Goat water

Ingredients

Meat and seasoning

• 1.5 kggoat, bone in, cut in 5 cm pieces (shoulder, neck and leg)
• 2 tbspfresh lime juice, for washing the meat
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 6garlic cloves, crushed
• 6 sprigsfresh thyme
• 4spring onions, sliced
• 10whole cloves
• 1whole Scotch bonnet, left uncut
• 2 tspcoarse salt
• 1 tspcoarsely ground black pepper

The pot

• 3 tbspvegetable oil
• 3 tbsptomato paste
• 2 tbspbrowning, or 1 tbsp dark caramelised sugar
• 2 litreswater
• 1medium breadfruit (about 700 g), peeled, cored and cut in chunks
• 2 tbspdark rum

Thickening and serving

• 4 tbspplain flour slaked with 150 ml cold water
• Crusty bread or Johnny cakes

Directions

1. Wash the goat in water acidulated with the lime juice, rub it well, then drain and pat dry. This is standard Caribbean practice and takes the barnyard edge off the meat.
2. Season the meat with the onion, garlic, thyme, spring onion, cloves, salt and pepper. Cover and leave at least 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy iron pot until it just smokes, scrape most of the seasoning off the meat and reserve it, then brown the goat hard in batches, 4–5 minutes a batch, until crusted dark on all sides.
4. Return all the meat, add the reserved seasoning and the tomato paste and fry 3 minutes, stirring, until the paste turns brick red and smells sweet.
5. Add the browning and the water, drop in the whole Scotch bonnet, bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer, cover and cook 2 hours until the meat pulls off the bone but still holds its shape.
6. Fish out the Scotch bonnet before it splits. If it bursts the pot becomes savagely hot.
7. Add the breadfruit and simmer uncovered 25–30 minutes until it is tender and starting to fall at the edges, which is what gives the stew its body.
8. Stir the flour slurry into the simmering liquid in a thin stream and cook 8–10 minutes until the gravy coats a spoon thickly and no raw flour taste remains.
9. Take the pot off the heat, stir in the rum, rest 10 minutes and check the salt. Serve very hot in deep bowls with bread to mop the gravy.

Technique

• Goat water is the national dish of Montserrat and came to Antigua with Montserratian families, above all after the 1995 volcanic eruption; both islands claim their version is the correct one.
• The stew should be thick enough to hold a spoon upright for a moment. Flour slurry, breadfruit starch or both do the work; there is no cream or coconut in a traditional pot.
• The whole uncut Scotch bonnet gives perfume without heat. Cut it and you get a different, much fiercer dish.

Substitutions

• Goat is best, but mutton or hogget shoulder cooked the same way is the accepted substitute and is what many cooks use off-island.
• No breadfruit: use 500 g green plantain and 300 g waxy potato, added in the last 30 minutes.
• Browning can be made by melting 2 tbsp sugar in a dry pan until it is almost black and smoking, then killing it with 2 tbsp water at arm’s length.

Variations

• The Montserratian original, thickened only with flour and finished with a heavier hand of cloves.
• A festival version cooked in a 20 litre pot over wood, with the rum stirred in at the table.

History

Shared with Montserrat, whose national dish it is; the stew is cooked at Antiguan weddings, cricket matches and holiday gatherings.

Frequently asked questions

What is Goat water?

Goat water is a soup & stew from Antigua and Barbuda: thick goat stew with breadfruit, cloves and a splash of rum. Shared with Montserrat, whose national dish it is; the stew is cooked at Antiguan weddings, cricket matches and holiday gatherings.

How long does Goat water take to make?

Goat water takes 30 min of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Goat water?

Yes, within limits. Goat is best, but mutton or hogget shoulder cooked the same way is the accepted substitute and is what many cooks use off-island. No breadfruit: use 500 g green plantain and 300 g waxy potato, added in the last 30 minutes. Browning can be made by melting 2 tbsp sugar in a dry pan until it is almost black and smoking, then killing it with 2 tbsp water at arm’s length.

What is the most important thing to get right in Goat water?

Add the browning and the water, drop in the whole Scotch bonnet, bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer, cover and cook 2 hours until the meat pulls off the bone but still holds its shape.