After all of our cheerleading of goat last week, we had a little laugh when we woke up to The New York Times dining section's top article: "How I Learned to Love Goat Meat." We'd love to call ourselves trendsetters, but as the Times article notes, the rest of the world has been eating goat forever (it's the most widely consumed meat in the world). We're just now catching on.
The article reminded us of another piece we read several months ago, about Bill Niman coming out of retirement to raise goats. At the time, we thought, "Huh. Wonder who's going to buy those." And yet, here we are. Restaurants are featuring goat on their menus, and home cooks are starting to ask for it at the market.
We learned a few things reading this very funny article. Goat is lower in fat than chicken and higher in protein than beef. There are a couple of places in the city that sell fresh goat meat for less than $5 a pound (compare that to lamb!) And, if you're looking for an accurate description of its taste, try this: "Think lamb, but with a tang of earthy darkness. Think lamb, but with a rustle in the bushes. Think... jungle lamb."
The author also echoes some of what Faith wrote last week, how handling and prepping goat meat makes you especially conscious of the fact that this was a creature, not a shapeless piece of meat. He even mentions the difficulty in removing his goat's caul fat, a web-like membrane that we just learned about from a chef last night. More on that later this week...
As if we weren't already inspired by Faith and Sara Kate's goat recipes, we're really excited now. We're planning on serving goat for Easter lunch.
Who's with us?
• Read the Times article: How I Learned to Love Goat Meat, by Henry Alford
Here are our recent goat posts and recipes:
• Goat Meat 101
• Goat Tacos (or Delicious Roasted Goat for Any Occasion)
• Braised Goat Shanks with Prune, Shallot, and Brandy Reduction
Related: Old-School Butchers in Your Neighborhood
(Images: Flickr member maessive, licensed for use under Creative Commons; Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Yay! I'm totally with you! I've been interested in goat and kangaroo meat for some time now. I hear they can eat a more diverse diet than cows and that they produce no methane. The only problem is finding the stuff, but hopefully it will be a lot more wide spread in the coming years. Yay for goats!
view alice88wa's profile
That goat looks so cute. It's smiling.
view justveggingout's profile
I find lamb a bit too gamey, so I'm not sure I'll take to goat meat. Can't hurt to try it, though.
view heather77's profile
please, don't show me the cute smiling face of my dinner. You kill my soul!
view chusmabilly's profile
Heather, if you find lamb gamey goat (especially anything but young kid) will probably be way pungent to you. "Think lamb, but with a rustle in the bushes." LOL, no, think lamb, only tougher and really gamey.
view Squirrely's profile
What qualifies as gamey, though? I actually haven't noticed a too-different flavor in goat. I've used it in curries, where I thought it was almost indistinguishable from lamb. The lamb shanks last week were really, really tender and rather delicate in flavor.
I think a lot depends on the age of the animal and how it's cooked. Braising really is good for goat.
view faith's profile
Squirrely, it might be worth making goat for guests, just so I can announce (halfway through the meal), "You're eating a young kid!"
view heather77's profile
When I say gamey I mean the pungent (musky?) lingering flavor. I love lamb (though not mutton necessarily), goat, etc, and braised curries is definitely my preferred goat prep method because sometimes I find the taste of mature goat to be overwhelming.
In my experience, lamb is a divisive meat, you either love it or hate it, and I'm willing to bet goat is even more polarizing (especially when faced with cute pictures like the above).
view Squirrely's profile
Goat meat and cow's tongue were my dad's favorite when I was a kid. He also liked rabbit. I think that's why I'm a vegan now.
view djheathermarie's profile
OMG! I laughed out loud when I saw the NYT! How apropos after all the posts on The Kitchn!
Oh to be in Marathon, Texas... dining at the Gage Hotel's Cafe Cenizo... on the patio... cabrito served with a bottle of Becker vineyard Claret. It takes me back... good times.
view burrda2000's profile
For some more great goat recipes check out:
http://www.salmoncabin.com/2009/02/goat-butchery-101.html
view Salmon Cabin's profile
goat is yummy. I would love to see it in more restaurants and grocery stores. I hope this trend catches on.
view foodefafa's profile