Dubbo's multicultural food scene bolsters demand for goat meat

Wilga Meats director and owner, Stephen Boyle, said farmed goat meat was particularly popular with his Nepalese and Indian customers.

Being a wholesaler, he sells to restaurants in the area and he said the choice of cuisines on offer was growing.

"Once upon a time I didn't sell any of it but now it's a staple - we must have it in the shop all the time," Mr Boyle told the Daily Liberal.

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When asked if the local market for farmed goat meat was growing, he said "there's no doubt about that".

"Goat meat is the most widely eaten meat in the world but it's never been eaten much in Australia [until recently]," he said.

"It's the multicultural society we're in now, with different nationalities looking for goat meat."

He sells to local Indian and Nepalese restaurants, as well as Asian supermarkets. He said most of the goat meat he sold was bone in, diced, used for curries and spiced.

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"There are a lot of restaurants opening up in Dubbo, with different types of food as opposed to years gone by - and I think there are more coming, more Italian restaurants coming that were never here before," Mr Boyle said.

"The cuisine is changing a lot and there are a lot more options available, there's no doubt about that."

Mr Boyle buys his goat from a farm in Collie called The Gourmet Goat Lady, owned by Jo Stewart.

Ms Stewart says goat meat is "very nutritious, and very high in protein and low in saturated fat".

Goat is classed as a red meat and Ms Stewart hopes it will one day be served on the table as often as beef and lamb.

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She says, depending on the cut, it can be similar to the aforementioned red meats and can be prepared by grilling, rotisserie, broiling, roasting, sauteing, pan-frying, braising and stewing.

The Gourmet Goat Lady also sells to local butcher Ray Pearson, director and owner of Bourke Street Butchery.

He's been stocking goat for around six years and said it sold well and was "an acquired taste".

"A lot of people see a mongrel goat running around out the back of Bourke and think, 'how could you eat that?' But [our] goats come in and they're dressed like lamb - they're as good as lamb," Mr Pearson said.

Around 90 per cent of the goat meat he sells is bone in, used for curries.

"We also sell the odd leg and a few loin chops," Mr Pearson said.