Goat meat. What to make of it? What to do with it?…
I have been curious about this meat for quite some time now. Even though it’s the most widely eaten meat in the world it’s not much eaten here in Australia. I think I may have eaten it once about 10 years ago in a Nepalese restaurant but that has been it.
So why the curiosity? I have been playing around with different meats. Organic, free range, locally produced, environmentally best options etc etc. Even though I couldn’t care less whether I ate meat ever again, everyone else in our family thoroughly enjoys it. So to keep meal times flowing, I cook the beasts.
In different circumstances I like to think that I would be able to rear my own animals and then either butcher them my self or take them to an abattoir to be slaughtered. However I’m not in that position at the moment so who knows how that would go down when it came to crunch time. (I think I could walk my talk though).
Free range chicken and organic beef sausages are staples with us here. They are easy and it keeps the monkeys happy. I tried to do kangaroo sausages once and am still traumatised by the whole ordeal. It’s a lean meat, with high levels of protein, and is also a natural wild meat- so not the environmental problems that can be associated with domestically bred animals…. it’s just not for this city hippy farm girl.
I tried so hard to like it. All I can liken it to is…
um…… lets just say it has a very unique taste, that may not be for everyone. If you can eat the stuff- good on you.
However I digress. It was goat I was talking about.
So. I was at some farmers markets and saw a stall for some locally produced free range goat meat. It was the first time they had run the stall, so it would be good see how they do down the track. The stall was certainly getting some attention and a lot of people were trying the different goat dishes that they had for samples. I bought some and away we went.
One Goat Curry later served with Basmati rice and steamed vegetables. The verdict….
Delicious! Everyone really enjoyed it. The meat was soft and tender. There wasn’t an over powering meaty taste. The older monkey said ” I like the chicken, but not the curry”. After I had explained it was goat. (He’s 4 though, if it doesn’t involve pizza, or hommus and capsicum then dinner needs some encouragement.)
Two things to remember when cooking goat.
1/ Cook it at a low temperature- as there is not much fat in the meat it can loose moisture and toughen up quickly if cooked at high temperatures.
2/ Cook the meat with moisture- enhances flavours and increases tenderness.
Will I cook it again?
Sure will.
cityhippyfarmgirl 
We just watched Anthony Boudain in Egypt last night and they cooked goat in a fire pit buried the sand in the desert. Neither my husband nor I had seen goat eaten as meat before, but I must admit it looked pretty tender. Not something I have seen around here, but it sounds good.
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It is a meat eaten a lot in places like the Middle East, Mediterranean, parts of Africa, Caribbean and South-East Asia. I would certainly eat it again!
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It does seem to be everywhere in Sydney at the moment, doesn’t it? I’m not a huge fan, but you may have convinced me to revisit. 🙂
The Italians call it capretta, and they use it a lot, as do the Greeks and Nepalese, I believe.
Completely with you on the kangaroo, and I’m not a particular fan of camel either, which seems to be popping up around the traps. Ugh. Rabbit though, I adore… 🙂
Cheers, Celia
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Actually I was at a farmers market in Port Macquarie, it was a small goat farm from near by little Dorrigo.
Its funny I have eaten a lot of different meats in Italy but never came across goat. I think I had tried everything else but!
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I totally agree re the “kangaroo sausages” – were definately not fans also. But we love kangaroo steak or kebabs.
I had goat at an indian resturant recently and it was delicious….I tried goat sausages recently – but they were as ‘nice’ as the roo sasages.
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argh. I’m still haunted by the smell of those “kanga banga’s”
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I like goat meat – but I guess being Indian I grew up eating goat. It took me a long time to get used to the strong fatty taste of lamb (which I now love)…but goat is a winner. I did some research on the nutritional values of goat meat compared to other types of meat about a year ago and it really came out tops. Surprising. I vowed to eat more of it….but sadly it is hard to get in the part of Sydney where I live.
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Its certainly hard to get round here too. I would imagine around Auburn area it would be more readily available?? I will definitely be on the look out for it now.
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Ahh I love goat meat. There is a delicious recipe for Vietnamese goat curry in the Red Lantern cookbook and having made it several times, I can vouch for this underrated meat. In London a quick trip down to Brixton will line you up with choice upon choice of stalls selling goat meat, an essential ingredient in Carribbean cooking. It also makes a regular appearance in south-east Asian cooking, though I also recall having a goat curry in a Nepalese restaurant on Crown St in Sydney…possibly with you cityhippyfarmgirl!
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