Question: “When is a goat not just a goat?” …Yummm!!!

Have you heard of goat cheese, with figs, honey and a superb glass of wine???  As I enter into, yet another animal world, the  World of Goats, I am overwhelmed by this adorable and valuable animal.  Let’s    first start with the Nubian goat breed.

The Anglo-Nubian breed originated in England and it was a cross between the Old English Milch Goat and the Zariby and Nubian bucks from Russian, Egypt and India. Most Nubians have been exported to the USA from England. We just call them Nubians.

As an artist, they are a dream to sculpt with as their ears are long, pendulous and floppy and the nose is Roman.  They have a variety of nicknames like “Rabbit Goat” and “Lop-eared.  I also love the fact they are sociable and vocal, which adds to their charm.

Also, I love the fact that they give us Chèvre.  Goat cheese is often called “Chèvre” (pronounced shev), which, unsurprisingly, is French for goat. Officially the name should refer only to French-made goat cheeses, but it’s often applied to goat cheese from anywhere.

Variety! Goat cheeses can range in taste from strong and pungent, to delicate and mild and come in many shapes, just like dairy goat breeds from Nubians, LaManchas, Alpines, Oberhaslis, Togenburgs, and Saanens.

Please check out this new contemporary goat sculpture that I just started to work on shown in rough clay called “SCAPE GOAT” which is just a little humor to bring sunshine into our lives.

As you can see on my website, my recent bronze sculpture of a Nubian Goat called  “Friend or Fowl”.   This stylized sculpture of a black and white goat that is adorned with an unexpected hitchhiker on his back: a chicken.

Stay tuned as I am going to post another blog shortly about my recent experience in watching an office judging for these Diary Goat breeds for the very first time. I hope they are selling some Goat Cheese Ice Cream!

 

The picture on the left is just a sneak preview of one of the hundreds of goats that I got to know this past week…