# Is fresh goat tasty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007 "2005-09-16T17:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/1 "2005-09-16T17:50:25Z")
I know that mutton must be heavily treated before people are willing to eat it. Is it the same for goats? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/2 "2005-09-16T17:59:01Z")
I don’t know about preparation but I know that at one point I met a goat and was, within an evening, consuming it. Weird night. Not bad. No worse than rabbit or squirrel, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/3 "2005-09-16T18:01:03Z")
Was it an adult goat? How did you cook it? ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/4 "2005-09-16T18:04:13Z")
Seemed large enough to be adult. It was at a party thrown by some african folks I met through the state department. It was served up as a type of stew with a lot of other stuff in it. Heck, for all I know they could have been gaming me to see how I would react. But if so they never let on. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/5 "2005-09-16T18:14:03Z")
More info: I just AIMed a pal who spent several years in Kenya and Lesotho during his Peace Corps years. He’d always claimed to love goat while he was there. Here’s the exchange: > [@](#): > > Me: Hey, man. Question: I just got asked about eating fresh-killed goat. Got any insight? > > Him: cook it > > Me: The question related to whether it requires extreme preparation to be palatable…similar to mutton. > > Him: I never prepared it. but I don’t think it’s any more complicated than cow. > > Me:OK. I’ll share that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/6 "2005-09-16T18:16:19Z")
Cool, thanks. I’ve eaten (and liked) mutton and was wondering about goat since the two are so closely related. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/7 "2005-09-16T18:20:45Z")
Huh? Mutton requires intense preparation? Mutton is just sheep. I’ve killed and butchered several sheep and all we did was kill them, cut them into bits, wrap them in plastic and stick them in the freezer. For cooking we just cooked them like you’d cook any other meat. I suppose for very old and tough animals you might need a low/slow cooking method, but you’d need that for any old and tough animal. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/8 "2005-09-16T18:24:21Z")
I don’t know…apparently people don’t like the taste of mutton? I’ve only eaten mutton that has been heavily marinaded or stewed (that’s what I mean by preparation) rather than just tossed over a fire. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/9 "2005-09-16T18:25:38Z")
I haven’t had mutton, but I eat a lot of lamb and I’ve had goat as well. Around here, the goats are slaughtered at a similar age as lamb, which may look like an adult size but is still young enough to be tender. I like goat a lot. It’s milder than lamb; less gamey, although I do like that about lamb. I know some people who don’t care much for lamb but like goat. It’s becoming a common meat animal in my county. The Farm Bureau magazine had an article about it just this month, although it doesn’t seem to be online. Goat is cheap to raise since they eat cheap feed, frequently cleaning crop residues, and don’t require as much space as cattle and are hardier than sheep. If I had the land, I’d raise a few to sell (and eat) myself. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/10 "2005-09-16T18:32:23Z")
Hmmm…where could I go to get goat meat? (I live between Madison and Chicago.) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/11 "2005-09-16T18:44:44Z")
Deergoat’s wonderful when spitted fresh and cooked over a bonfire. No prep at all apart from killin’ it and skinnin’it. ---
**Author:** ![Cowgirl\_Jules](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@Cowgirl\_Jules](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cowgirl_Jules)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/12 "2005-09-16T18:52:50Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > Hmmm…where could I go to get goat meat? (I live between Madison and Chicago.) I don’t know; I’m in California. You might try an area that has a large Hispanic population as that’s what has driven the market here. I can find goat meat in the Mexican Carnicerias and groceries around here. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/13 "2005-09-16T18:53:02Z")
I have eaten got meat on many, many, many occasions. I have gone to the butcher and bought goat and have taken it home, cooked it, and eaten it. I don’t know of any particularly “heavy” treatment that was required. It does take longer to cook than, say, beef, chicken, or pork. It goes faster in a pressure cooker. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/14 "2005-09-16T18:56:01Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > Hmmm…where could I go to get goat meat? (I live between Madison and Chicago.) Most Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi restaurants offer goat on the menu. If you want to cook it yourself, I’d say your best bet is to go to a halal butcher. Around here, most of them are Pakistani or Bangladeshi. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/15 "2005-09-16T19:10:30Z")
Thanks, I know there’s a halal butcher around here somewhere. I was more thinking about getting a whole (dead\*) goat to take apart myself (I could fulfill several class projects with just one goat), but if I can’t do that I’ll go for several chunks. [sub]\*Cause I’m squeamish about killing something that large.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/16 "2005-09-16T19:27:05Z")
A friend and I were eating rack of goat in a very nice restaurant once. It was awful. When my date asked me what I thought of the meat, I said, “better than dog”. I’ve never had dog, so maybe I was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/17 "2005-09-16T19:44:29Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > Thanks, I know there’s a halal butcher around here somewhere. I was more thinking about getting a whole (dead\*) goat to take apart myself (I could fulfill several class projects with just one goat), but if I can’t do that I’ll go for several chunks. > > [sub]\*Cause I’m squeamish about killing something that large.[/sub] I think my parents used to get goats directly from local farmers (this was in Ohio) already slaughtered. I don’t know how they got them butchered. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/18 "2005-09-16T19:55:00Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > Hmmm…where could I go to get goat meat? (I live between Madison and Chicago.) Well, if you’re ever in Chicago, there’s plenty of places, but on the north side, the closest to you would be the Indian/Pakistani community on Devon Street. They sell goat and lamb for as cheap per pound–and often cheaper–than the local groceries sell standbys like pork and beef. We’re looking at about $3-4/lb for goat meat. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/19 "2005-09-16T21:07:38Z")
I used to work at the Texas highway department with a pretty diverse group of people. For some reason there were a lot of people there that lived on farms or ranches way out in the country and drove 50 miles or more to work every day, and for some reason there were a lot of immigrants from Africa there. One of the former was a guy named Darrell (as in, “and this is my other brother Darrell”) who raised a lot of goats, and one of the African immigrants was a guy named George from Nigeria. So one time George and his friends and family decided to have a party the way they would in Nigeria, for which they needed a goat. George drove way out to Darrell’s place to buy the goat, and Darrell asked him about how he was going to cook it. Darrell and all of the other traditional Texans I worked with were **scandalized** by George’s response, which was that he planned to barbecue it whole, without even skinning it. According to George, that’s how you cook a goat in Nigeria. You just skewer it and rotate it over the fire and let the hair burn off. Apparently, in Texas you have to at least skin it first. So, in answer to the OP, people from different cultures have different ideas about how to fix a goat. I bet if you went over to El Azteca in East Austin and asked them how they make their goat flautas they’d have a totally different story to tell. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007/20 "2005-09-16T21:23:41Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > I know that mutton must be heavily treated before people are willing to eat it. A lot of people in Australia and New Zealand would be very surprised to hear that. I’ve usually had goat in curries, when it’s pretty difficult to tell from sheep meat. I knew my formerly Irish-Italian neighborhood in the Bronx was changing when the local supermarket advertised a special on goat meat. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-fresh-goat-tasty/322007.md?page=2)