Now this is just annoying. I've been wondering for some time now what goat tastes like. It's a kosher animal, so I figured, how hard can it be to find? It's not like giraffe (also a kosher animal, but not a common food animal); there are Muslim restaurants all over my neighborhood that serve goat.
So I've been googling. And I've been telephoning. And I've been e-mailing. And I cannot find one single kosher meat processor or distributor who can handle the job of supplying a single kosher goat. I found a place in Minnesota that does elk, and I'll probably want to try that at some point, but right now, this problem is... getting my goat. Kind of.
Does anyone here know of a kosher butcher anywhere in the US (but preferably in the midwest) who can supply goat?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
One problem I can think of is that many kosher butchers who supply goat probably aren't online... They may be smaller operations that use locally grown goat.
I'll see if I can find some though.
Posted by Joldo (Member # 6991) on :
. . . I want to hear a band called Kosher Goat!
Posted by Mucus (Member # 9735) on :
Presumably consisting of goats that keep kosher, rather than the other thing
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Can't help with the kosher part, but goat tastes rather strong and is tougher than lamb; I didn't care very much for it. Not at all like chicken, though.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I like goat cooked the same ways I like lamb-- that is, highly spiced, on kebabs. I don't like either meat without lots of added flavor to cover the strong gamey flavor (gamey isn't QUITE the right word but I can't think of what is.)
My thought is, you should contact a kosher butcher in a large-ish city who presumably has lots of resources for finding meat and see if you can special-order goat. I know my local butcher is always happy to try to source items he doesn't carry if a customer requests it.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Just buy a goat - that part should be easy - then take it to a local butcher. Try not to look it in the eye on the drive over.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I love the taste of lamb. If gaminess is the sharpish taste that makes it so different from beef, then I'm a big fan of gaminess. When I make lamb chops, I just put some pepper and garlic powder on it. The last thing I want to do is hide the flavor.
I've tried the local butchers (Chicago's a large-ish city), but so far, no luck. Maybe I should try NY or LA, even if they'll probably have to ship it frozen.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Try Dallas; I know there's a local supplier or two of goats to halal butchers there that supplies them live for slaughter, maybe kosher butchers there would be able to get ahold of live goats from the same source.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by scifibum: Just buy a goat - that part should be easy - then take it to a local butcher. Try not to look it in the eye on the drive over.
Actually, kosher butchers (some of them, at least) apparently specialize. The shochet at the biggest kosher butcher in Chicago says that he won't do a goat. Not because it'd necessarily be that difficult, but just because he never has. Kosher butchers tend to be very careful about getting it done right.
As far as looking it in the eye, I really wouldn't have a problem with that.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Oh, and goat is definitely tougher than lamb. You want to either age or parboil it before roasting/cooking it.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
From what I'm finding you may be more able to find a shochet that has done goats in NYC than anywhere else.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
How do you age meat? I know that's probably a dumb question, but I've heard of aged meat, and I have no idea what it really means. If you leave meat out, it goes bad, no?
Would tenderizing it with a meat hammer help?
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
KQ, how are you finding this? I'm coming up so blank on anything.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
You don't leave it out at room temperature, though. Dry aging is done by hanging the cuts of meat in a temperature- and humidity-controlled cooler for a few weeks.
Like I said, parboiling for a few minutes can help tenderize it, too.
Tenderizing with a meat hammer might help depending on how you plan to cook it. I know that is what some of the taco trucks do to their goat and it does seem to be SOMEWHAT more tender after that. (I still find it too chewy but that may be from the way that meat is cooked in general, though I don't have that problem with carne asada steak from the same trucks.)
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I'm poking around food blogs of people who have eaten goat, kosher and otherwise.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
(I find it very, very funny that a thread about kosher goat is triggering Muslim dating site ads. Was that from my single mention of the halal goat I used to see in stores in Richardson?)
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
There are lots of halal butchers in MN that carry goat, fresh and frozen. I think it's because we have a large Somali population. I know that doesn't help you, but just the fact that the majority of countries that culturally eat goat are predominately muslim these days means it's going to be tough to find it anywhere else. I don't think I could get goat at a "normal" butcher if I wanted to. (We had pet goats when I was a kid, so while I have eaten it before, I don't exactly seek it out.) (Actually, now that I think about it, my Nepali restaurant serves goat, too. Probably still not kosher, though. )
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
quote:Originally posted by Joldo: . . . I want to hear a band called Kosher Goat!
Actually, I knew somebody with a group that released a self-titled CD named "Madré Goat."
