Goat is something you seldom see on the menu north of Thessaloniki. We may love goat’s cheese up here, but the meat often goes to waste. Too bad, says chef Göran Svartengren, who predicts a brilliant future for it and a lot of other forgotten produce. The new generation loves smart food. And in new combinations.

In the bible, God seldom shows up. But when he does, it is often suggested that food is what is at the forefront of his mind. Apparently, gastronomy is regarded as something very important in the heavens, and goat meat is regularly a relevant matter for discussion. It’s a piece of meat that was very popular back in the day.

“Goat has unfortunately had a bad reputation since the ‘You shall not boil a young goat in the milk of its mother’ quote from the Old Testament,” says Göran Svartengren, the head chef at the restaurant that bears his name. “And it seems that, even back then, it was regarded as something that wasn’t very special. But the truth is very much the opposite. Young goat is fantastic – as a steak on its own, or in a stew or a sausage. It’s like lamb, but even more exquisite.”

Svartengrens is a well-known spot in Stockholm for meat lovers. Here they serve impressive pieces of meat from local producers, knowing that their guests are very demanding. Today we go out on the town for dinner like there was no tomorrow, but we are also pickier and more educated than ever. And wastage isn’t something we appreciate these days.

“It’s a shame that we only enjoy the cheese from the goat and disregard the meat. The Greeks are smart – they know how tasty the goat is. So we want to put the it back on the menu,” Svartengren continues. “And there are many other interesting things out there waiting to be put on the restaurant table. Well… all in a civilized and educated tradition, of course.”

Goat meat is also very lean. If you think chicken breasts are your best option for lean-meat proteins, you’re on the right track. A little further up the health spectrum you’ll find goat meat. Not only is it the leanest red meat out there, it has lower calorie and cholesterol levels than chicken and turkey. It suits a new, health-conscious generation. But as with lamb, it should not be too old – kid is the best there is.

“Kid is a true delicacy and goes very well with beer. That’s why kid was my first thought when Pilsner Urquell invited me to create a dish for Eat Pilsner,” says Svartengren. “However, when you’re involved with beer cuisine, it’s important to have a sweetness to complement the bitterness of the pilsner. It’s not like wine, which you can reduce and reduce. You must take care, but when you do, you get tremendous results.”

But the world of gastronomy is a conservative one. In restaurant kitchens around the world, wine is naturally the dominant liquid when it comes to making sauces and stocks, but making food with pilsner offers new possibilities – and not just with classics such as robust stews. It also goes really well with seafood, as other restaurants have shown with dishes such as raw pilsner lobster and scallops Urquell.

Goat is too often regarded as a lowly dish. Something you eat on the horn of Africa, while waiting for a container ship to pass by to hijack, perhaps. In the film Captain Phillips the pirates keep reminding the captain, played by Tom Hanks, that when the hijack is over they shall enjoy some lovely goat in their Somalian hideout.

But the old view is about to change. Goat is finally coming to town.

Eat Pilsner is an invitation for restaurants all over Europe to create new dishes using Pilsner Urquell – the original pilsner – as a key ingredient. Kid, pilsner and marrow, created by Svartengrens, was made using kid sausage, marrow and Pilsner Urquell. The dish includes dry-aged topside of ox, smoked marrow, onion cream, beetroot, applewood and pilsner onion sauce.

Credits

Words by Alfredo L. Jones

Film and images produced by The Forumist

Special thanks to Pilsner Urquell