The great curry challenge

Wild goat is tough to catch and often tough to eat too. The trick to tenderness is time.

Iam always amazed at the interesting challenges people choose to take on. Some live in extreme weather conditions around predators such as polar bears. Others decide to run a marathon a month for a year. One woman I know went for a swim every day of the year. She lives in Bluff, average winter water temperature: 10°C.

I'm relieved that my husband Paul chose a culinary challenge, perfecting the art of making a good goat curry.

New Zealanders need to appreciate the finer points of this four-legged Houdini when it's served up on rice and washed down with a nice light beer. An estimated 70 percent of the world's population consumes goat as a regular part of their diet, and it seems ludicrous that New Zealanders don't eat more of them.

Wild goats are rampant, destructive pests in our native forests. I believe hunting and eating them is an obligation.

Goats were brought to New Zealand as early as 1773, first as a source of food and then as weed controllers. The Department of Conservation estimates feral goats now occupy about 14% of New Zealand, nearly half on public conservation land. The total population is unknown but is estimated to be several hundred thousand.

All those goats are happily munching and trampling tender native saplings. Despite yearly culls, and our personal attempts to limit their numbers, the wild goat population continues to flourish.

There is a goat meat industry struggling to establish itself in NZ. Farmers harvesting wild goats on their properties face problems, such as finding abattoirs that will process the animals. Feral goat meat is tough compared to that from farm-reared animals. It's not meat you can throw on the barbie.

Goat meat contains as much protein as lamb but is low in fat, which is why it can easily become tough and chewy during cooking.

The time-honoured methods of slow cooking or marinating the meat are the way to go.

Traditionally, in many goat-consuming countries, it's young goats that end up in the pot. The Latin

American term is cabrito, which refers to a kid that is less than three months old. In Europe, goat meat is called chevon, referring to meat from an animal six months and older.

Goat meat is available from some butchers, but you can also grow or hunt your own. The Ministry for Primary Industries has strict rules about who can eat a meal from meat that you kill and prepare yourself (basically, you and your family).

In our experience, kids and young nanny goats are the best bet.

The males aren't as attractive. They spend much of their lives urinating on themselves, producing a tangy goat odour that can assault your nose from miles away when you're walking through the bush. You can taste it too.

Feral goat meat... is not one you can just throw on the barbie.