I had to talk about animals somewhere down the line and now is as good a place and time as any.
Goats ! They live around the compounds. Everyone knows whose goat is whose, no-one would dare steal another persons goat. They may get on each others goat (aggravate them) but they would not steal it. They eat anything and everything, normally grass and vegetation, which abounds in great amounts, but they have been known to nibble at paper and washing and anything you leave lying around ... don't sunbathe with bare feet ... your toes could get munched !
There was the apparently hilarious time I was sitting in the upstairs parlour area that has now turned into a family tale. The description of me screaming and calling for the kids to come and protect me is never forgotten. the cause of the initial fear and then comedy sketching was a goat .... do you expect to see a goat peering around the door frame at you while you are sitting quietly pondering the complexities of life or in other words lazying around reading my book .... I still can't forget it myself, ''Upstairs I exclaim, how did it know to come upstairs and what for ??''
And unlike cows or is it horses ... goats can walk back downstairs again, thank God because there was no way I was going to carry it back down again ....
Now the procedure for killing a goat starts when meat is required for the cooking pot ... of course. The good, (usually) old gateman or yardman is called to do the deed. He holds the goat along with any other available or willing people strong enough to keep it still. The throat is slit and the blood drains away into the ground - at least the goat doesn't know what's happening.
The goat is then place on a metal grille that is laid over an open fire. The hairs of the goat are burnt off ( a bit like my eyelashes - but that is another story, follow this blog...) and until the skin is charred.
Some unfortunate soul - usually the housegirl has to wash the goat after all this and then it is placed on plantain leaves layered on top of corrugated zinc (the same that is used for roofing).
It is now cut into piece for cooking or drying. The pieces are washed and cooked in stew to eat with rice or soup ie. Okra, Ogbonno, Egussi, Vegetable or bitterleaf etc that is then eaten with pounded yam, ground rice or the new 'low glycaemic index' and low carb fufu's such as ground millet and wheat - good for diabetics.
The pieces for drying are left on the metal grille over a low fire until they have dried hard and tough. The pieces become soft again when boiled in water.
I would say if you have never tasted goat meat then do, it needs longer cooking than lamb but is still tasty. If you buy the western variety that is ... now I will be corrected no doubt, but the African goat has such distinctive and strong flavour that it didn't suit my stomach.
Neither is any single part wasted ... from head to leg !
It's normal for the children to participate in all these procedures as they will be doing this when they have their own families ... to be honest I couldn't watch it, but all the kids around do ... and did.
True story, worth a read: goat held by police accused of armed carjacking !!
There was the apparently hilarious time I was sitting in the upstairs parlour area that has now turned into a family tale. The description of me screaming and calling for the kids to come and protect me is never forgotten. the cause of the initial fear and then comedy sketching was a goat .... do you expect to see a goat peering around the door frame at you while you are sitting quietly pondering the complexities of life or in other words lazying around reading my book .... I still can't forget it myself, ''Upstairs I exclaim, how did it know to come upstairs and what for ??''
And unlike cows or is it horses ... goats can walk back downstairs again, thank God because there was no way I was going to carry it back down again ....
Now the procedure for killing a goat starts when meat is required for the cooking pot ... of course. The good, (usually) old gateman or yardman is called to do the deed. He holds the goat along with any other available or willing people strong enough to keep it still. The throat is slit and the blood drains away into the ground - at least the goat doesn't know what's happening.
The goat is then place on a metal grille that is laid over an open fire. The hairs of the goat are burnt off ( a bit like my eyelashes - but that is another story, follow this blog...) and until the skin is charred.
Some unfortunate soul - usually the housegirl has to wash the goat after all this and then it is placed on plantain leaves layered on top of corrugated zinc (the same that is used for roofing).
It is now cut into piece for cooking or drying. The pieces are washed and cooked in stew to eat with rice or soup ie. Okra, Ogbonno, Egussi, Vegetable or bitterleaf etc that is then eaten with pounded yam, ground rice or the new 'low glycaemic index' and low carb fufu's such as ground millet and wheat - good for diabetics.
The pieces for drying are left on the metal grille over a low fire until they have dried hard and tough. The pieces become soft again when boiled in water.
I would say if you have never tasted goat meat then do, it needs longer cooking than lamb but is still tasty. If you buy the western variety that is ... now I will be corrected no doubt, but the African goat has such distinctive and strong flavour that it didn't suit my stomach.
Neither is any single part wasted ... from head to leg !
It's normal for the children to participate in all these procedures as they will be doing this when they have their own families ... to be honest I couldn't watch it, but all the kids around do ... and did.
True story, worth a read: goat held by police accused of armed carjacking !!
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