Hey Ma! Look what I bought - Goats & Bison!

[gfron1]

Its interesting how the world looks when you have goats on the mind. Here are a few things that have come up this morning.

First, found someone who loves to prepare goat head - its CONSUELO of tamale making fame. Her husband is opposed only because it will involve digging a hole big enough for a 55 gallon drum in their backyard. But I'm going to work on him (or maybe for him).

Also, my goat keeper is going to do two weeks of corn feed. She asked if that was okay, and I don't see why not.

This morning at church we talked about GEN 1: 26-31. That's what many Christians use as the verse to support the consumption of the land. In our church, it was a discussion about what it means to be a steward of the land and have "dominion" over it. In the end we agreed that most of us have lost our relationship with the land over which we have dominion...like Marie Antoinette with her "Let them eat cake," comment. So yes, cattle is raised for food, but we ignore or don't want to know about how it was raised and processed.

I promise not to make this topic a preachy moralistic one since that has little or nothing to do with why I bought the goats, but I share it because that's what is coming up for me right now.

The other really neat things that's happening is that as I (an almost 40 year old) share my journey with friends and family, the over 60 crowd has really opened up to tell me stories about their relationship to food. Its been almost exclusively in their childhood, but almost everyone has told me a story. This morning it was two church friends both with stories of animals being brought home, and how they befriended the animal, only to have it end up on their kitchen table. One knew, the other didn't. When both found out, they were devesated, but got over it soon enough.

My favorite is from an uncle in Cincinnati who shared a family story that I had never heard. A brief backstory. My family has a cabin in Southern Missouri that has been the pivot point for all of us to get together and have our generations raised. No matter how far we move away, and regardless of how our families have evolved, we always end up at the cabin. From Uncle Dick (edited only slightly to explain things that are assumed in the family):

When we were growing up in the late 1940s - early 1050s, (7th - 8th grade through high school for me), Dad and Uncle Dolph belonged to a deer hunting club. You had to buy some of the river hills between the river and old Rt. 61, from north of Bloomsdale to the Ste. Genevieve county line to join. Every one in the club shared in the meat from the hunt, regardless whether you personally shot a deer or not. This was spiked-bucks-only then.

When I got to be in high school, I was allowed to go along on the hunts. We would meet at church in Bloomdale at 5:00 am, still dark in November. At 5:05, when Mass let out , (the priest promised no more than five minutes), we'd pile into several pick-ups and head out to where that day's hunt would be. Normally this was in a deep valley. Half of the men, who were designated the "hunters" for that day, jumped out and climbed up to the ridges on either side. The rest of us, some with rifles, many without, including me, would be driven around to start of the valley. There we would fan out across the bottom and up both sides. We all had whistles, horns, cow bells, or rocks in a can. When the signal was given, the noise would start to drive all of the deer down the valley to where the hunters were stationed. We kept up the noise until we reached the line of hunters for our own protection. A few times, when Uncle Dolph did not want to hunt that day, I got to use his gun, and those were the only days I never saw a deer. I hid behind a tree several times when the deer reversed, more willing to run through our noise than to the roar of the guns.

The deer which had been shot were field-dressed, checked in at the Conservation station, and then refrigerated until they could be butchered. Some of the meat was set aside so the club members and families could have a party, and the rest was divided up equally. Dad would take our share to the Freezer plant to be further butchered, frozen, and stored. The steaks were great, the roasts made wonderful Sauerbraten, and much of the rest was ground and mixed with about one-third ground pork, which made very good hamburgers and meat loaf.

Okay, that was all the Preamble, now here is the real story.

Missouri law forbid storing meat, particularly wild game, in public locker plants for more than six months. No one had home freezers in those days. So every Spring, Dad hosted a "Goat BBQ" out at Coldwater. That is why that big brick pit is part if the BBQ pit in the back yard of the cabin. A lot of Mom's and Dad's friends, both in town and at Coldwater would not touch deer meat with the proverbial "10' pole." But slathered with his good Special BBQ sauce we had "the best goat BBQs' anyone had ever had!" People would ask Dad how he got the goat to be so tender, and he'd grin and say the secret was in his sauce.

