The story of The Gourmet Goat Lady

This article is bought to you by Wormhit and Elmore Compost. 

The story of The Gourmet Goat Lady began in 2008 when our daughter Abbey was given a Boer kid called Olivia. Little did we know that Olivia's arrival would spark the beginning of a new farm enterprise and change our lives forever.

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Our farm, Buena Vista, is located west of Gilgandra in Central Western NSW. When Olivia arrived she joined a long-established beef and cropping farming family with over 100 years history in the Collie district, and she certainly shook things up.

We're not sure how it happened, but once Olivia was with us we seemed compelled to find out more about Boer goats. Then, one after another, we started amassing other high quality Boer goats to join Olivia.

There we were with a growing herd of fine goats, managed with the best farm practices (fully pasture-raised) but with no actual on-or-off farm business purpose.

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Any self-respecting farmer knows this is a serious no-no and so it wasn't long before my husband Craig decided it was time these new farm additions started paying their way. We did more research into the farming options for Boer goats and soon realised what we had grown at Buena Vista was a desired and needed commodity.

The Boer goat, originally from South Africa, is a specialist goatmeat breed. Goatmeat is prized in many cultures and high quality farmed Boer goatmeat is hard to find in Australia. The vast majority (over 90%) of the goatmeat produced in Australia is from range-land goats (some people know them as wild or feral goats) and the majority of that is exported.

The more we researched, learned, cooked and tasted, the more we enjoyed and saw potential in farming Boer goatmeat as a business.

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Goatmeat is the most widely consumed meat in the world. It is also extremely low in fat and a good source of protein, iron, zinc, and vitamin B12.

Farmed goatmeat is known for its tenderness, juiciness, and flavour.

Depending on the cut of goatmeat, it can be prepared by grilling, rotisserie, broiling, roasting, sautéing, pan-frying, braising and stewing. You can read about cooking different goat cuts on my Blog, but the simple rule is for tender cuts use dry cooking methods and for less tender cuts use moist heat such as braising and stewing.

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As our new goat business grew, the goat component of the farm gradually became my domain. I was mainly managing the goats, organising the breeding program, weighing goats, inventing recipes, meeting with other goat farmers, butchers, bakers, provedores, restaurateurs and chefs, selling at the farmers markets and winning awards for our goatmeat products. In the past 3 years our products have won 12 Sydney Royal Fine Food Show medals.

Before we knew it I had become known as The Gourmet Goat Lady. The name was so perfect we decided to adopt it, and here we are.

Farmers live a pretty quiet life. The Gourmet Goat Lady has opened our family farm up to amazing people and opportunities across the country and we are only really getting started. Our farm goals are to continue to grow and produce the finest goatmeat in Australia, while always staying true to our principles of quality and integrity. We want to help turn farmed goatmeat into a healthy staple food for all Australian families.

Please feel free to get in touch with us if you have any questions about our products or if you would like to know more about goatmeat or The Gourmet Goat Lady. In the meantime, check out our growing recipes section and start planning your next delicious farmed goatmeat meal.

http://www.thegourmetgoatlady.com.au/