Have you ever tried goat before?
Right now, the Seward Meat Department has goat cuts from a new P6-producer Peters Family Farm in Fountain, MN, and we’re very excited for you to give them a try.
“We began raising goats in 2008. We have a 40-acre place,” Travis Peters of Peters Family Farm tells us, “situated on a hillside; the land is perfect for goats. The goats graze mixed grass pastures in season and are fed hay in the winter.”
Erik Sather, Seward’s Meat Depart Manager, says he found out about Peters’ goat farm from Bonnie Austin at Hill and Vale (a very old friend of Seward Meat Department). Travis Peters is a farm hand at Hill and Vale.
When asked about websites or pictures of the farm, Sather said, “Yeah, I don’t think their farm actually has a name. They’re a very small operation.”
“We actually don’t have an official name… other customers have simply listed ‘Peters Family Farm’ or ‘Travis and Jen Peters Goat’ or something similar,” Peters said. “Our farm is truly a family affair, as the kids help my wife (Jen) and I with chores year round.”
And while goat might seem an unusual meat to carry at Seward, the fact is, it’s only unusual in the U.S.. So, for all us Americans, and those of us not lucky enough to be on the Peters Family Farm, here’s the basic 411 on goat:
* Goat is the most widely eaten meat in the world. Seventy percent of red meat eaten worldwide is goat.
* Goat is quite similar to lamb in how it cooks, so you can cook goat all the ways you’re used to cooking lamb: Grilling, roasting, stews, and braising.
* You’ll notice that goat comes in most of the same cuts as lamb: Shoulder, stew meat, ribs, shoulder, etc.
* A key reason Seward Meat Department is excited about carrying this meat is that goats are a far less environmentally destructive livestock than cattle. This is because goats are like Google Chrome: They’re browsers. Seriously, they don’t pull up entire root systems and deplete the soil of nutrient-rich grasses the way cows do when they graze. Also, goats require far less space than cattle. These are small footprint livestock.
* Goat is one of the leanest meats you will ever eat (unless you can get your hands on some ostrich cuts). Chicken is twice as fatty, lamb is six times fattier, and pork has nine times the fat of goat.
So come and get your goat from Peters Family Farm and try the whole world is eating. Below is a recipe with goat meat for you, written by our buddy St. Paul blogger Amanda Paa. She writes the terrific blog Heartbeet Kitchen, (which you should also try!).