Now cooking with goat is a hot new trend (no kidding!)

GOAT’S cheese and milk is a favourite in many shopping baskets – but chefs are now on a mission to give us a taste for goat meat, too.

Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall are among the celebrity chefs who are keen on goat, which is becoming more popular on menus.

They say kid meat, which tastes similar to lamb, is not only delicious but also an ethical option as it prevents the need for male goats to be slaughtered at birth.

Around 30,000 billy goats are killed every year in the UK because only females are needed for milk and cheese.

River Cottage chef James Whetlor last week published a cookbook called Goat: Cooking and Eating, with recipes for curries, kebabs and even sausages.

He told the Sunday Times: ‘The dairy industry’s assumption was that the billies were a waste product. I learnt about the euthanising of them and it just struck me as unbelievably stupid.’

Nadia Stokes, 41, co-founder of the Gourmet Goat stall in London’s Borough Market, sells 1,000 dishes a week, including goat stews and kid kofta. She said: ‘It’s gone from something that was “ugh” to people having it at their desk at work.’

Goat meat is a staple across Africa, Asia and South America, and is considered a delicacy in Spain and France.

However, British supermarkets are yet to stock the meat, perhaps because it is expensive – a leg can cost more than £40.