Katsiki, goat, is a tradition in Greece at Easter. Cabrito, goat, either cooked on a spit over the coals or in a pit, is standard barbecue fare in parts of Mexico.
Goat also is enjoyed in northern China as well as northern Italy. But in the United States, except in parts of south Texas and New Mexico where barbecue is done on a big scale, goat is far from familiar fare.
That may change.
One item in that trendiest of trends, new California cuisine, is goat cheese. To produce the milk to meet this new demand for cheese, the female goats must be kept ”fresh.” This means that each female must with some regularity have a baby goat. If half the kids are male, what will we do with all these little billy goats?
We should do as much of the world does, eat them. Goat food is good food. I first tasted kid a few years ago on vacation on a sailboat in the Greek Islands. Our boat came with a crew of four, including a cook named George. None of the crew spoke much English, and none of us spoke Greek; but George and I spoke ”food,” a universal language.
We ate most of our meals on board, and the task of shopping the market place for our dinner fell to me. It was great fun.
One day I brought George a leg of goat, thinking it was lamb.
”Ah,” he said, ”Katsiki, good!”
He fixed the meat in a lemony sauce, Avgolemono, used frequently in Greek dishes.
Here`s how he did it:
KATSIKI AVGOLEMONO
Six servings
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
3 pounds kid or lamb shoulder cut into 2- or 3-inch chunks
4 cups water
1 large onion, quartered
4 or 5 mint leaves
2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
2 eggs, separated
Juice of 1 lemon
Parsley, chopped
1. Trim the kid or lamb pieces of any excess fat and put them in a good-sized heavy pot. Add onion and mint leaves. Cover with water; bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Reduce heat to a simmer; remove any scum from the surface of the liquid. Add butter or oil; simmer gently for 40 minutes. Strain off broth into a large bowl.
3. Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until peaks form. Beat the yolks and fold into the whites. Add lemon juice to the hot broth, then slowly pour the hot broth into the egg mixture.
4. Pour this back over the meat. Heat quickly, shaking the pan; do not boil. Garnish with chopped parsley.
