Curry Goat anyone?

Mmmm...rich, funky, tasty, yummy curry goat. But how to cook it?

I have enjoyed a few different versions of curry goat, some good, some bad and rarely exceptionally delicious, which this dish certainly can be if done right.

I've sampled this hearty culinary delight in the bourgeois canyons of Manhattan (Daphne's, Golden Krust), West Indian enclaves of Brooklyn and in what is perhaps the global capital of this dish, Kingston Jamaica. Of these few efforts by far the most delicious was in downtown Kingston. Tender, juicy goat, rich brown gravy - cooked long and to the point of no clue as to what the ingredients might be - without a hint of anything that might bestow to the body anything beyond the essentials of a full belly, a sated appetite and a happy if challenged heart. So what goes into this dish?

How is it done?

I can't tell you. I refuse to google this and thus:

Here is my version:

Ingredients:
Goat: Allow at least 1/2 lb per person. (Bones fat and all that)
Onion: 1 good sized
Garlic: heaps/loads
Mushrooms: Two or three medium button per person
Black Pepper: a few shakes
Salt: Figure it out yerself
Cilantro/Coriander: A big bunch of the fresh green stuff
Curry powder: Herein is the big ?. I used Kalustyan's medium Madras but obviously other mixes and blends will yield different results, flavours, heat etc. La Flor's Jamaican curry powder is dreadful in a bad way. Shake on the goat as it is frying deliciously.
Potato: 1 will do (1/2 or less per person)

Directions:
Flee the city...erm...no. Well Where can you find goat?
In New York you will have a very challenging time finding poor people food such as goat - so take a trip on the subway to Queens or Brooklyn where you will find it at a good poor people price.
I am currently poor people by the way.
In other places, good luck to you Rockafeller...

So...
In my frying pan I put about 1-1/2 lb of black pepper and salted goat frying in olive oil on medium heat. Electric sucks. I really want gas, but such is my situation.
As goat is sizzling some ten minutes later gently add all onion. Turn the goat after about 10-15 minutes. Garlic chopped in my patented method comes next, then mushroom, cut somewhat small, then cilantro stalks cut very fine. Add all to pan.

About the time I was starting the frying pan part I had about a cup full of (any kind of) lentils boiling in what else but a few cups of H2O with some salt and garlic and a couple of the goat bones. Added to this approx 2 tomatoes from a can of Cento (or any non-watery canned version) whole tomatoes. Not too much or it will turn Italian on you. Fuggedaboudid.

When goat and onion and cilantro and fungus are turning aromatic and goat is browned fling the goat pan contents into the lentil pot. Gentle flinging of course.

Bring to boil slowly, but immediately bring to gentle simmer.
Add cilantro leaves (you remembered to leave these out before this, right?) full leafy greens.
Add more garlic. Why not?
You may need to add water, but sparingly. You want a rich goat, nah a poor one - seen?

Sit around for a couple of hours doing things you enjoy. Do not be 'waiting'. Enjoy the scent of goat. Just live your life in a positive way. Write. Watch flim. Listen to Eating Betty.
Call your west indian friend about how long goat takes to cook, but be wary of the answer. I think everybody has a different answer to all questions...such is life...
Expect dinner to be at a later time than expected!
Goat is not your lamb or beef. Gently does it...

You will be amazed! I was. Goat takes control of all that goes into the food. Incredible. The brown sauce that results is a wonder. No other meat does this, that I'm aware of.
Beautiful rich fatty brown sauce. mmmmmm!
I'm sure there are real authentic recipes for this delight, but I got lucky with my version.
Mix and match and explore...

Lynn Taitt R.I.P

Some 30 years have passed since the golden age of Jamaican music.
That magical musical era is to this listener a mere span of 15 years - from 1965 to 1980. What fuelled this world changing music explosion has been addressed in numerous books, essays and reviews but never explained - and rightly so. There is no satisfactory explanation for genius, inspiration or artistic innovation.
At a rough guess, the most important figures in Jamaican music in the aforementioned 15 year period number 100 true innovators (I must give this more thought!). There are fewer of these oft unappreciated and underrated musicians, singers and producers alive with every passing year.
Ranking somewhere in the top 20 of that select few is the incomparable Lynn Taitt.
Sadly he passed on recently, but not without bestowing upon humanity a wealth of wonderful music. Credited with the invention of the Rocksteady music style, Lynn Taitt was a masterful musical arranger and the proponent of a deceptively simple guitar playing style that has influenced every reggae player to this day though they may be unaware of this fact.
One hopes that Lynn passed on knowing that he gave much and owed nothing.

Thank you Nairlin 'Lynn' Taitt'
We owe you...

Freddie McKay - Sunny Sunday Morning

I'm a huge fan of the vocal stylings of Freddie McKay and I was delighted to happen upon this collection of tunes that includes two (probably) rare tracks by Freddie that I hadn't heard before. In particular 'Sunny Sunday Morning' is to these ears a very precious musical gem. 'Cheer up yourself oh my little laddie, and let your heart be glad'. Beautiful beyond compare.

Sadly Freddie does not urge the 'little laddie' to love his daddy too.

The other tracks can't hold a candle to 'Sunny Sunday Morning' but none the less are fine Rock Steady / Reggae recordings.

Thanks to youandmeonajamboree for sharing these treasures.
http://youandmeonajamboree.blogspot.com/2009/12/va-reggae-to-uk-with-love-pama-1969.html

Every Spoil a Dub review on Niceup.com

I've long been of the opinion that Dub music is truly timeless so I'm well pleased that 'Every Spoil A Dub' still has a life of its own more than a year after release into the wild and can even attract a new review every once in a while.
See Tom Orr's recent excellent and humbling review in the Jammin' Reggae Archives on Nice Up dot com
There is even honourable mention of the venerable Reverbalism...
Very positive, very gratifying...might inspire me to revisit the current batch of tunes destined for dubification.

If you've a head and heart for dub, you'll want both discs in order to properly rejoice in the fact that dub of this sort is still being made. And superbly, at that - Tom Orr

Thank you Tom!

And you can buy Eating Betty releases 'Every Spoil A Dub', 'Reverbalism' and 'Eating Betty In Dub' in any and all of these places:
iTunes - just look in the olde shoppe
Amazon
CD Baby
Napster, e-Music, CD Connection, Wal-Mart(!) - anywhere and everywhere music is sold, CD or download.
I recommend buying from CD Baby because they are good people...

ACEtone ALLstars - The Dub Canon on YouTube!

Disclaimer: ACEtone Studio, the ACEtone ALLstars etc. have nothing to do with this video being on You Tube - except of course for the excellent music that accompanies the interesting picture.
It is nice that someone (http://www.youtube.com/user/ajmdaj) liked the track enough to want to spread the word.
This can only be good thing...