Steven Lamb
MORE RECIPES
Lamb, labneh and spinach salad; Roast lamb with lovage; North African shepherd’s pie
SOURCING
cabrito.co.uk; chestnutmeats.co.uk (for meat from dairy billies); goat-meat.co.uk (for non-dairy goat meat)
Goat meat is eaten all over the world but predominantly in China, Asia and Africa. Some British cooks – particularly those in Asian and West Indian communities – have been buying it for years, but for many of us it is the new kid on the butcher’s block.
This meat is, however, catching on. This is partly due to our burgeoning goat dairy industry. As our demand for goat’s cheese and milk grows, so does the number of unwanted young male goats born to milking nannies. These young billies have usually been considered a by-product, killed at birth and the carcasses destroyed. But when well looked after, the meat from a billy goat can be a delicacy, on a par with rose veal (the corresponding by-product of the bovine dairy industry), as some enterprising farmers have realised. It’s not easy to buy in retailers but it will become so, if shoppers demand it. Most kid meat comes from goats raised indoors (see Goat’s cheese).
Currently, a lot of goat meat sold in the UK is more mature and comes from the South African Boer breed, or at least from a Boer cross, raised specifically for meat. It’s not widely available, but there are some good online suppliers of free-range goat.
Kid goat meat is extremely lean with a milky pinkness and an only mildly ‘goaty’ tang. Older goat meat is more pungent and dark, like venison. It is to kid what hogget is to lamb – a little less tender but full of flavour, and it responds beautifully to chilli heat and strong spicing.
All goat is low in fat and, without some care, it can toughen under sustained high temperatures. But, handled gently, it is versatile enough to braise, mince, fry or barbecue. The shoulders and legs of older animals are very good slow-roasted, curried or stewed. Kid meat makes delicate chops or cutlets and a whole joint is a lovely Sunday roast. Any goat or kid meat can be minced to create sausages, stuffings, burgers, or a goaty equivalent to shepherd’s pie (and will benefit from a certain amount of additional fat, from pork belly, for instance).
I am also fond of a northern Italian recipe for prosciutto-style violino di capra. The dry-cured goat ‘ham’ is traditionally passed around a table of diners who hold it like a violin and slice off the meat using a long knife, like a bow.
GOAT KEBABS WITH ROSEMARY, RED PEPPERS AND ONION
These are a great way to sample goat or kid meat (or you can use rose veal topside). If you grow winter savory, it’s a good alternative to rosemary here. You will need a dozen kebab sticks; if using wooden sticks, pre-soak to prevent them burning. Serves 4
2 red (or orange or yellow) peppers
2 red onions
750g trimmed goat or kid leg, cut into large cubes
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 tbsp olive or rapeseed oil
6–8 sprigs of rosemary, roughly torn
2 tsp fennel seeds
Sea salt and black pepper
Halve the peppers from stem to base and use the tip of a sharp knife to trim out the pale core, stem and seeds. Cut the peppers into bite-sized pieces and place in a large bowl.
Peel the onions, leaving the root end intact. Cut each onion into 12 wedges and add to the peppers along with the goat, garlic, oil, rosemary, fennel seeds and some black pepper. Tumble together gently and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight.
Add salt just before cooking. Thread the goat, pepper and onions on to your kebab sticks, alternating the different ingredients as you go. You can barbecue the kebabs, or cook them under a hot grill. Either way, heat up the barbecue or grill first. The kebabs will take 12–15 minutes over/under a high heat, with regular turning, to produce nicely browned meat, blistered onion and tender pepper.
Let the kebabs rest in a warm place for 5 minutes before shooting the deliciously charred meat and veg off the sticks. It’s delicious stuffed into warm pitta breads and finished with hummus or some thick Greek yoghurt and a sprinkling of chopped green chilli.