We never told anyone that they were eating Venison. But boy, I didn't care if they wouldn't touch it. That just made more for me.

[hummingbirdkiss]

Okay, so the head...let's just say I'm not there yet.  I've got two weeks to ask for the head, but I'm not sure I, nor my spouse, is ready to throw a head in the freezer.  I definitely can't put it my store.  People freaked out when I had the 16" buffalo tongue proudly displayed - not good for sales.  I'm beyond baby steps, but just barely past toddler steps.  A Godfather-esque head...well, we'll see.

And if I could easily ship to mutilated heads to ChefCrash, I would just to see his write-up about receiving the package and the surprise in his eyes!

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it is JUST A HEAD!!! ..you eat the the butt the arm the shoulder too and that is no big deal!!! sorry but I think this is overthought!!!!

like anything else it is food eat it ..or share it with your dogs .there is no shame in that! they give you tremendous delight in life ..that would be a blast for them to dive into

whatever you choose ..and for what ever my opinion is worth to anyone ..I strongly believe in my heart of hearts ..you and other people like you ..make the right choice when you face your food head on (pun intended )

I grew up in a city...but the people who raised me felt stongly about food and where it came from ..

[hummingbirdkiss]

I will not tell you about how I found the sheeps head in my garlic bed .... partially buried and face up one time when JuJube was done with it ...

she thought if she planted it she could grow more sheep!

Edited March 2, 2008 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Peter the eater]

Good on you for doing the goat thing, it looks like a very rewarding process.

I regard goat meat (along with rabbit) as a delicious and totally under-appreciated alternative, at least that's the way it is in my community. We have a few producers bringing goat to the market but the demand could be much higher.

If I wanted to sell goat meat to the uninitiated I would offer samples - there are so many fantastic preparations from all over the world: Morocco, India, the Caribbean, the Middle East, SE Asia, etc.

The other really neat things that's happening is that as I (an almost 40 year old) share my journey with friends and family, the over 60 crowd has really opened up to tell me stories about their relationship to food. Its been almost exclusively in their childhood, but almost everyone has told me a story.

That right there says a lot about the way baby boomer and post-boomer North Americans eat. If I may paraphrase a Michael Pollan pearl of wisdom, we should probably eat only those things that our grandparents would recognize as food. There's so much on the grocery store shelves that simply didn't exist 50 years ago.

BTW I am familiar with the Back Wood Magazine you linked to - it was very helpful when I did my first pig.

Question: what is an international grocery?

[gfron1]

An international grocery is just that. We have a small grocery store in the middle of the high desert in New Mexico that sells products from around the world. Let's just say I won't have much trouble getting those hard to find ingredients for my goat recipes.

[hummingbirdkiss]

well you do not need an International grocery for the best of New Mexico goat leg ..and if you dont mind I would love to share this recipe with you ...we eat it every time we go to Santa Fe and it is just the most perfect way to serve goat...(well to me an mine it is) nothing extravagant just good soul food

you take a fresh hind leg

make a pepper packing of sorts of olive oil, kosher salt , garlic, sage, red chile, cracked pepper pepper and more pepper..just pack it on ..more is more with this because you want the crust to really seal in the meat

let it sit over night in the fridg..then bring it to room temp

the slow grill it over mesquite smoke

until the meat is tender

wrap it tightly in foil and let stand while you get your tortillas and garnishes ready

fresh pico de gallo of course is the main thing ..guac is nice ..whatever you like ...limes ...fresh cilantro

pull the meat off the bone (that bone will make great stock later) getting that pepper crust mixed in with the meat pile on a platter and serve with warm tortillas, garnishes and beer

this to me exemplifies the taste of the high desert of NM

enjoy your goats!

[sparrowgrass]

Just a note, in case anyone wants to google the goats--they are Boers, not boars. (Boars are boy piggies.)

Good for you. Being a country girl, I don't quite get all the drama, but totally agree that everybody needs to know where food comes from.

