Tasso ham

Tasso ham is a smoked, spiced, and cured meat, a specialty of south Louisiana cuisine.

This cut is typically fatty, and because the muscle is constantly used by the animal, has a great deal of flavor.

The shoulder (also called the butt), which will weigh 7 to 8 pounds, is sliced across the grain into pieces about 3 in (7.5 cm) thick.

The meat is left to cure briefly, only three or four hours, then rinsed, rubbed with a spice mixture containing cayenne pepper and garlic, and hot-smoked until cooked through.

Appropriate to its roots, tasso is most often found in recipes of Creole or Cajun origin, such as jambalaya.

Poached eggs with tasso, griddled tomato and south Louisiana hollandaise