Enjoy Goat Tacos, Cider, Music & More This Sunday At The Farm On Adderley

This Sunday, October 27, The Farm on Adderley (1108 Cortelyou Road between Stratford and Westminster Roads) is teaming up with Slow Food NYC for Get My Goat, a 5:30pm dinner celebrating the world’s most consumed meat. The goat in question is coming from Spencer, NY’s Highwood Farms as part of Heritage Foods USA‘s No Goat Left Behind program, and will be prepared in tacos alongside craft beer, local cheese, and a cider bar to celebrate the closing night of Cider Week. The dinner will also feature a set by Dirty Mac & the Bumper Crop Boys.

In advance of the event, we asked Erin Fairbanks of Heritage Foods USA about the No Goat Left Behind initiative, her favorite goat dishes, and more.

What is the No Goat Left Behind program?
The program is a sustainable end market for dairy animals, and a way to expose many Americans to goat meat. In order to produce the milk necessary to make cheese that supports most goat farmers, goats must have babies–but expenses and labor to care for the babies, especially since goats often have multiple births, is significant. Many farmers are left having to sell baby goats at a very young age, or even kill them at birth.

This year, the No Goat Left Behind program is helping 14 family farms by supplying goats to over 50 restaurants, offsetting the costs of caring for young goats while providing a delicious meat to diners. Goats in the program are pasture-fed and receive no antibiotics or growth hormones.

What are some of your favorite goat dishes?
We think our goat is best prepared simply, because we’re working with younger, pasture raised animals, a more basic preparation really lets the flavor shine. That said, Momofuku Ssam does an amazing goat pho that we love, and Back Forty West‘s smoked goat shoulder with harissa is great, too.

Why do you think goat isn’t often consumed in the states? Is there some special goat stigma that exists?
Goat consumption has been on the rise for the past decade, but I think most of it is concentrated in ethnic enclaves on both coasts. Our goal with the project is to introduce goat to the fine dinning chefs and customers as a great, seasonal meat.

What if I love goat after this dinner, and want to buy it on a regular basis to cook at home?
We sell goat through the Heritage Foods USA website and at our meat shop in Essex Market. However, it’s a seasonal supply, so you have to act quickly.

Want to try some goat for yourself? Tickets for Get My Goat are $30 and entitle attendees four food and drink tokens, with extra tokens available for $7.