Gfron, holler at me next time you come to the cabin--I am in Iron County, and I could bring some good home 'growed' eggs to you.

[gfron1]

Growed eggs?! You mean those nasty things that come out of chicken butts! Oooo yuck

[ChefCrash]

Beautiful photos gfron1.

This thread brings back memories. As kids we spent summers in the village where my parents grew up. We always had a goat (or lamb) that we'd fatten over the summer.

We knew that the animal will end up on the dinner table, to celebrate the end of the Olive harvest (late August early September).

Our job was to collect lots and lots of Mulberry branches from trees all over our land. Goats aren't finicky eaters, but they love Mulberry leaves.

It was always a little sad. My sisters and brothers and I (ages 7-14) always made sure our pet for the summer had a good meal and all the water it wanted before we took it for its last walk. To the village butcher.

We got the goats at the goat drive-thru.

We drive through

The dude pulls up to our window. We place our order and pop the trunk of the Mercedes

And we're off

O.K. just kidding about the drive-thru.

I took those photos in 2004 visiting Lebanon for the first time in 30 years. The man's name is Sabaa. We played together when we were children. We used to buy the goats from his father.

This is your chance to try foods that you otherwise can't. Like very, very fresh liver or meat like this:

Lung sheesh kabobs.

Testicles sliced and sauteed in butter and finished with lemon juice.

Tripe and feet like this.

Don't make sausage.

[mizducky]

I salute your efforts, gfron!

I think the closest I've ever come to this experience is eating a fish I caught and cleaned myself, which I readily admit is not in the same league. It does at least put one personally in touch with the whole killing-living-critter thing ... but there's no denying the creatures closer to us on the foodchain are more capable of stirring the emotions, especially the mammals.

I had an acquaintance who raised rabbits--she not only used their meat for food, but their fur for spinning into wool, which she then turned into knitted and woven items. Now that's dedication. (And pretty darned cool, I thought.)

Two words I learned right quick when I arrived in San Diego: chivo and birria. Yum. Goat meat does rule. I love meat that actually tastes like something on its own, and actually stands up to strong seasoning rather than presenting a blank canvas.

And offal also rules. More meat that actually has a distinctive flavor--as well as a wealth of distinctive textures.

Edited to add: Goat drive-thru!

Edited March 4, 2008 by mizducky (log)

[lauraf]

Ummm, how do the goats die? Do they get bonged on the head and then have their throats slit?

[gfron1]

I don't really want to know, but I will be finding out in a couple of weeks.

[gfron1]

I believe my goats are being processed this week (it may have already happened). Also, I did request the heads. More details coming soon.

[FWD]

This is pretty cool, I can't wait to see the rest of the story. Do you know what you'll do with the heads yet?

FWD

[gfron1]

I'm not sure. I have a neighbor from Mexico - I linked to a picture of her somewhere above - who loves goat head. So she'll be getting them to make something for us.

[Henry dV]

I think the closest I've ever come to this experience is eating a fish I caught and cleaned myself, which I readily admit is not in the same league.

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I think you do yourself a disservice, it is the very fact you did everything from catch to cook is in itself, to be applauded. I do have to say that no-one should feel guilty that they can`t kill and/or process their own food. I couldn`t handle personal care for a stranger, others can, we are all different, just enjoy good food and good company !

Excellent thread BTW !

Edited April 3, 2008 by Henry dV (log)

[gfron1]

Today I'm going to do some therapeautic rambling if you don't mind. I didn't sleep well at all last night and it could have been a number of factors, but I know which it was. And before I start I just want to let you know that not one single person in my life would describe me as overly emotional or prone to drama. My spouse would say I have both emotion and drama, but its always kept in check (I view this as a weakness, not a gift). So with the thoughts I'm having right now, please keep that in mind.

Also, upthread there are some "get over it" comments. They came from someone that I consider an eGullet friend so I didn't take them negatively, more motivationally, but now is not the time for folks to make similar comments. We all have different upbringings, and I, like I assume the majority of eGullet readers, was not raised on a farm meeting my future dinners. My chicken has always been named Tyson, and my beef, Kroger, so please allow me to experience this issue on my timeline and not yours.

