Lupercalia Goat with Date Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 lbs (1 kg) goat meat, or lamb
- 480 ml (475 ml) goat milk, or other milk
- 80 ml (115 g) honey
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon asafoetida*
- Root vegetables like beets or carrots, optional
- 60 ml (60 ml) olive oil
- 60 ml (60 ml) garum*
- 60 ml (60 ml) wine vinegar
- 8 pitted dates
- 240 ml (235 ml) wine, whatever you like
- 1 tablespoon starch*
Instructions
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Put the goat into a large zip top bag or a dish.
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In a bowl, whisk together the milk, honey, pepper, salt, and asafoetida. Pour it over the goat and marinate it for a few hours in the fridge. Cover the dates with some water or wine and let them soak while the meat marinates.
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Preheat the oven to 160 °C (160 °C).
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Once the goat is marinated, set it in an oven safe dish with the marinade. Add the root vegetables around it if you’re using them.
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Cover the dish with a lid or some foil and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and continue to roast for another 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted can easily twist.
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Take the dish out of the oven and let the meat rest while you prepare the sauce.
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Grind the dates into a pulp. You can use a mortar and pestle, but depending on the dates, you may want to use a blender or food processor. Sometimes they grind up easily, sometimes they don’t. You’re going for a purée consistency here.
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Take 240 ml of the liquid that the goat roasted in and strain any solids out. Put this in a saucepan and stir in the date purée, olive oil, garum, and vinegar. Slowly heat it to just simmering.
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Whisk the starch into the wine until it’s fully dissolved, then once the sauce is simmering, pour the starch slurry into the pan and whisk it together. Return it to a simmer and cook until it thickens, about 10 to 15 minutes.
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Slice the goat after it’s had time to rest. Once the sauce has thickened, pour it over the goat, and serve it forth.
Notes
Imported from Mela.