(This is an atrocious pun on מדרגות, or "levels," which is pronounced roughly the same way. And, yes, there was a picture of a goat on the cover.)
Posted by Stephan (Member # 7549) on :
Its a shame this topic did not pop up a couple of months ago. I was on the island of Curacao which has a small Jewish population, and a HUGE goat population.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: Maybe I should try NY or LA, even if they'll probably have to ship it frozen.
Pretty sure not L.A. I'll try to remember to ask tomorrow when I'm at the butcher, but I don't think there is currently anyone in town who actually shechts four-legged animals. Pretty sure all those come into town as carcasses and just get chopped up.
But you never know. And we do have a substantial Sephardi population.
Posted by Elmer's Glue (Member # 9313) on :
quote:Originally posted by Joldo: . . . I want to hear a band called Kosher Goat!
Exactly what I thought of.
Posted by the_Somalian (Member # 6688) on :
Kosher is halal, but I guess halal isn't kosher...
I haven't eaten lamb/goat/camel in a long time. Good stuff though.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
I'd buy kosher goat if my butcher carried it. I wanted to try goose, but my butcher refused to order it for me, because his minimum order is 8 geese, and he didn't think he could sell the rest. There are tons of Canada geese roaming around the local parks, and I asked him if he could shecht one of those for me. He said that you are not allowed to kill geese in the park. I asked if I brought the goose out of the park and over to him, would he shecht it. He considered, not because he was willing to shecht a goose, but because he wanted to see me try to catch one. In the end, though, he refused.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by the_Somalian: Kosher is halal
Not always.
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Tante, what you should do is post an ad (like on Craigslist or something): "Orthodox lady wants to try goose. Need to make up minimum order of 8 to convince butcher. Seeking adventurous souls willing to buy raw kosher goose..."
(I don't know why that strikes me as so funny.)
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
We'd actually talked about going in with some friends of ours on a goat if it was going to be expensive. Several of them expressed interest.
I found some kosher goat, btw. But the problem isn't over yet.
Link. The problem is, they're a wholesaler. Which means I'd have to get a retailer to be willing to order a whole mess of goat. And even if I were willing to take a whole pallet, or whatever, it'd be of one cut. What I'd really like is to get a whole goat made into various cuts, and try it all.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Oh, the bison place. Several places here get bison from them.
They carry elk too. Interesting.
Posted by Minerva (Member # 2991) on :
We had goose for Thanksgiving once. Perhaps if you convince some other friends that's a good idea, you can share an order.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:He considered, not because he was willing to shecht a goose, but because he wanted to see me try to catch one.
I like him. If he were local, I'd make him my butcher just because of this story (except for pork, of course).
It seems to me that the local food movement should dovetail nicely with the desire for rare Kosher meats. Can someone who can slaughter meat and have it be kosher (don't know the word, sorry) go to a non-kosher facility and do the slaughtering there? Or does the live animal need to be brought to a special facility?
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
The word is shecht. It's simple enough to do with small birds (like chickens; not sure about geese) that it need not be done in a processing plant. That's not really true of four-leggeds. And the whole plant needs to be kashered first, which is a huge undertaking.
Dedicated kosher plants like the (unfortunately currently controversial) Agriprocessors plant in Postville, Iowa, are more common.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by rivka: Oh, the bison place. Several places here get bison from them.
They carry elk too. Interesting.
I'll want to try that next. And there's http://koshervenison.com as well.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I think that if they'd call it chevon and cabretto instead of "goat", they'd be able to get kosher consumers more interested. It's red meat, but it's like poultry in terms of the fat content. I mean, imagine them selling beef as "cow". Someone needs to do some marketing here.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
I've often wondered why some meats seem to do fine with the animal name and others not. Chicken and lamb are fine, but cow and pig are offputting?
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
dana, It stems for the Norman invasion of England in 1066. Pigs, cows and sheep were raised by the poor peasants who spoke english but were eaten by the wealthy Normans who spoke French. Hence when they are eaten, we call them by names of French extraction (boeuf, porc, mouton) but when they are alive they are called by names of anglo saxon origins.
I guess chickens, geese, ducks and lambs were cheap enough for peasants to eat. It is however interesting that the word poultry comes from the french.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Rabbit beat me to that one.
I only recently learned the archaic word "beeves." I like it.
Posted by The Rabbit (Member # 671) on :
There is a whole section of goat in all the grocery stores here and their are half a dozen places that sell halal goat within a short walk of my home. I don't know of any Kosher butchers in this area but then most of the Islands Jews live north west of Port of Spain. Of course, even if I could buy kosher goat on every street corner it wouldn't do you much good since US customs wouldn't let me ship it to you.
