Goat Your Goat Master Class
According to Time.com GOAT was #7 of the top 10 food trends for 2008.
Master class includes: hands on butchering of a carcass, goat husbandry, cooking with goat meat, sausage making and preparing several recipes with goat. There will be an opportunity to purchase goat meat after the event. Wine and snacks will be served.
Learn from and meet the experts:
Jeannie McCormack who raises goats and lamb using humane and sustainably sound practices for Niman Ranch
Marsha McBride of Cafe Rouge and butcher shop in Berkeley
According to Time.com GOAT was #7 of the top 10 food trends for 2008.
Master class includes: hands on butchering of a carcass, goat husbandry, cooking with goat meat, sausage making and preparing several recipes with goat. There will be an opportunity to purchase goat meat after the event. Wine and snacks will be served.
Learn from and meet the experts:
Jeannie McCormack who raises goats and lamb using humane and sustainably sound practices for Niman Ranch
Marsha McBride of Cafe Rouge and butcher shop in Berkeley
Apparently, now I am a "goat master." I should totally add that to my resume =)
The class was put on by The Women's Chef and Restaurateur Club, which the co-owner of Scott's restaurant is a member of. She was signed up to attend, but at the last minute couldn't make it, so she gave her ticket to Scott, and they bought me one too. Thanks Yacht Club! We figured that between the 2 of us (Scott being a chef, and me being a woman), we qualified as a club member. Now I really do want to join this club of amazing chef and restaurant women who convene to learn cutting edge cooking trends and drink wine. If and when Scott and I open a restaurant, I am joining!
The class was put on by The Women's Chef and Restaurateur Club, which the co-owner of Scott's restaurant is a member of. She was signed up to attend, but at the last minute couldn't make it, so she gave her ticket to Scott, and they bought me one too. Thanks Yacht Club! We figured that between the 2 of us (Scott being a chef, and me being a woman), we qualified as a club member. Now I really do want to join this club of amazing chef and restaurant women who convene to learn cutting edge cooking trends and drink wine. If and when Scott and I open a restaurant, I am joining!
OK, back to the class...I know you're interested...
Prior to yesterday, I was very hesitant to taste goat, it's that animal in the petting zoo! But this class really eased me into tasting it (except for the fact that we were served Goat tar-tar upon arrival...not a huge raw meat fan, but I tasted it). First, the goat farmers spoke about raising sheep and goat at an organic and sustainable farm. They are a supplier to fancy Niman Ranch. After they spoke, Marsha McBride, the owner and chef of Cafe Rouge in Berkeley, recounted how she gradually introduced goat onto her menu. She admitted that it took awhile for her customers to warm up to it, and even tried calling it various things on the menu to see which would sell best (cabrillito, kid...that one did not sell well...Roasted Kid?) Currently, she lists it as "goat" on her menu and has quite a following of patrons ordering it.
After we warmed up to the farming practices and restaurant preparation ideas, out came Marsha's butcher, a young guy named Scott, with a cleaned goat carcass, ready to be cut up. It was very sanitary, no organs or blood, so no worries (I know some of you non-meat eaters are already squirming). The butchering portion was very empowering to watch...
all these women with meat cleavers and saws portioning out the goat. I watched from the sidelines and took pictures, while Scott secured a leg and butterflied it (yeah, a little above my home chef skills going on now). It was kinda surreal, all these women and Scott chopping up goat, chatting, and sipping wine.
After the goat was butchered into various cuts (chops, steaks, legs, ribs), we began cooking some dishes. We made Goat Crepinette (yes, I had no idea was a crepinette was either); Goat Merguez (not a clue about that one either); Slow Baked Goat with Goat Milk, Fennel, and Potatoes; and Grilled Goat Chops with Bittersweet Rosemary Sauce.
