The entire taste on a plate … I enjoyed it beside the large basils of Emvolos’ friend, Antonias by the port of Naxos.
My thoughts ran gazing at the sea and I remembered Kazantzakis’ words … “If heaven was on earth, It would be here …” and he decided to stay at the house with the hibiscus in Eggares … Naxos has hidden beauties of sea and mountain … and if you get the chance to find yourself near the locals they will tell you with a poetic mood about medieval legends, stories of heroes and traditions that they respect.
From the famous cooker Antonia Maitou of the restaurant “Stis Eirinis” at Naxos city.
Traditional Mountain Goat with Tomato
Ingredients:
2 kg mountain goat, cut into portions
1 cup olive oil of Naxos
3 dry onions of Komiaki village
4 garlic cloves without the green sprouts
3 large ripe tomatoes, grated
2 tablespoons tomato paste
100 gr tomato juice
2 tablespoons sugar
Sea Salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 cinnamon sticks
5 allspice grains
5 grains black pepper
A little nutmeg
How to prepare:
In a food processor pulp the onion and garlic.
In a pot with hot olive oil we sauté the onions and garlic until they “shine”, as they say.
Mix with a wooden spoon and add the goat.
We bake it for 5-8 minutes on all sides until it gets a golden brown colour.
“Deglaze” traditionally with the tomatoes and after it boils “for good”, after 10 minutes, add the tomato juice, sugar, cinnamon, grated pepper, allspice, nutmeg and the grains of pepper.
We lower the temperature and we cover the pot leaving the goat to simmer and for the liquids “to thicken”.
If necessary we add a little hot water to cover the goat with liquids.
We let it boil for 1 hour, stirring the pot 2-3 times.
Then add the paste we have dissolved in water and allow to boil for another 30 minutes, depending on the quality and age of the meat.
Towards the end we add salt and let it boil a little more in very low heat.
We remove it from the heat and serve.
The Naxos goat traditionally is accompanied by local fried potatoes, golden-yellowish, “lirates” as they say.
