A lean and highly-seasoned piece of cured pork or beef, tasso is hard to find outside of Louisiana. It's used like ham or salt pork to flavor pastas, beans, and other dishes.
Tasso is a Cajun style meat product made from heavily-seasoned, thinly-sliced strips of smoked pork. While cooked tasso can be eaten as a standalone dish, tasso is usually added to other dishes as a flavoring agent. In addition to pork, some commercially-made tasso is available in varieties made from other meats, such as turkey.