Angora venison is the name which should be given to the flesh of the
Angora goat. At the present time it is usually sold in the markets as
mutton. The term goat meat should be applied to meat of the common goat,
and the term mutton belongs to sheep. Because the Angora goat feeds
largely upon that material which nourishes the deer, the meat of the
Angora is flavored like venison. The fat is well distributed, and the
healthfulness of the animal renders this an especially desirable meat.
The Turk has long recognized Angora venison as an important element in
his diet. Angora kid is above comparison, and it occupies the principle
place on the menu at private as well as state affairs in the Orient. As
one passes through the market places in Asia Minor he sees the carcasses
of the Angora hanging in every shop. There is no mistaking the animal,
as the skin still remains on the goat. One takes his choice, and as a
rule more Angora venison than mutton is sold. Some of the Turks keep
their wethers until they become coarse-haired and too old to pay to keep
longer, eight or ten years old. This class of meat ranks with old
mutton, and sells at a discount. Young wethers and does are in good
demand. There has existed in America some prejudice against the flesh of
the goat. To-day thousands of goats are being consumed annually, but
most of them are sold as mutton. Packers and butchers still insist that
Angora venison must be sold as mutton. They pay about one-half a cent to
a cent a pound less for the goat than for sheep.
The goat never fattens as well along the back as the sheep, and hence
the carcass does not look so well. The fat is more evenly distributed
throughout the animal in the goat. An expert once said that to know
whether a goat was fat one should feel the brisket, and if there was a
considerable layer of adipose tissue between the skin and the breast
bone, the animal was fat.
Some of the American breeders do not send their wethers to market until
they get too old to produce valuable fleeces. The animals are then
slaughtered when they have grown a half year's fleece, and the skins are
reserved by the breeder. These skins are valuable, and help to bring up
the average price of the goat.
At present some of the packers recognize no difference between shorn and
unshorn goats. The price is the same, so it pays to shear the goats
before bringing them to market. There is absolutely no strong flavor in
prime Angora venison, and this is where the meat differs from that of
the common goat.
The goat is a slow grower, and not until the second year do the bones
ossify. Therefore, a two-year-old can be sold for lamb, as he has a
"soft joint." Grown Angora wethers do not average much more than one
hundred pounds as a rule, although there are occasional bands sold which
average one hundred and fifteen pounds.
It is safe to say that Angora venison will never supplant mutton, but it
will have its place among the edible meats.
[Illustration: ANGORA BUCK--Early Importation.]