Caribbean Curry Goat

My free range butcher Farmer's Choice has delivered some fine Goat meat today and I am going to make Curry Goat. I have never eaten Goat before, but I love new things to cook and try and I am very excited.

This dish is very special to the people in the Caribbean, so I will endeavor to do it justice!

I am searching the internet, reading cookbooks and have been asking people to reveal the secret of this dish. Once my search is done, I will cook and experience another first! And I cannot wait! 

It is the middle of the night and after some extensive research, I decided to marinate my meat right now.

There are several ways of doing this. Starting with the much debated washing of the meat in a vinegar and water solution. It is a tradition commonly used in the Caribbean to 'clean' the meat. Any citric liquid will do a good job of cleaning and preserving, I know that for sure. However, when I was doing my butchery month as a chef's aprentice, I remember asking about washing the meat and the butcher told me never to wash meat in water as it will breed germs. So it's not something I would do. Water with a citric solution is different though, as is water with salt for brining.

The next step is to make the marinade. My Curry Goat is going to have a wet marinade with all the ingredients blended in. Some other recipes will use just a few of the ingredients and add some more later during the cooking. I am trying this method today as it is easy and makes sense to me.

I start by toasting my curry powder in a dry and smooth non stick pan. This is important as it will eliminate the raw taste of the spices and bring out all the good aromas instead. My flat now smells very much of toasted Curry Powder though and I suspect even the neighbors will get a good whiff of it. Sorry everyone!

I added this to the rest of the ingredients waiting in the blender.

Ingredients:

1kg Goat stewing meat with bone, most of the fat removed

1 liter of your finest Water or light Chicken or Vegetable Stock (I made fresh Chicken stock yesterday, so I will use that, of course)

1 pretty Scotch Bonnet Pepper to add whole to the pot.

Marinade:

3 heaped tsp Curry Powder (choose your favorite Indian or West Indian blend), toasted

1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper

4 Garlic Cloves

1/2 Onion

1 inch piece fresh Ginger

1 tsp Thyme

20 All Spice Berries or 1/2 tsp ground All Spice (I have flown my All Spice Berries in from Jamaica especially ;-)

4 Cherry Tomatoes or 1 regular Tomato

1 tsp Sea Salt

a good few grinds from the Peppermill

about 100ml Water

I have now coated the Meat in the marinade, covered with clingfilm and they're all sitting in the fridge getting to know each other and hopefully having a good time. Maybe I will put my ipod in the fridge and play some Reggae music for them.

And now I am going back to bed. Good night.

...
So, it is now the early afternoon and I have completed my dish. I have also eaten it and it was finger licking, mouth watering, going for seconds, good.
Here is what I did.

First I browned the marinated Goat pieces in a heavy pan, taking one lot out then browning the next until all are done.
I then returned them all to the pot and poured over the remaining marinade as well as the 1 liter of chicken stock. This I brought to a simmer and covered to cook low and slow for 1 1/2 hours.  After about half an hour I dropped in the whole Scotch Bonnet Pepper and left the lid slightly askew to let some of the gravy reduce and thicken in time

.
Meanwhile I made Rice and peas to go along with it.
I will post the recipe in a separate blog entree and add a link here once I'm done.
Now there was nothing left to do but listen to some Bob Marley and wait.

Until finally I was rewarded with my Curry Goat. I think I really like the taste of goat. It's so tender and delicate yet full of flavor. I am so glad I made this. Another fantastic dish discovered!