Goat Mechoui (Pastoral-Style Variation)

🐐 A cut of goat rubbed with mild spices and slowly roasted until tender with a browned surface.

Ingredients

• 🐐 2.2 kg bone-in goat shoulder or leg, whole
• 🧄 5 garlic cloves, finely crushed
• 🫒 3 tbsp olive oil or neutral oil
• 🍋 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 🌿 2 tsp ground cumin and 1 tsp ground coriander
• 🌶️ 1 tsp black pepper; sweet paprika optional
• 🧂 1½ tsp fine salt, less if the meat is already salted
• 💧 250 ml hot water or unsalted stock
• 🧅 2 onions, quartered, and 1 optional sprig of rosemary or thyme
• 🍋 Lemon, fresh coriander or parsley, and chilli on the side

Preparation

Take the meat from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking, but do not leave it at room temperature for more than two hours. Pat dry and make shallow cuts in the thick sections.

Mix the garlic, oil, lemon, cumin, coriander, pepper and salt. Rub over the goat and into the cuts; cover and marinate for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Heat the oven to 160 °C. Arrange the onions in a deep roasting dish, set the meat on top and pour the hot water into the dish without rinsing off the marinade.

Cover the dish tightly with its lid or foil. Roast for about 2 hours 15 minutes, basting twice with the juices; add a little hot water if the base dries out.

Check tenderness with a skewer near the bone. The meat should pull away easily; if needed, continue covered in 15-minute intervals because animal age and cut size affect timing.

Uncover, raise the oven to 220 °C and brown for 15 to 25 minutes. Watch the surface so it colours without burning the spices or drying the edges.

Move the meat to a warm platter, cover loosely and rest for 15 minutes. Skim excess fat from the juices if needed, taste, and serve separately.

Carve into portions, spoon over a little juice, and offer lemon, herbs, chilli and side dishes separately. Wash utensils that touched raw meat.