The Goat Topic: Tips & Techniques

[Ktepi]

Around this time last year, I got about three-quarters of a goat -- the whole goat minus organs, one leg, and the head -- from my butcher, for $2 a pound. Someone'd special-ordered the head and leg, and it was just easier for them to order the whole goat.

Anyway, so that filled my freezer and then some. This was especially mild goat, so the ground meat made a great ground beef substitute, just fatty enough that burgers didn't dry out and meatloaves didn't fall apart. The chops did well marinated in buttermilk (sometimes with Old Bay, which is how I often make chicken).

We wound up with mostly braising cuts, which were great for curries and similar things -- but every once in a while, even if it was a cut identical to one I'd had success with before, the meat just wouldn't cook right. It'd tense up and dry out, no matter how long I braised it, instead of relaxing and becoming tender like stew should. Over the course of the goat, I'd say we wound up ordering three pizzas we wouldn't have otherwise -- which, for $2 a pound for the lot, wasn't too bad a thing.

(For the successful braises: Penzey's vindaloo and rogan josh spice blends were perfect for the goat.)

[gfron1]

I am so sorry I can't find the roasted goat head thread from last spring....It would be a nice time to reintroduce the most disturbing thread ever created on eGullet.

[gfron1]

FOUND IT!!!!

Most disturbing thread ever!

[Jensen]

I just added my favourite recipe for chevon to Recipe Gullet:

Braised Chevon

[bleachboy]

I really have nothing useful to add to this thread, except to say that I live around the corner from a birreria and I love goat, too.

[menon1971]

I really have nothing useful to add to this thread, except to say that I live around the corner from a birreria and I love goat, too.

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There is a local taqueria that has excellent BBQ goat tacos, and the Jamaicans make a curried goat that is fantastic. I had some the last time I was in NYC.

Edited October 7, 2006 by menon1971 (log)

[chardan]

I love goat! I'm still trying different things to do with it, but curries seared "steaks", braised shank, ... it seems to be pretty versatile. The one thing I might mention is that the goat I've been getting (from Copeland Family Farms, "http://www.goatmeats.com") tends to be very lean so it can dry out if you aren't careful.

One of the tastier goat explorations of the summer were just some grilled kebabs. I marinaded some goat for a few hours in a grilling sauce of pureed onions, pineapple and orange juice, habaneros, salt and pepper. Skewered with red onions, pineapple, and plantains. That was pretty good-- give goat a go!

_Jesse Williamson ;-};

[andiesenji]

I love goat. The "chivo" (some call it "cabrito") I buy at the local Mexican carnicerias has never had the "gamy" flavor I find so objectional in the older "lamb" one finds in the markets, although some people say they have had goat meat that is gamy, I have not, it is probably due to how they are fed.

Goat meat here, mostly grain fed, is sweet and actually low fat so is better for one than beef.

My next-door neighbors are originally from Mexico and still own a ranch near Durango and often barbecue whole kid and pigs when they have a party. (Which is often because they have a large, extended family and any excuse, graduation from high school, university, 15th birthday for girls, weddings, children/grands home from Iraq or ???) I am almost always included because we share our garden stuff and they use my big barbecue when they have really big parties.

I make a killer chile with goat meat, won a chile cookoff about 20 years ago with it.

Goat meat slow braised - just like one does pork for carnitas - makes fantastic tacos or burritos.

The neck meat, the two strips on either side of the spine, cut into chunks and marinated for a couple of days, then threaded onto skewers with small whole onions and split caloro or similar medium peppers, can be wrapped in foil and cooked in a low oven (250) for an hour, then finished on the barbecue. This treatment keeps the meat moist and very, very tender.

Here are several recipes.

[Ann_T]

I love goat too. I bought a baby goat from a local farmer in the spring. And I still have some in the freezer. I cook it pretty much the way I would do lamb.

Ann

[mizducky]

I really enjoy goat meat too, but I still have lots to learn about cooking it. I bought some chivo, in bone-in stewing-size chunks, from a local Mexican market during my last foodblog and did a pretty decent job of cooking it, at least for a newbie, but it still came out a little tougher than I would have preferred. I think I need to really braise the dickens out of the stuff the next time I try that.

