Goat is the item people hesitate on. It is also the dish that tells you whether a Jamaican kitchen knows what it is doing, which is why it sits on the menu between the chicken and the oxtail.
Goat does not taste the way you are bracing for
If you have never eaten goat, you are expecting gamey. It is leaner than beef and milder than lamb, and after hours in curry it tastes mostly of the curry. People who order it ready for a fight tend to finish the plate.
Goat is everyday meat across the Caribbean, the way beef is here. Curry goat turns up at weddings, at funerals, at Sunday dinner and at any party where somebody’s aunt is doing the cooking. It is not an exotic item on that island. It is what you make when people are coming over.
Jamaican curry is its own thing
Jamaican curry is not Indian curry and it is not Thai curry. The powder leans on allspice and turmeric, and the finished dish goes savory rather than sweet. If curry to you means a red sauce out of a jar, this will not be that.
How Kevin cooks it
Goat simmered in Jamaican curry with potatoes and spices, cooked until the meat comes off the bone on its own. It is bone in, like the oxtail, and the bone is doing work: it is where the body of the sauce comes from.
How hot is it
Curry carries warmth from the spice, which is a different thing from chili heat. Curry goat is not the hottest plate on the menu. Jerk chicken is. If you are curious but careful about heat, curry goat is a reasonable place to start.
Curry goat or curry chicken
Same curry, different animal, and the gap is wider than it sounds. Curry chicken is softer and the coconut milk rounds it off. Curry goat is deeper, takes longer, and the bone gives the sauce a weight the chicken version does not have. Start with the chicken if Jamaican curry is new to you. Move to the goat once you know you like it.
What to eat it with
White rice or rice and peas, plus something to cut it. Cabbage or sweet fried plantains both do that. Two sides come free with every meal, so you are not paying to round the plate out.
Who should order it
Order curry goat if you have had curry chicken and want the version with more going on, or if you want the dish people judge a Jamaican kitchen by. Take brown stew chicken instead if you want something mild and plain.
Where to find us
11am to 8pm Monday to Saturday, in Colorado Springs, Pueblo and Denver. The full list and prices are on the menu page. Call 719-723-7929 for today’s location, or book the truck for an event.
