If you want to eat meat sustainably, choose kid goat. Goat & bean pilaf recipe

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Looking for a more sustainable alternative to the commonly-eaten meats?
You need to give kid goat a try. Melt in the mouth deliciousness and cooked like lamb, Poco‘s Tom Hunt shares his mouthwatering recipe with us.

Tom Hunt, eco-chef, food writer & co-owner Poco Bristol

As a vegetarian who serves meat in his restaurant, I’ve had to consider how to do that in great detail, deliberating the ethics and sustainability of the animals and the farms we work with. Truth be told the sustainability of meat is questionable. Whether it is intensively reared meat – fed processed corn and soya – or extensively reared meat, grazed on pasture. However in my opinion that doesn’t mean we can’t eat meat sustainably.

There is the general consensus between nutritionists, health specialists and environmental organisations that we should all eat less meat, quite a lot less in fact, for both our own health and for the health of the environment. Reducing our meat-intake is the biggest thing we can do to reduce our environmental impact, alongside reducing our waste. The World Resources Institute and UN Food and Agricultural Organisation estimate that globally, meat production is responsible for between 14% and 18% of human greenhouse gas emissions.

Through deliberating this quandary at our restaurant Poco in Bristol, we’ve come across many exceptional farmers, gamekeepers and butchers keen to help us out with our dilemma. They all have strong opinions about meat, sustainability and farming. We’ve found interesting new species and cuts of meat (including the offal and all the bits in-between) and increased the vegetables we serve on our plates. By combining smaller portions of meat with other ingredients helps us to save money and buy better quality and higher welfare animals. Some of the species we’ve come to serve are muntjac deer, which are an invasive species that has no predators so it’s necessary to control the numbers, as well as pannage pork from pigs reared in the New Forest on acorns (similar to Jamon Iberico). And kid goat, a by-product of the dairy industry.

There’s no question, the way dairy production operates means there’s a surplus of male billy goat meat that needs to be eaten to prevent them being wasted. Sadly this isn’t the case which means 40,000 billy goats are slaughtered and disposed of each year at birth in order to keep goat’s cheese and milk production running.

£20 off my first Famdrop shop

This provides an ethical dilemma for vegetarians like me; should we eat goat meat or should we become vegan?

I would like to see goat meat on more restaurant menus and on the butcher’s counter, not just because of the ethics but for the simple fact that this meat is as delicious – or even more so – than any other meat we commonly enjoy.

If you want to start eating meat more sustainably, like we aim to serve at Poco, then goat meat is a good place to start. Just Kidding are pioneers in this area, creating ways to prevent billy goats from being unnecessarily wasted. And they don’t stop there, they also pasture-rear their animals and have a high standard of animal welfare. They only use medication when necessary and care for the wildlife on the farm by planting trees and hedgerows. It’s refreshing to see that Just Kidding share the idea of eating less meat and better quality that is so indicative of a sustainable diet like I described at the beginning of this article.

Here’s my simple pilaf recipe for using kid goat meat. When cooking kid goat, treat it like lamb. The fillets and legs can be served pink, but other cuts should be slow-cooked. This recipe is forgiving and can be made with any cut.

Goat & broad bean pilaf

Pilaf is a delicious and aromatic Middle Eastern dish made of rice cooked in a rich broth of onions and spices. It works brilliantly with the richness of goat meat. It’s in the same family as an Indian pilau or biryani. Pilaf will keep really well for 4 days. It’s delicious cold the next day or reheated. Just make sure it’s properly refrigerated and piping hot right through when reheated.

Serves 4
200g kid goat leg or shoulder, diced
Olive oil
2 onions, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
500g broad beans, podded
A small piece of cinnamon bark
150g wholegrain basmati
Yoghurt, to serve
½ lemon, to serve
Fresh mint leaves, to serve

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Preheat the oven to 160ºC. Sear the diced goat meat in a hot pan with olive oil and salt for 10 minutes, or until browned on all sides.

Meanwhile, in an ovenproof dish, gently fry the sliced onions in olive oil for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are soft and caramelized. Add the coriander, garlic, broad beans and cinnamon and fry for a further 2 minutes. Finally, add the rice and stir, coating each and every grain with oil, onion and spice.

Add the goat meat and 450ml of water to the rice, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning as required. Put the lid on and put in the oven for 45 minutes, or until the water has evaporated.

Serve with yoghurt, torn mint leaves and lemon wedges.

Farmdrop have gone goat crazy with 10% off their whole goat range until the end of this week!

£20 off my first Famdrop shop

Photo credit: Laura Edwards

Recipe credit: The Natural Cook by Tom Hunt. Quadrille Publishing

See more Bristol chef recipes here