meat is taken from the adults of the species Capra hircus, closely related to sheep. Adapted to mountain habitats, goats are sure-footed, able to climb steep cliffs to find food, surviving on tree bark and thorny scrub—browsing habits which often destroy shrubs and trees. They complement sheep, which prefer grass, and the two animals are often herded together in lands around the Mediterranean and throughout the Middle East and C. Asia. In this area, goat meat and mutton are used interchangeably in cookery, as available.
The term ‘wild goat’ may refer either to a feral specimen of C. hircus (protected in many places) or to members of several other related species. These include the ibex (C. ibex), ranging from the Iberian peninsula to N. Africa, the Caucasus and C. Asia); the chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), ranging from the Pyrenees through the Alps and Apennines to Asia Minor; and the mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) of W. Canada and the western USA. All these have been hunted for food, but have a strong gamy taste.
Whilst goats are farmed in Europe (including Britain) they are of minority interest, and are principally used for milk, and milk products such as cheese and yoghurt, in this area. They are not native to the Americas, but have been imported by European settlers, and are farmed in Latin America, where they are well adapted to poor land in Mexico and the Andes.
Kid is the English name for the young of the species, which is more commonly eaten, and has tender, mildly flavoured flesh. (As with mutton, our ancestors would probably have preferred an older animal. The author of Menagier de Paris (14th century) said, ‘the meat of a spayed goat of six or seven years is reckoned the best; being generally very sweet and fat. This makes an excellent pasty.’)
Goats were probably domesticated at about the same time, and in the same region, as sheep; that is, in SW Asia during the 8th millennium bc. Studies of the relative importance of goat and sheep bones at various sites indicate that the goat may initially have been more important as a meat animal. Their remains have been found at neolithic sites in China, and both goat and mutton were eaten in the ancient kingdom of Sumer (Iraq). In India, the Rig-veda mentions goat and sheep as food, and there is also evidence of these animals being eaten by Indus Valley civilizations. Jewish dietary laws refer to them: ‘thou shalt not boil a kid in its mother's milk.’
Goats probably came to Britain in the neolithic, and have been present ever since, but were never as important as cattle, sheep, and pigs. In medieval and early modern Britain, goats were kept on steep, scrubby land and used for meat, which was roasted, stewed, or made into pasties and pies up until the start of the 17th century, when it went out of fashion. Another use for goat was to make ‘hams’ of the haunches by salting and drying. Such hams came to be known in Wales as ‘hung venison’. In the 18th century, goats were either looked on as ‘the poor man's cow’ or viewed, like deer, as game; feral goats (still to be found in most upland areas of Britain) were hunted and cooked like venison.
In contemporary Britain, goat meat finds favour with immigrants from Jamaica, where curried goat, cooked with onions, curry powder, and chillies, is a national festive dish. Two separate cultures are probably responsible for the presence of this exotic item on the Jamaican menu. These are the Spanish who were responsible for introducing goats to the New World in the first place; and secondly, influence from E. Asian indentured workers, present on the island from 1842 onwards. Apart from this, goat is little used in Jamaica, although other Caribbean islands, notably the French Antilles, have developed several recipes.
Roast kid is a festive dish in Mediterranean countries, spit-roast kid being found throughout the Balkans and the Middle East. In this region and in C. Asia goat or kid meat can be used in any recipe for lamb or mutton, although there are relatively few specific recipes for cooking it. Portugal is something of an exception; Cabrito assado (roast kid, preferably an animal about one month old) is popular over much of the country, and there are other favourite recipes including Chanfana, a goat stew prepared for festive occasions.
Among Asian countries the Philippines stand out as the home of many interesting goat dishes. There are many goat restaurants in Manila, mostly offering Caldereta (derived from a Spanish stew for lamb or kid), a tamarind-flavoured soup similar to sinigang, and other specialities such as the various forms of kinilaw which incorporate goat meat and are often known as kilawen or kilawin. These last items are especially interesting in their Ilocano (of the Ilocos Islands) versions, flavoured with a fresh bitterness provided by bile or partly digested grass from the innards of ruminant animals.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