Goat can be quite tough if its not properly prepared but if its stewed at a low heat for several hours it can be delicious and quite tender. Its definitely no a meat you can just through on the grill and expect it to be good.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Goat can be quite tough if its not properly prepared but if its stewed at a low heat for several hours it can be delicious and quite tender.
Sounds like a good candidate for sous vide. When I've had it, it's been tough - braised too long so it dries out or at too high a temperature, I'm guessing. Sous vide would overcome both those problems.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
We have our own little goat herd, and we've pretty much replaced all of our beef consumption with goat.
Older goat is a little tough, but young goat isn't.
To our tongue, its taste reminds is both of grass-fed beef (which tastes different from normal grocery-store beef) and lamb.
The flavor isn't all that strong to us, but I think that's at least partially because we don't keep the extremely smelly bucks in with the rest of them.
If you butchered a goat yourself would it be kosher? You might just want to find a local person who raises goats.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
I couldn't do it myself. It requires expertise.
Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
Lisa, is there a Jungle Jim's near you? The one near me has things as rare as rattlesnake and whatnot, so I'd think they'd at least know where to FIND it, if they don't carry it themselves.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
*cough* KOSHER *cough*
Posted by Zalmoxis (Member # 2327) on :
We had goats for awhile when I was a kid, err, child. And I don't ever remember encountering a tough piece of meat. So if, as mph suggests, you can get cuts from younger animals, the meat is very good. In fact, I think it was even milder than lamb.
I remember really liking it.
Posted by lobo (Member # 1761) on :
I have only had goat once and I hated it... it was in a mexican soup. I don't really like lamb either, but I like venison...
I also really like McDonalds; so I don't have much taste.
Posted by Tinros (Member # 8328) on :
quote:Originally posted by scifibum: *cough* KOSHER *cough*
Um, dude... I know she's looking for kosher goat. But the first step is to find goat, period. I know that Jungle Jim's carries a lot of things you don't normally see, so they might know where to FIND kosher goat, even if they don't carry it themselves.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
i was just coughing, what's the problem?
Just kidding. Sorry for assuming you had forgotten the conditions of the search.
Posted by Jhai (Member # 5633) on :
There's a Mexican/El Salvadorian place near here that serves the best goat tacos ever. So Tasty! It's a very common meat in South Asian food as well (since both beef and pork are off-limits to a significant percentage of the population). You can always tell a good restaurant by how they serve their goat/lamb.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I found a study on the feasability of goat farms because of the demand for kosher goat; a bunch of people asking where to get goat, although not kosher specifically; and some halal markets.
I have a local butcher who might know where to get some. Ifso I will post teh info.
Lisa, where do you live again? I can't remember....
Posted by martha (Member # 141) on :
An Indian restaurant near here has a "Kosher Meat" section on their menu. The first item in that section is Chicken Tikka Masala (which has yogurt in the sauce). My best guess is that when they asked someone to translate the menu, they were told that "kosher" is English for "halal." And if you start with the right meat, what does it matter what you do with it, right? Heh.
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I found a study on the feasability of goat farms because of the demand for kosher goat; a bunch of people asking where to get goat, although not kosher specifically; and some halal markets.
I have a local butcher who might know where to get some. Ifso I will post teh info.
Lisa, where do you live again? I can't remember....
Chicago. I was able to speak with the man who owns the Chicago area's oldest kosher grocery store. They carry Solomon's Glatt Kosher products, and Solomon's actually supplies both goat and elk. They tried bringing the elk in, but it didn't sell so well (I didn't know they had it, or it would have sold better). He's going to look into it and see what's possible. He said he'd get back to me by Monday or Tuesday.
Posted by imogen (Member # 5485) on :
Mmm, goat.
Capretto (kid) isn't tough at all. But older goat can be - I find the best thing to do is braise/slow cook it. Goat works great in curries, but it's also fantastic just slow-cooked in white wine, garlic and rosemary.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Lisa: I was able to speak with the man who owns the Chicago area's oldest kosher grocery store. They carry Solomon's Glatt Kosher products, and Solomon's actually supplies both goat and elk. They tried bringing the elk in, but it didn't sell so well (I didn't know they had it, or it would have sold better). He's going to look into it and see what's possible. He said he'd get back to me by Monday or Tuesday.
Sounds like definite progress.
We had a lovely bison rolled roast for Shabbos.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I have a friend who keeps Kosher looking into this for you, and I will let you know if he finds out anything to help.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
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