[ojisan]

I love goat. It's great. Who else out there loves it? Whenever I mention it to people they always screw up there faces as if I am eating slug poo or something. When asked what the difference between goats and sheep are, the answer generally is "um... it's a goat! Thats disgusting, I can't believe you eat that!"

Such prejudice..

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OK... Is goat different from dog? One society's goat is another's dog, is another's cow. Anyone had dog and goat, and have an opinion?

[Mayhaw Man]

I'm all about goat. In fact, the last two times that I have been in DC I purchased some at the Dupont Circle Sunday Farmer's Market. I can't remember who sells it, but the stuff is top quality. I am crazy for braised goat shoulder over rice. Es ta bien! I'm going to buy some more next weekend if the folks are still out there.

I lived in Mexico for a couple of years and used to have a long drive up through the Valle Guadalupe to get to work. There was this guy who had a cart that was set up in front of what was, basically, the only store on that stretch of highway. He only sold birria and he only sold it in the morning until he ran out. The stuff was rich, thick, steamy and delicious. Over the course of my time there, I must have eaten gallons of the stuff. It's funny, given the lonliness of that highway between Tecate and Ensenada, I never quite figured out who bought that pot (it was a pretty good sized stock pot) out everyday, but he was never out there past about 10 in the morning.

For all I know, he might still be out there every morning. I hope that I can go check on him soon. I love that little part of the world.

[Jensen]

OK... Is goat different from dog? One society's goat is another's dog, is another's cow. Anyone had dog and goat, and have an opinion?

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I haven't had dog but, from what I've heard about it, it's more akin to bear meat. Very rich and "greasy"...your basic "dark meat".

The first time I had "goat" it was in the form of a leg roast of kid. It tasted very similar to but MILDER than the same cut of lamb. The shoulder roasts of chevon I've had are also akin to lamb.

Comparing it to dog seems so inflammatory (and not really based in biology).

[melkor]

How gamy the meat is depends on the breed of goat. Cabrito is more mild than chevon - but the same is true of sheep, lamb is more mild than mutton. Comparing goat to dog doesn't seem inflammatory, both are similar sized animals used for food in different parts of the world. Farm raised goats are fairly new to North America - any farm raised animal will be more mild than its wild cousin. I don't know if anyone is raising dogs for food, but I suspect they are eaten more out of necessity than anything else so even if they were biologically similar to goat the meat would be very different.

[Jensen]

Comparing goat to dog doesn't seem inflammatory, both are similar sized animals used for food in different parts of the world. 

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I'm sorry but a similarity in size does not equate with "similar meat" in my books. Goats are herbivores, domesticated as a source of milk, fleece, and meat. Dogs are obligate carnivores, domesticated for working purposes. Using them as food is opportunistic and completely divorced from the species' biological role.

[melkor]

Comparing goat to dog doesn't seem inflammatory, both are similar sized animals used for food in different parts of the world. 

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I'm sorry but a similarity in size does not equate with "similar meat" in my books. Goats are herbivores, domesticated as a source of milk, fleece, and meat. Dogs are obligate carnivores, domesticated for working purposes. Using them as food is opportunistic and completely divorced from the species' biological role.

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I think the original dog/goat comment was an honest query rather than an attempt to derail this conversation. I haven't tried dog, nor do I have any desire to do so - goat happens to be delicious and available locally, so I've been eating it a lot recently.

[Domestic Goddess]

For goat recipes, try the kalderetang kambing (Goat Caldereta Stew) from the Philippines. Its a savory stew made out of cubes of goat meat, potatoes, carrots, spices and tomato sauce. We also have a goat dish called Papaitan (goat chitterlings lightly flavored with goat bile).

[Natho]

I read or heard somewhere (probably on the internet so it MUST be true) that goat is the most eaten meat in the world.. I guess a lot must get eaten in the poorer parts of the world. I haven't had dog myself but my dad used to live in Indonesia and he ate it there, he said it was disgusting and that they made very hot curries out of it to mask the flavor, so I would agree with the previous statement that it is probably a meat of necessity. My next goat expedition will be braising some in red wine with olives. And then probably the harissa pizza again..