(I've already rambled beyond my anticipated ramblings - sorry)

So in an ironic twist of fate I now have a bison going to slaughter tomorrow (Mon). This was one of those chasing an empty promise moments that turned out not to be empty. And, this is the reason I didn't sleep well. I've been talking with this guy from Gila, NM (30 minutes Northwest of me) who raises bison for meat. He gathers groups together to split the meat and when he approached me back in December I told him that I would take a half. Taking a half of a bison drastically speeds up the process since most people can barely handle a quarter. After three months I hadn't heard from him and basically forgotten the whole deal. Then yesterday he calls and says that the bison is on his truck and being brought to town for slaughter. He needs the cut order from me.

First, on a process side - he is not as helpful as my goat folks, and is making me pick the cuts...what the hell do I know about processing a bison! All I know is that I want as much ground as possible. Second, this has me unsettled - not the cuts, the whole process. I've never seen this bison. I don't know how he raises them, although I know they are free range and grass fed and no chemicals. But I don't know its name and haven't seen its face. It should just be another foam tray named Kroger. But I think that's what's bothering me. I've eaten plenty of nameless meats since I started this topic and haven't thought twice, but I wasn't the one writing the check that got it put on the truck, and I didn't send in my cut order. Maybe I've seen the other side with my two goat buddies.

I think I lot of this has to do with being from the West. Goats are worthy creatures, but they're silly and cute and a bit obnoxious. Bison are majestic and hold so much importance in our culture. In the drug treatment program I run, we have a component program called White Bison, which refers to a dream that an American Indian leader had of a white bison that came to save the tribes from the evils of addiction. So here I am having a powerful symbol of strength killed - just like American Indians have for centuries.

I don't know what to think about all of this. There was something in touching the heads of RB47 and LB36 and whispering, "Thank you. I honor your life." As cheesey as that may sound. I can tell you though, I'm going to do my best to go see the bison before they put him down. And as for the cuts, hell, I just don't know - do whatever you want, just give me lots of ground.

Now, my continued rambling...

Today is my 40th birthday! Woo hoo! [No need to send birthday wishes in this topic since I'm a host who will have to delete them anyway ] Its not a dramatic birthday for me. I think of everyday as a special day and I'm always glad I was born, so this is just the 14,600th day of my life, and I spend more time thinking about my mom who gave birth two days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. - that must have been a terrible mix of emotions.

Yesterday my spouse arranged for all of my friends to bring me an egg. "You know you're an eGulleter when..." We aren't big into gifts and pomp, so he wanted people to do something that showed me how many people care, but would be silly, and with all of the baking I do it would also be useful. I'll post a pic later since many were decorated. But of course eggs are life.

A couple of weeks ago I was conducting a private baking lesson with a local kid and I had him separating eggs. Because of what we were making I had him remove the little white squigglies, and in the process of him "eeewww"ing, I reminded him of what eggs are and what the little squiggle is. This completely repulsed him, so I also had to remind him that he's been eating them for years. I wonder how he would do looking his meat in the eyes. BTW, he wants to be a pastry chef when he gets older. I'm very proud of him.

And finally my goats. They're mine, not being split with some anonymous co-buyers. I'm going to check in and find out where they are. I assume they've been processed already, but I'm not sure. I've made room in the freezer and I'm going to remind Consuelo that the heads are on their way.

Thanks to all who beared with me through this long post and I hope others are motivated to meet their food!

[Note: I modified the title to include the bison.]

[Margo]

Bravo, Rob. Acknowledging and trying to sort through your complex emotions goes some way towards honoring your bison, I would think. I do hope you have a chance to meet him. For me, that would be more difficult. But it seems that for you it is almost essential.

Following this thread with rapt attention.

[Dignan]

I envy you for your freezer space. That's a (Happy Birthday!) lot of meat, what with the whole goat and a half bison, to keep on ice.

A cut of brisket from the bison might be interesting.

