Buddhist Festival with Goat
November 13th, 2015 · No Comments · Posted in Ethnic
I was having no luck selling goats to our local clientele so I placed an ad on Craisglist both in Albany and Glens Falls and Bingo! Almost immediately I got a response from an Indian gentleman who said he was looking for goats–specifically, castrated males–to slaughter for the Buddhist celebration of Dewali.
The erstwhile new customer, I’ll call him Mr. B, was concerned that our six-month-old kids might not be big enough. So the following evening he and one of his cohorts drove more than an hour in the dark from Albany for an inspection. There we stood, in the beam of their headligts, examining the herd after it rushed the paddock gate to see what all the fuss was about.
According to Mr. B, the traditional goat is usually at least one year old. But after declaring our two boys a good enough fit, he promised to return at 8 a.m. Thursday to get down to business. And that’s exactly when he and two of his buddies rolled up the driveway.
After we corralled the two goats, and after one of the men handed me $300 cash ($150 for each goat) I left the trio to do the killing while I processed broiler chickens.
From time to time, I’d look in on them and wonder at the extreme care they were taking with the preparations. After slitting the kid’s throat and bleeding it out, they poured scalding water on the carcass from a big pot they had on propane cooker they’d brought for the occasion. They used the edge of a stainless steel cup to scrape most of the hair from the body, then shaved the entire carcass with a safety razor.
“We like the skin,” Mr. B explained.
Mr. B went to say that he and his two companions had immigrated here from far northern India and were working with green cards as computer technicians at a large medical complex in the Albany area. They were planning to feed some 50 people for the last phase of the Dewali festival.
I had left the our tractor inside the paddock so they could dispose of entrails in the bucket. But apparently they had plans to eat these goats from nose to tail. At one point I found them cleaning out intestines to use as casings for goat sausage. There was precious little to take to the compost pile when all was said and done.
They were at it for nearly four hours before leaving with their cache. I didn’t get to say goodbye, but I certainly hope to do more business with Mr. B and his crew in the future.
So what is Dewali? According to my internet search, Dewali in the Buddhist faith commemorates Emperor Ashoka giving up his warring ways and adopting the path of peace. It’s often called the festival of lights. People decorate their homes and serve fine food to friends. Being the most popular meat in the world (not necessarily the U.S.), goat can play a prominent role.
(Note: one of my readers recently inquired why I didn’t sell our goats by the pound, after they’d been slaughtered and dressed. Well, that would make us meat processors, and for that you need a licensed facility. On the other hand, I can freely sell people live animals. What they do with it after that is their own business.)
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