[Jensen]

I think the original dog/goat comment was an honest query rather than an attempt to derail this conversation.  I haven't tried dog, nor do I have any desire to do so - goat happens to be delicious and available locally, so I've been eating it a lot recently.

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You're probably right and I apologise for going down that track.

I've been getting my goat from Copeland Family Farms and I completely agree with its deliciousness!

[Pan]

I read or heard somewhere (probably on the internet so it MUST be true) that goat is the most eaten meat in the world.. I guess a lot must get eaten in the poorer parts of the world.[...]

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That doesn't make sense to me. How much do you think it costs to raise and slaughter a goat?

[Milagai]

I read or heard somewhere (probably on the internet so it MUST be true) that goat is the most eaten meat in the world.. I guess a lot must get eaten in the poorer parts of the world.[...]

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That doesn't make sense to me. How much do you think it costs to raise and slaughter a goat?

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I think goats eat just about anything.

All over India you see herds of scrawny goats

nibbling on just about anything growing, on paper,

other waste scraps, etc....If you're not picky about feed

I imagine it's not that expensive.

Milagai

[phaelon56]

I love goat and have eaten it. usually as Goat Curry in Jamaican restaurants, for many years. A Haitian friend who lives an hour away from here in a small town asked me to help her source goat for her Christmas dinner this year.

I found a new mid-eastern Halal market in town that gets fresh goat delivered weekly from NJ and had a half dozen full goats in the walk-in to choose from. We split half a goat, had the butcher saw it in chunks and split the order.

I decided to try cooking Jamaican style Curry Goat and am less than pleased by the results.

My foundation was the recipe found in the book:

Dorinda Hafner's Taste of the Caribbean

For starters... the recipe called for scallions, cornstarch, scotch bonnet peppers (I substituted habanero's), a few tbsp of vegetable oil and three to four tbsp of curry powder. But after "marinating" (i.e. leaving the coated meat in the fridge overnight) I noticed references to "reserving the remainder of the marinade after removing the meat from it". The so-called marinade was really a wet rub rather than a marinade - there was no liquid to reserve.

My next perplexing dilemma was the amount of water to be added to the two pounds of browned meat, sauteed onions and diced tomatoes in the pan. It called for an entire quart of water but then suggested that after 60 to 90 minutes of simmering it would be cooked down into a thick creamy sauce.

No way. Despite simmering for 90 minutes it took two additonal shots of a corstarch/water mixture and some final reduction with the meat removed from the sautee pan before I got the desired consistency.

Finally.... the curry just lacked zing. I have now discovered that a "hot" version of Jamaican Blue Mountain Curry Powder is available but I'm inclined to make my own from scratch next time.

Can any of you comment, based either on specific experience preparing Jamaican style curry, or even just general experience in preparing braised meats in liquid reductions, why this dish went awry?

By the way... the texture of the meat is fine - it's the flavor that's lacking but I still think some fundamental things are not explained clearly in the recipe.

[onrushpam]

Can anyone help?

A friend has dairy goats, but they are slaughtering some young males. They get all their meat ground. (They used to be vegetarians and don't do "meat on bones"). I can ask for whatever cuts I want. I know what I like in lamb, but don't know if goat will be at all similar.

I've had a butterflied leg of goat, marinated and grilled. And, we LOVE goat curry.

There's just two of us and we don't have a lot of freezer space, so no huge cuts.

What should I ask for?

[gfron1]

There are quite a few topics on goat:

The main one

Mine about local foods goat

The classic on goat head

Goat offal

That said, I've gone through two goats now and found that they are often high in fat and low in meat. Go for the roasts to get the most bang for the buck. I just did RIBS the other night and loved them.

[CaliPoutine]

They get all their meat ground. (They used to be vegetarians and don't do "meat on bones").

Totally off topic, but whats the diff? Meat is meat.