By Nina Elder
What’s Happening
• The other red meat: Goat, which for years has been relegated to taco trucks and Jamaican joints, is now showing up on more upscale, mainstream menus.
• Diners at Oliveto in Oakland, California, can order sheep’s milk ravioli with goat sauce, seared goat loin with lemon or goat sausages with mint and honey.
• Goat meat tamales are one of the most popular Saturday dinner specials at Dos Rios Cantina and Tequila Lounge in downtown Des Moines.
• New York’s Cabrito gets its name from the animal (cabrito means “little goat” in Spanish) and slow roasts the meat with sour orange, garlic and chile.
• Goat has a mild flavor (somewhere between beef and lamb) and is lower in fat and calories than beef, pork or lamb
What This Means to Business
• Foodies are drawn to new, exotic menu items. Anything that can give them bragging rights has added appeal.
• High-end chefs (and, by extension, diners) are getting more adventurous when it comes to meat. They have embraced offal (organ meats) and nose-to-tail cooking. Lesser-known meats like goat give them a new creative outlet.
• Mainstream consumers are familiar with goat cheese and goat’s milk. Goat meat is the next logical step.
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