Enjoy A ‘Taste’ of Goat Races Day in Tobago
They taste as great as they race!
The cheeky catchphrase has long been associated with Goat Races in Tobago, the staple sport of the Easter Season in Trinidad’s sister island. I’ve long wondered, though, if the saying is true.
The last time I was in Tobago for Easter, the Buccoo Integrated Facility (BIF for short), a $100 million state-of-the-art racing facility purpose-built for goat racing, was just being completed. We had to leave on Easter Monday, so we missed the races, which typically reach their zenith on Easter Tuesday.
In the intervening years, we’ve shared photo posts and stories, and third-party videos providing a sense of the races. Still, the question remained:
Do people really eat the goats that don’t win?
To get the answer, I enlisted the help of the leading expert I know on all things West Indian fettin’ and food – our Dad.
Long-time UC readers may remember that our Dad lives in Tobago. He doesn’t always attend the races, but the chance to get his hands on some succulent curry goat, be it of the racing variety or no, was too much to pass up.
Here’s a tidy video account of Dad’s day at the Goat Races last week…
So, yeah, he got a taste of curry goat, but was it the losing goat…?
Those goats are not bred for eating. They’re bred for racing! The one that loses lives to run another day.
The saying may not be true, but a taste of some savory curry goat and Bus Up Shut Paratha Roti sure appears to add some nice flavor to a day at one of the more uncommon race events that the Caribbean has to offer.
Here’s hoping I can get a taste of my own with Dad next Easter…
*Photo credit: Flickr user Kate Nevens.
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