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...

Gasp! Big Shiny's MySpace page has been terminated!

I've heard of this happening to people before and I'm sure it happens all the time. The e-mail from the subtle people at MySpace admin reads:

Your MySpace account has been deleted for violating our Terms of Service.

This is usually due to one of the following:

* Nude images, sexually suggestive or violent photos
* Covering our banner ads with HTML
* Harassing other users
* You do not meet the minimum age requirement
* Spamming the classifieds, forums, bulletins, or other sections of the site
* Attempting to artificially inflate scores
* Scripting the site

Your account cannot be restored. If you choose to return to MySpace, please follow the rules.

My reply reads:

Hmmm. I really think you are wrong about this. I don't believe I violated any of your terms.
Certainly nothing you listed.
I think you should re-instate the account.

There is more than one Big Shiny incidentally! Three that I'm aware of.

There were no nude images, sexually suggestive or violent photos (do you have any I can borrow?)
I don't recall the banner ads being covered or if they were it was completely accidental as I wouldn't know how to do that on purpose
I never harass other users, never have done, never will! Certainly not on the internet
If for some reason one needs to be **, then yes I'm underage by a couple of weeks
I never spam and don't know how to do any of the other stuff listed.
I wouldn't even know how to inflate 'scores' nor do I even know what 'scores' means
I don't know how to script

Still, no big deal. MySpace is pretty embarrassing...

Sadly, it is a no reply address at MySpace (received Mailer-Daemon failure notice) so it just bounced back to me and they will never know how terribly, terribly mistaken they were in their callous termination of one of the most beloved of MySpace pages, nay, the darling of all the internet and its all encompassing tubes, pipes, nano-arteries and dump trucks.
Where will the children play? Where will the downtrodden seek sanctuary wherefore to relieve their downwardly mobile troddeness? Verily, I say...here:
http://www.acetonestudio.com/bigshiny.html
(what! I'm not giving tunes away for free anymore? Totally forgot about that! So buy the album or a tune or two!)

This termination is a travesty and an outrage and an insult to the toiling multitudes, a slap in the face of the great unwashed and a cordial invitation to the opening of the floodgates of myriad plethora of cliches, timeworn truisms, jerry-built gee-gaws and internet memes heretofore unseen and likely a detriment to the cognitive dissonance of the commonweal, post-interneticly, nervously sweatingly, conjectured by many respected authorities, to be a travesty and and outrage...
When cornered and pressed (diced, starched, peeled, marinated, stewed, A/Bed) on this issue Doctor Gealach Moore, museoanthrophilologolist, said predictably; 'It is indeed a travesty and an outrage'

Seriously though, some of this Big Shiny stuff is still so damn good. A pity it is so ignored!

Every Spoil A Dub review in the venerable Beat magazine

I wouldn't have known about this had it not been for 'Trusty' on the Roots Archives forum alerting me to the review.
Nice to be mentioned in the venerable Beat magazine.

It reads:

Nice!

Good and Strong FREE EP out now!

At last, here's the latest release since 'Every Spoil A Dub'. It's a FREE five track EP featuring different vocal takes, instrumental parts and multifarious mixes.

Download top quality 320kbps mp3s for free and read about it here:
GOOD AND STRONG EP

A big, big, big-up to Idren Natural for his vocal contribution and also to Callum for being instrumental in making it happen.

Melodica Malfunction Revisited

Some time ago I wrote about the sticky key issue I experienced with my super-cheap Hohner Student 32 Melodica and the steps I took to correct the problem.

Since then I have played a few parts on a few different tracks and have found that the problem has returned, but in a less drastic way. While the keys do not now stick when depressed, they stick when not played. Depressing the keys unsticks. The part of the key in the interior that closes the gasket now sticks to the gasket. With a little playing the problem lessens but it is still irritating and impedes fluid playing. I'm no melodica virtuouso but I suspect that any player whatever his level of proficiency would find this unacceptable.

At the moment I have no idea how this can be corrected. Clearly the yellow rubber foam can't be replaced as it is moulded very specifically to the shape required to make an airtight seal.
Nothing that comes to mind (a silicon lubricant? talcum powder?) strikes me as a viable solution.

Any tips or recommendations are welcome.

Apart from that, the keys are really too small on this instrument and when funds are not so tight I hope to buy a bigger, better melodica made from superior materials. Recommendations invited!

It has been a while!

As the recently added begging letter notes, times are financially hard at ACEtone Studio. I do hope some of you reading this will be moved to buy some tunes to help out and ensure that ACEtone Studio can continue releasing quality original music.

As to what is currently in the works, a new net-release of a reworking of 'Be Strong Dub' from 'Every Spoil a Dub' will be coming soon, but there is still some work to be done. Just a bit of tweaking on the mix.
The plan is to feature three versions of the track:
1. Good and Strong - vocal by Idren Natural
2. Good and Dub - Melodica instru-dub
3. Untitled (still trying to think of a good title) - Organ Instrumental

The inspiration for this release was prompted by Callum (Culture Reggae/Sama Sound) who kindly provided Idren Natural's vocal take and encouraged me to do a further dub.
The organ version was something I had been meaning to do for a long time - not specifically for this riddim - but it all fit together really nicely.

Currently working on melodica, hand-drum, guitar over-dubs for Dougie of Conscious Sound's reggae version of 'Sound of the Crowd'.
Yes, that 'Sound of the Crowd' - the original version of which ironically has as its main hook a very typical 1970s roots melodica type melody though played on a Moog or some such synth.
Pretty easy to play, even with the sticky melodica keys.

It is very nice to be asked to do over-dubs, I must say.