tacos (Jamaican × Mexican)

Method

1. Snip the stems off the ancho chiles, shake out the seeds and open them flat. Toast them in a dry frying pan on medium heat for 1 min, pressing with a spatula, until they smell smoky and turn pliable; don't let them blacken. Put them in a heatproof bowl, pour over part of the water, freshly boiled, and soak for 10 min.

   Add in this stepDried ancho chiles 2Water 210 ml

   medium heat

2. Put the softened anchos and their soaking water in a blender with the garlic, onion, seeded scotch bonnet, allspice, cumin, salt and half the curry powder. Blend for about 1 minute until completely smooth.

   Add in this stepGarlic cloves 3Onion 1Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded ½Ground allspice ½ tspGround cumin ½ tspSalt 1 tspJamaican curry powder ¾ tbsp

3. Cut the goat into 4 cm chunks and pat dry. Heat half the oil in a 20 cm pot on medium-high heat, add the rest of the curry powder and stir for 1 min until toasty, then add the goat and brown it for 6 min, turning, until coloured on all sides.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil ¾ tbspJamaican curry powder ¾ tbspBoneless goat shoulder 400 g

   medium-high heat

4. Pour in the chile sauce and the rest of the water and add the thyme. Bring to a boil on high heat, then cover, turn down to low heat and simmer for 1 h 40 min, stirring every 20 minutes, until the meat shreds easily with a fork.

   Add in this stepWater 490 mlFresh thyme sprigs 3

   high heat→low heat

5. Lift the meat onto a board and shred it with two forks, discarding any gristle. Skim the red fat off the broth into a small bowl and keep it. The broth is now your consommé: taste, season if needed and keep it warm on low heat. Finely chop the red onion and cilantro and mix them for the topping.

   Add in this stepRed onion ½Cilantro 10 g

   low heat

6. Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat and brush it with a little of the remaining oil. Dip one side of a tortilla in the red fat, lay it in the pan fat-side down, cover half with cheese and meat and fold it over. Cook in 2 batches, about 8 min in total, turning once, until both sides are crisp and the cheese has melted. Serve with the onion-cilantro topping, lime wedges and a cup of hot consommé for dunking.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil ¾ tbspCorn tortillas (15 cm) 6Shredded mozzarella 80 gLime 1

   medium-high heat