Italians think goats are too stinky to eat unless they're still milk-fed, which they call capretto. so a while ago when I suggested to my father that I'd cook goat, he said he wouldn't eat it unless it was female and less than 8 weeks old. apparently the males smell stronger. the problem with this is female goats produce milk and milk makes cheese, so it seems better to eat the boys, and anyway it's not that easy to get really young goat.
so I decided to cook goat for JG and me anyway. it was a length of rib cage cut from a kid (though not so small as to be milk-fed. I have no idea what this cut should be called, I used to be vegetarian and am still somewhat carnivore-retarded). everything I'd read about cooking goat suggested that the meat is dry and strongly flavoured. not at all. after 3 hours stewing in a Japanese claypot this meat came out with a beautiful subtle flavour, not as strong as lamb, a little stronger than veal and with a coarser but moist, tender texture.
the dish is simple to make: most of the flavour comes from the spice blend and everything is put into the pot raw as in the method of Pakistani lamb dishes, as browning this kind of meat prior to cooking might cause it to toughen. goat is also a great claypot meat because it has very little fat, even with the skin on. if the raw cut seems very fibrous or has a lot of sinew it may be from an older goat and cooking time will need to be extended (I've read about people cooking goat for up to 22 hours but I think they're yokels who kill geriatric goats and play the banjo while sucking apple sauce through a straw). this excellent piece came from the Greek butcher at the Elizabeth St entrance of the Queen Victoria Market Meat Hall.
ingredients
1 kg goat ribcage, bones split in order to roll or fold into a claypot
2 onions, cut into eighths
2 carrots, roughly chopped
10 prunes
1 can tomatoes
1 cup white wine
1 teaspoon honey
2 teaspoons salt
for the spice paste
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, lightly roasted
1 tablespoon coriander seeds (not roasted)
seeds from 6 green cardamom pods
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
10 strands saffron
30 allspice berries
1/2 teaspoon ground cassia or cinnamon
2 teaspoons paprika
6 cloves garlic
juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons salt
method
grind the whole spices, then stir in the powders and lemon juice to form a paste. chopping the garlic first helps, and adding a little of the salt to each batch of whole seeds as you’re grinding makes easier work.
rub this all over the meat and into any cuts.
spread half of the carrot and onion on the base of the claypot and arrange the meat on top. scatter the rest of the carrot, onion and the prunes over and around the meat.
spoon half the tomato over the meat to prevent drying, then mix the remaining tomato with the wine, salt and honey, and carefully pour this over and around the meat.
bake in a sealed claypot at 150°c for 3 hours (seal up any holes with baking paper).