Basically, a crepinette is ground meat formed into a small patty, wrapped in caul fat, and grilled. Now you are probably asking, What the heck is caul fat? I didn't know either...you might not want to know, because if I tell you,
you'll never eat it, and it is a wonderfully delicate. Caul fat is the fatty membrane that surrounds the organs in some animals, such as cows, sheep and pigs. I am pretty sure we used pig caul fat. Anyway, the crepinette was delicious, but not my favorite.
Goat Merguez is sausage. Not quite sure what merguez means...maybe it's sausage in French? Stephanie or Courtney, let me know! The Goat Merguez was spicy with cumin, but also not my favorite, but pretty cool to assemble with the giant sausage stuffer!
The slow baked goat was very tasty, and I swear you would have no idea it was goat if I served it to any of you. The goat was marinated in goat milk, baked with fennel and potatoes, and topped with bread crumbs, and you guessed it...goat cheese (the hard kind, not the soft stuff).
Also tasty, but still not my favorite.
So the Grilled Goat Chops with Bittersweet Rosemary Sauce was my
favorite. The chops marinated in this wonderful marinade of campari, Cinzano (vermouth), blood orange juice, rosemary, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. It was a very earthy, yet bright flavor in the marinade. Our chops only marinated 15 min., so I am curious to see how meat tastes after a longer marination in this wonderful sauce. These chops were amazingly delicate and tender. The flavor was exceptional, kind of like lamb but way less lamb-y (hard to explain...I'm trying my best!) Goat lacks that strong meat flavor you find in things like a big steak or leg of lamb. One of the women said something that really stood out to me, she said "This is super, because we really need 
more meat choices out there." She's totally right, really now, we can choose between beef, lamb, pork, and if you're lucky you can find buffalo, venison, or rabbit. I also learned that worldwide, goat is one of the most important meats, because it is small and gives milk...a viable livestock option for families around the world, especially in mountain areas, like the Himalayas. Meat goats are not the same ones that we pet at the zoo, those are dairy goats. The meat goats are smaller and stauncher, and from what the farmers recounted, not very amiable.
So there you go, I am a "goat master" now =)
*Here's a guide to the pictures, I can't figure out how to caption...from top the bottom;
1. Butcher Scott giving us a tour of the goat (I spared you of the actually cutting up pics)
2. My Scott working on the leg ("hmmm, how to begin? I work at a seafood place!")
3. Caul fat
4. The giant sausage stuffer...you fill the cylinder with ground meat, attach a casing, and turn this GIANT crank.
5. Marsha McBride demonstrating sausage-making techniques.
6. Goat Crepinette (the patty wrapped in caul fat and grilled)
Prior to yesterday, I was very hesitant to taste goat, it's that animal in the petting zoo! But this class really eased me into tasting it (except for the fact that we were served Goat tar-tar upon arrival...not a huge raw meat fan, but I tasted it). First, the goat farmers spoke about raising sheep and goat at an organic and sustainable farm. They are a supplier to fancy Niman Ranch. After they spoke, Marsha McBride, the owner and chef of Cafe Rouge in Berkeley, recounted how she gradually introduced goat onto her menu. She admitted that it took awhile for her customers to warm up to it, and even tried calling it various things on the menu to see which would sell best (cabrillito, kid...that one did not sell well...Roasted Kid?) Currently, she lists it as "goat" on her menu and has quite a following of patrons ordering it.
After we warmed up to the farming practices and restaurant preparation ideas, out came Marsha's butcher, a young guy named Scott, with a cleaned goat carcass, ready to be cut up. It was very sanitary, no organs or blood, so no worries (I know some of you non-meat eaters are already squirming). The butchering portion was very empowering to watch...
all these women with meat cleavers and saws portioning out the goat. I watched from the sidelines and took pictures, while Scott secured a leg and butterflied it (yeah, a little above my home chef skills going on now). It was kinda surreal, all these women and Scott chopping up goat, chatting, and sipping wine.After the goat was butchered into various cuts (chops, steaks, legs, ribs), we began cooking some dishes. We made Goat Crepinette (yes, I had no idea was a crepinette was either); Goat Merguez (not a clue about that one either); Slow Baked Goat with Goat Milk, Fennel, and Potatoes; and Grilled Goat Chops with Bittersweet Rosemary Sauce.