[docsconz]

Great and fascinating thread, Rob. This should make for an interesting and (hopefully) happy birthday(!) I applaud you for taking the steps that you took with the goats. While I have not personally raised any of my meat, I don't have any conceptual problems with doing so. I have, however, like you with your bison, ordered whole or shared animals from local farms. While I haven't necessarily known the animals personally, knowing the farmers who raised them is the next best thing.

[insomniac]

Rob, I salute you...

[rooftop1000]

I think the first thing you should do with some of your bison is to give it away to someone who will also appreciate it. Thus you have served the animal and any spirits well.

After that enjoy it because that also serves it well.

And welcome to the Forty Club

tracey

[gfron1]

I just spoke with my rancher. First I asked if I could come take pics and he suggested not because "America's all crazy right now thinkin' we're all abusing our animals. And we're not. Its just one lunatic in California." So there! He did offer to let me come out to the ranch which I'll do later this week.

However, I missed my chance. They gave the buffalo a days rest at the processing area. Then killed him on Friday. By the end of the day he was dressed and quartered and is now aging. On Tuesday the processor will be doing the cuts and then freezing. I should have my packages by Friday or Saturday.

And I like that idea rooftop. Thanks.

[David Ross]

I think I lot of this has to do with being from the West.  Goats are worthy creatures, but they're silly and cute and a bit obnoxious.  Bison are majestic and hold so much importance in our culture.  In the drug treatment program I run, we have a component program called White Bison, which refers to a dream that an American Indian leader had of a white bison that came to save the tribes from the evils of addiction.  So here I am having a powerful symbol of strength killed - just like American Indians have for centuries. 

[Note: I modified the title to include the bison.]

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Rob-first off, Happy Birthday and I hope you ate many, many sweets on your birthday.

The heading for your post immediately caught my eye because I have become quite interested in the movement of consumers buying animals directly from farmers. I find it intriguing that the consumer and the farmer are moving back to some of the simple traditions of the past where we bought our foods directly from the farm. We knew how it was grown, where it was grown and what it should taste like. So thank you for sharing your story.

But as I read on, I also gained an emotional tie to your story through the personal, respectful thoughts you have shared. Your own words give the Bison's life reverance-"a powerful symbol of strength." The life of your animal is giving strength through the sustenance it will provide. And I agree with Rooftop-sharing your animal with others will further share the spirit of the Bison's strength.

I too live in the West and maybe our history is what gives us such a strong tie to the cultures of the West and the role that the Bison played in shaping our history. I'm a descendant of pioneers who came West in covered wagons on the Oregon Trail and staked homesteads in Eastern Oregon. I live in Eastern Washington and there are a number of small ranches that raise Bison. When I drive out into the country and spot one of those Bison in a rolling wheat field, I realize that's the same image that someone saw many, many, years ago.

Today when I read through your posts, it evoked these thoughts of what life must have been like in the West when the Bison roamed free.

Thank you again for telling this story-I'm looking forward to hearing more.

[pounce]

Rob,

Since I am familiar with a hunting ranch in NM that raises Bison for meat, hunts and preservation I have had the ethical/emotional conversation about actually "hunting" a Bison, processing and eating it.

What's your take on the hunting part of the puzzle? I'm on the fence about what is more humane or "real" about facing the death of the animal and the experience of directly causing that death.

I know of a few celebrities that have gone on Bison shoots and the whole thing always makes me think. How hard can it really be to shoot a Bison? For me it feels like shooting a cow. They aren't exactly expecting predators you know. Would it be more respectful to take the Bison to a slaughter house where any other herd animals may not be witness to the downing of the Bison? Is it beneficial for herd animals to have the experience of having other herd members killed?

I apologize if I am taking this off topic with the hunting factor. I like to eat meat and I like Bison. I still seem to have open questions that maybe a lot of the other readers have. Can I kill an animal and eat it? If I can't should I continue to eat them? Does it really matter if I am involved (if only maybe once) in the animal based food process if I'm an end consumer?

PS: Thanks for sharing your experiences.