She Got His Goat

Yes, this is a baby goat, no "kidding" Scott jumped back and shrieked when he saw the head in with the bag of meat. But one does wonder: how does one actually acquire a newly slaughtered baby goat?

Looks like a character from a Star Wars Bar Scene movie.

"Here's Looking At You Kid" You never know when a great movie line is going to be perfect!

Who looks more surprised? We couldn't stop laughing until....

Dinner is served! So much food that we had to borrow our neighbors' roasting pan and this beautiful serving platter. Scott used practically every pot and cooking utensil we own.

Hi all,

19 October 2010

Certain that you are either really interested in how one gets a goat or you stopped looking after the first picture. Scott's Emirati assistant, Noora, has a farm near Al Ain (oasis and birthplace of the 1st ruler of UAE Sheik Zayed). Well, Scott is at work and Noora, his purchasing manager, tells him that her driver has gone down to the farm for a baby goat and taken it to the slaughter house. All animals for consumption in UAE are slaughtered according to Islamic regulations. We wondered exactly what Noora was going to bring, but decided to cross that bridge when we came to it.

7:00 PM and Noora drives up the the villa. She gives Scott a large box with white plastic bags inside. 7:15 PM and Scott is putting the goat meat into zip lock bags (I'm handing him bags and refusing to touch this meat) 7:20 PM and Scott yelps as he jumps back 3 feet. Yes, you saw it: a skinned, baby goat's head with eyes still in the sockets. Scott tells me that I'd better not look at it, so now I have to see what freaked him out. I look and run for the camera and say "We have to blog this and I'm not kidding" Warning: the first of many puns...

Okay Billy, one asks gruffly, so how does one proceed with cooking a goat? You google recipes for young lamb, well, how difficult could this be... I mean, who is kidding who here?

Two recipes were adapted, one from Julia Child's Beef Bourguignonne and an Epicurious Roasted Leg of Lamb for those shanks visible in the 1st picture . Yesterday Scott came home early to start cooking; I was sous chef and pot washer. Brown meat, stir, chop vegtables, add wine, run for red onions, wash up a bit. 2 hours later we are at the pool with Scott doing his daily laps and I'm sunning myself while the goat roasts in separate pans. Back home to make the basmanti rice with vegtables and "Arabic Spices" and then carry it all across the street.

8:00 PM sitting at Chris & Suzanna's table toasting Scott for a job brilliantly done! Chris is also an excellent cook and was quite complimentary. He'd seen the goat head the night before and wasn't certain Scott could pull it off. ( nor was he looking forward to the meal in particular) Suzanna kept some meat and rice for Taavi (1 y/o son), indicative of her reaction.

We feasted for several hours and enjoyed a bit of wine; cheese & crackers with a lovely port for dessert. Got back across the street way too late with clean up left for today and fond memories of another evening spent with our neighbors and friends. So who got whose goat?

Hope you enjoyed this episode of "Scott & Christine's Adventures in Abu Dhabi". Any guesses on what we did with the goat's head?
Yes you guessed it - trash can. When Scott told Noora about the excellent meal, she particularly asked about the head - he feared she would be disappointed that we had tossed it - but she said it is tradition that you include the head to show that the meat is fresh. She also said that she throws her's out as well but added that her grandmother cooks and eats the contents. Maybe in this culture but not in ours !

Love to all

Scott and Christine