On a whim I purchased a goat leg at the supermarket. I was curious about how to prepare it. I had eaten goat only once before at the home of an immigrant friend from the Caribbean. Wasn’t crazy about it then. But during the Christmas Break home from college, Lake Jr. asked that we try an Indian restaurant. Lake has several Indian friends among his classmates at college and attends their cultural events, where he says the food is great, LOL.
Anyway, at the Indian restaurant here in town, Lake Jr. ordered the braised goat. Jr. offered me a bite and it wasn’t bad at all. So that’s why I bought the goat leg chunks at the meat counter. I made a stew with the goat shanks and yellow peas. Tasty.
Do you have any goat recipes? Warning, I’m not a big fan of curry. When I use curry I do so sparingly.
The only time I’ve eaten goat was in a burrito in San Antonio at a small local restaurant. I thought it was more tender and tastier than beef; stringy, though, which is okay for Tex-Mex.
I like goat meat, but I spent a lot of my childhood in East Africa where it was that or chicken. I think it tastes a lot like lamb, but gamier. I have no recipes for you, but I often order it if I see it on a menu. (Nearly always as a curry.) I’m guessing recipes for venison would be a good direction.
My wife has been cooking goat in stews (curry or other types). We buy the meat (always on the bone, chopped up) from the local Asian markets with a Halal meat section. It’s a tough meat so you will need to cook it a long time to tenderize it.
D1 makes mole and posole stew with goat instead of the more commonly used pork or beef. Both are quite good. And goat meat tacos are a staple on the menu at one of her favorite restaurants in Taos.
A whole roast kid is the traditional food served at both Native American (Pueblo Indian) weddings and at rural Hispanic weddings in New Mexico. You see roast kid served a lot at Feast Day celebrations too.
I think any recipe that works for lamb will also work well with goat. They taste pretty similar, though the goat is stronger flavored than most lamb.
I’m no cook but I know that there are a couple of steps you can do in the preparation of the meat before you season it if you want to remove the strong gamey taste (and smell). The first time I had it was as curry goat (Jamaican style) and it hooked me. There are also recipes you can find for Cuban or Dominican style (no curry).
Last time I had goat was in grad school. My Nigerian friends bought a goat from a local farmer. They grilled it. The meat wss kinda stringy, but it was tasty and a fun experience!
A local farmer raises goats and butchers them young. We purchase a whole butchered goat from him each fall. The meat is delicious and not the least bit strong. The chops are tiny but extremely tender. I like to rub them with a paste of salt, garlic, and a North African seasoning blend, pan fry them in olive oil and serve them rare. Amazingly good.
My BIL and Aunt raises goats, and I have eaten, but don’t remember cooking any. Maybe “curry”, once.
But I cook, and wonder what you don’t like about curry and only using a little. Do you mean pre-mixed Madras style? There wil be recipes that might use the spices (tumric, cumin, chilis) in the common blends (masala, Vindaloo, Jamaican). Is it the aroma, a flavor, too much sauce? I agree lamb recipes should work , but because it’s a leg, it’s going to probably going to need a long cook.
My dad/his side of the family eats a lot of goat for special events (holidays and weddings or stuff like that). I’ve tried it before at home and with family, haven’t liked it. Never ordered it at a restaurant. My mom occasionally eats it to but she never makes it and doesn’t like it either.
Usually it’s made in some nondescript curry way at our home. Chunks of goat in a thick sauce, mainly out of yoghurt and onions, with whatever spices the maker likes (some combo of cumin, turmeric, paprika, coriander, bay leaf, stuff like that).
Goat is great. I grew up eating goat. A local Indian restaurant offers goat biryani and I get that every visit. If you are going to cook goat, you have to remember that the meat requires extended cooking or cooking in a pressure cooker. Otherwise, I would rank it second to lamb.
When I was very young my dad’s dad used to cook goat and other meats for a long time in a huge pit in the ground. Weddings and parties. I remember loving it. Once my sister had a classmate who had a goat she couldn’t keep, goat had a cast on his leg. Sister said my grandparents have lots of animals at their house maybe they will take the goat. Grandpa took the goat, we visited the goat often. At the next party, no goat to visit, I haven’t been able to enjoy goat since. We always thought sister knew what happened to the goat, she didn’t. We were taking about old times recently and sister said what happened to the goat? We told her, she was shocked. We were shocked she didn’t know he became dinner. I remember how I loved the taste of the meat until I knew the goat.
I have had goat meat, but not in a way that it was easily identifiable. Tasted fine to me. I 'm not at a point where I would seek it to cook at home. If I find it at a good restaurant in a form not hidden by spices like curry or stew, I would order it to get a better idea of its taste.
I don’t really like goat meat. H and I met in Peace Corps, and goat was the common meat where we were. I never got used to the “goaty” taste–and it was usually full of goat hair and bone chips. Bleh. At the school where I taught, every Wednesday was “meat day” for the school lunch. On Tuesday after school several older boys would help the headmaster slaughter the goat in the schoolyard. The goat was then stored overnight in a wheelbarrow in the staff room. Not so fond memories of those dead goat eyes watching me while I sat grading papers. H and I recently went to an African restaurant for our anniversary. H ordered goat stew (which had a little goat hair in it.) I had chicken.