Aziza’s Mourad Lahlou always has something up his sleeve. (You might remember his creative use of green strawberries from an earlier Market Watch post). On Saturday, as I was thinking about next week’s goat festival, I asked several chefs at the market about their favorite ways to cook with goat and goat milk products. As always, Mourad’s answer sounded both surprising and delicious.

His favorite secret ingredient? Goat whey. At Aziza he uses it for braising. “It tenderizes the meat nicely,” he says. “The whey goes into a bag with a goat loin and aromatics and is sealed and cooked sous vide.” His spring menu also features couscous with fava beans, carrot, za’tar and rich goat milk butter. Meanwhile, Aziza’s pastry chef Melissa Chou is combining goat cheese with strawberries and praline for a special spring addition to the dessert menu.  

If you’re thinking about doing some experimenting of your own, the third annual Goat Festival on Saturday April 16th is just the place. We kick things off in CUESA’s Dacor teaching kitchen at 10 am with a ‘Meet the Makers’ panel discussion featuring six local goat- based business owners including Redwood Hill Farm and Laloo’s Goat Milk Ice Cream. These folks will also be around from 10 am to 1 pm to share samples of their goods and answer questions and chat about why they work with goat milk. We’ll also have info about the goat cheese producers in our market and samples of the fresh and aged cheeses they bring to market each week.

Following the  panel discussion, at 11 am, we’ll be hosting back-to-back cooking demos and book signings from Mark Scarbrough and Bruce Weinstein, authors of GOAT: Meat, Milk, Cheese and Laura Werlin, author of Grilled Cheese Please!: 50 Scrumptiously Cheesy Recipes.

Of course, the most popular attraction at the Goat Festival is always our baby goat petting stable. The “kids” from Sebastopol’s Redwood Hill Farm will return again this year and they’ll be stationed in the south driveway from 10 am until 1 pm.