Basically, a crepinette is ground meat formed into a small patty, wrapped in caul fat, and grilled. Now you are probably asking, What the heck is caul fat? I didn't know either...you might not want to know, because if I tell you,
you'll never eat it, and it is a wonderfully delicate. Caul fat is the fatty membrane that surrounds the organs in some animals, such as cows, sheep and pigs. I am pretty sure we used pig caul fat. Anyway, the crepinette was delicious, but not my favorite.
Goat Merguez is sausage. Not quite sure what merguez means...maybe it's sausage in French? Stephanie or Courtney, let me know! The Goat Merguez was spicy with cumin, but also not my favorite, but pretty cool to assemble with the giant sausage stuffer!
The slow baked goat was very tasty, and I swear you would have no idea it was goat if I served it to any of you. The goat was marinated in goat milk, baked with fennel and potatoes, and topped with bread crumbs, and you guessed it...goat cheese (the hard kind, not the soft stuff).
Also tasty, but still not my favorite.
So the Grilled Goat Chops with Bittersweet Rosemary Sauce was my
favorite. The chops marinated in this wonderful marinade of campari, Cinzano (vermouth), blood orange juice, rosemary, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. It was a very earthy, yet bright flavor in the marinade. Our chops only marinated 15 min., so I am curious to see how meat tastes after a longer marination in this wonderful sauce. These chops were amazingly delicate and tender. The flavor was exceptional, kind of like lamb but way less lamb-y (hard to explain...I'm trying my best!) Goat lacks that strong meat flavor you find in things like a big steak or leg of lamb. One of the women said something that really stood out to me, she said "This is super, because we really need 
more meat choices out there." She's totally right, really now, we can choose between beef, lamb, pork, and if you're lucky you can find buffalo, venison, or rabbit. I also learned that worldwide, goat is one of the most important meats, because it is small and gives milk...a viable livestock option for families around the world, especially in mountain areas, like the Himalayas. Meat goats are not the same ones that we pet at the zoo, those are dairy goats. The meat goats are smaller and stauncher, and from what the farmers recounted, not very amiable.So there you go, I am a "goat master" now =)
*Here's a guide to the pictures, I can't figure out how to caption...from top the bottom;
1. Butcher Scott giving us a tour of the goat (I spared you of the actually cutting up pics)
2. My Scott working on the leg ("hmmm, how to begin? I work at a seafood place!")
3. Caul fat
4. The giant sausage stuffer...you fill the cylinder with ground meat, attach a casing, and turn this GIANT crank.
5. Marsha McBride demonstrating sausage-making techniques.
6. Goat Crepinette (the patty wrapped in caul fat and grilled)
6 comments:
i had goat tacos before. i mean, i tasted patrick's...i try to taste meat/new meats every so often to see if maybe i turned into a meat-eater when i wasn't looking. it hasn't happened yet.
what an awesome class!!!!!!!!!
Fascinating. I have no idea what "merguez" means. That's quite a date night. I haven't like many of the goat dishes I have tried, but I'll keep my mind open.
You know, lots of the chefs mentioned they had tried goat before and did not care for it. We figured it must have been a) not prepared well, or b) too old to eat (they are best at 8 mos. old). You can buy goat meat at Mexican markets, but I have not heard anything good about it!
i'm so relieved you didn't know what all of those things meant either. I was lost! It sounded like fun though!
We eat goat meat here all the time. We call it cabrito.Unless it`s a kid under 6-8mths it has a weird, strong smell especially if it`s male. Normally it`s marinated in yogurt, milk or citrus in order to deal with the ´gaminesss´of the meat. Merguez is a type of moroccan sausage that is typically red because they use harissa to season it. It`s dried in the sun and used for tagines.
I love your blog Holly and wish my date nights were this interesting!
wow. i don't think i would have survived that class. you're amazing.
Post a Comment