Gourmet Goat seeks stockists after launch in Selfridges
A London streetfood firm specialising in goats’ meat dishes is looking for retail stockists for two air-dried charcuterie lines after a successful launch through Selfridges.
Gourmet Goat, run by partners Nadia and Nick Stokes, has already built a following at markets and festivals, serving Eastern Mediterranean-inspired dishes such as slow-roasted goats’ shoulder and leg in white wine & herbs, and kid meat kofta.
Now it is offering a kid goat jerky and kid goat salami, made on its behalf by east London artisan charcutier Blackhand Food, run by ex chef Hugo Jeffreys.
“We supplied the meat and the ideas and Hugo supplied his charcuterie skills,” said Nick Stokes, who started Gourmet Goat with Cyprus-born wife Nadia partly to create an outlet for British billy goat meat. An under-used byproduct of goats’ milk and cheese production here, kid meat is a staple of Cypriot cooking.
Gourmet Goat is offering whole kid goat salamis at £55/kg, and jerky at £70/kg, both with a shelf life of three months. Made with neck fillet, the jerky is supplied either in whole pieces or in bite-size chunks, vac-packed to any weight. “We’re working on a classic style jerky snack pack for easier retail and longer shelf life,” Nick Stokes told FFD.
He sees potential for kid meat charcuterie among independents looking for a point of difference. Kid goat meat has a unique flavour – “not strong or smelly like adult goat” – and is lean, requiring the addition of pork fat to the salami blend. “These products are certainly unique,” said Stokes. “They also suit deli-style counters well, as they are not in retail packs.”
But he added: “The price will limit the quantities we well. We only use UK dairy billy goats, and they are a very expensive meat to start with.”
Gourmet Goat is finalist for Best Streetfood or Takeaway in this year’s BBC Food and Farming Awards, to be announced on April 28.
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