When I think of the sounds of Greece, my mind travels to the bells around the necks of goats. The jingle of the metal bells as the animals are being herded through mountaintops. The images of goats walking around villages, sometimes roads, along rocky mountains, take over my mind as they aimlessly graze in groups along the terrain of Greece. As a child, I remember looking on these goats as pets – not realising they played a different role. A goat is used as a food group, whether it be for the milk, used in everyday life in Greece, or to create cheese, yoghurt or butter, or – and ever so sadly to my five-year-old self – for the meat itself. A highlight in Greek cooking, goat meat connotes a feast of the senses, and is used in the highest order of festivities, from Easter to weddings to saints’ days. With over 300 known breeds of goats, they are the oldest domesticated animal in the history of the world, and with various uses for their milk, meat, skin and hair.
In mythology, and Ancient Greek theatre and drama, goats literally play a starring role. The Greek god Pan is said to have the upper body of a man and the horns and lower body of a goat. Pan was a very lustful god, nearly all of the myths involving him had to do with him chasing nymphs. Amaltheir was the she-goat, nurse of the god Zeus who nourished him with her milk in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. When the god reached maturity he created his thunder-shield (aigis) from her hide and the horn of plenty (keras amaltheias or cornucopia) from her crown.
The farming of both sheep and goats is the most important activity in the animal production sector of Greece, both in terms of employment and overall income. Goats belong to dual-purpose breeds – milk and meat. It is characteristic that among European countries, Greece has the highest proportion of milked adult female sheep and goats, approaching 95 per cent of the total. Most of the milk produced by these animals is transformed to cheese in industrial and artisan enterprises. The rest is made into a variety of traditional products (including yoghurt). Meat production is mainly orientated to goat-kids.
In Greek cookery, goat’s meat is predominately slow roasted or, in some cases, put on a spit. Slow roasted kid in the oven – or gastra (wood oven) – is accompanied by home grown potatoes and garlic to create a rich and wonderful alternative to a Sunday roast. The rest of the meat that is not used for a roast can be used in warming winter goat stews. The meat is tougher in other areas of the goat, so works well when broken down in a slow cooked stew. Normally done using a rich tomato base, goat stew is served with kritharaki (orzo) or can be stewed alongside eggplant. Again with Greek cooking, goat is stewed with whatever seasonal vegetable is available.
Apart from the meat, goats are farmed for their milk which can be used in the manufacturing of dairy foods such as butter, yoghurt and cheese. Goat’s milk is used to sustain many families in villages – from the young to the elderly. But the goat’s milk cheese has far reaching appeal not only for Greeks, but for the Greek economy. Many cheeses created are imported all around the world. Feta, mizithra, kasseri, manouri, anthotyros – just to name a few – are all traditionally made from a mixture of goat’s and sheep’s milk. Graviera also uses small quantities of goat’s milk in its production.
Yoghurt is another dairy product using the milk that is farmed from goats. But most Greek yoghurt is a combination of goat and sheep milk, creating the thick, unprocessed dairy snack. Some commercial versions of Greek yoghurt use cow’s milk even though this isn’t the traditional method. Yoghurt can and does create the basis of breakfast dishes and midday snacks – there is nothing better than breaking up freshly baked bread for a breakfast or quick lunch meal or drizzling some fresh honey on top for a healthy dessert option.