Got Your Goat?

So what's on your dinner plate? Diners at Oliveto in Oakland, California are feasting on goat in many forms including sheep's milk ravioli with goat sugo, seared goat loin with purslane and lemon, goat sausages with mint and honey and goat chops fried Milanese style.

Before you gag, I should point out that goat is a staple in many Latino and South Asian cultures and it is usually available in markets that cater to these communities. Indians and Pakistanis uses goat in curries and according to Niloufer Icaporia King, author of My Bombay Kitchen, many Indian lamb recipes are more authentic when made with goat.

In fact, Bill Niman, the founder of the famed Niman Ranch--the premier ranch for raising grass fed cattle--has even gotten into the act. According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, Niman (who is no longer affiliated with his original company), has begun selling goats from his personal ranch in Bolinas, California. Both Marin Sun Farms and Don Watson's Napa Lamb Co., specialty meat purveyors, have added goat to their offerings.

Goat meat is gaining in popularity among California diners. "I had a hard time selling it for a long, long time," says Marsha McBride, chef-owner of Cafe Rouge, who has a large variety of goat dishes on her menu.

Goats are also gaining in popularity as "green lawn mowers" since they will eat virtually any type of shrubs. In fact, Don Watson also pairs goats with sheep in a business he calls Wooly Weeders. "If you really want to devastate a bushy area, goats will do it," he says. The goats he sells for meat are a "by-product."

I am certainly not going to tell you what or what not to eat, but I, for one, think I will pass on the goat. Somehow the thought of eating something that will eat virtually anything does not sit well, especially if we are what we eat. But who am I to judge?