The other day, the Spanish supermarket had a great price for goat meat. Several dilemmas are attached to this offer. The meat is sold frozen in packets, it is famously full of bones. Somehow, the past few times I’ve purchased it I’ve been able see through the frost make a choice with few bones. Of course, maybe the store cleans their goat and all the packs have few bones!

I use a number of recipes from a number of sources, in a number of culinary styles when I cook goat (and lamb). It could be Caribbean, Greek, or North African. A few years ago, I cooked a North African-esque recipe (see 3-18-2024 post), replacing the lamb with goat. This time I chose a Palestinian recipe from cookbook author Laila El-Haddad’s “A Cuisine Under Siege” that recently crossed my desktop.

This recipe for sumagiyya came from Saveur (published March 5, 2024). It is a so-called rustic stew synonymous with Gaza with a long history. It’s usually prepared for celebrations such as birthdays, weddings, and funerals as well as Eid and the Christmas table. One on-line author writes that prep work starts the night before the meal. I prepared the broth in the evening before our dinner.

Caveat: In my inimitable cooking style, I omitted ingredients that were either not in my pantry (chard, tahini) or that my family has a low tolerance. For the original recipe go to https://www.saveur.com/authors/laila-el-haddad/.

Palestinian Lamb Stew With Sumac, Chard, and Chickpeas. For the broth, combine 1½ lb. boneless leg of goat cut into 1-in. pieces with 8 cups of water in a large pot, cover, bring to a boil. Add 1 tsp. whole allspice berries, 1 tsp. black peppercorns, 5 green cardamom pods, 1 bay leaf, 1 cinnamon stick, and 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped. Simmer for 2 hours. When cooled strain, reserve the meat and broth and discard the spices.

For the stew, swish ½ cup sumac berries in a small bowl of water. Add to a saucepan and cover with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and continue boiling until the liquid has reduced by about half (the berries will not soften), about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to steep until lukewarm, about 30 minutes. Strain into a small bowl and discard the berries. Whisk in the flour until smooth. I omitted this step and used 1/3 cup of ground sumac as recommended in the recipe. The main flavor is sumac.

Next, add oil and 1 medium chopped yellow onion to the empty broth pot. Cook at medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and beginning to brown, 7–9 minutes. Stir in 1 lb. rainbow chard,* thick stems discarded, sliced into ¼-in.-thick ribbons, and cook until bright green and wilted slightly, about 5 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, one 15-oz. can of chickpeas, and reserved broth and goat, bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer and 10 minutes more.

*I added one medium chopped bok choy that was in the fridge in place of the chard.

Go to the original recipe for a flavorful mélange of dill seeds, chile flakes, garlic and green chiles to stir into the stew along with ground sumac and coriander. 

This delicious stew was served with brown rice and “southern baked summer squash” (see 7-29-24 post) that has become a go-to summer squash and zucchini recipe.