Folks and goats, lanes and trains
Once upon a time, there was a quaint, oldfashioned railway, which paralleled the coastline between Alicante and Denia. A section of this ‘ ferrocaril’ connected Altea with Benidorm; the rackety carriages’ were reminiscent of the old American Wild West trains and the open windows of ‘ El Tren’ gave passengers a fantastic panoramic view of the mountainfringed Mediterranean and the Sierra Aitana.
Running adjacent to the line was a narrow lane which locals dubbed ‘ la carretera del cognac’ for fairly obvious reasons. The fallow ‘ campo’ which boasted just a few untended, stunted fruit trees between the lane and railway was used regularly by goat herders whose animals had no respect regarding their eating habits and even climbed trees for sustenance.
With straggly beards and wicked looking horns, they were an interesting addition to the panorama. That the scruffy ‘ cabrito’ is eaten as a delicacy and ‘ queso de cabra’ is delightful cheese may seem surprising. Kid and baby goat chops are a favoured delicacy.
Pierna de cabrito ( leg of goat) roasted and served in its own juices is superb.
As for goat cheese, this is revered not only in Spain but in France where Chevre is extremely popular.
As for these agile, surefooted ( if somewhat odorous) animals on the hoof, they may not be as common a sight hereabouts as they used to be but they are still around and their meat and dairy products continue to be appreciated.
If you’ve not spotted a goat lately, get up early one morning and go for a stroll down one of the country lanes behind the concrete barrier of high rise accommodation which separates the Mediterranean from the ‘ campo’ and mountains.
This way you’re sure to come across a grizzled herder, leaning on his crookcumwalking stick, smoking some noxious tobacco mixture whilst keeping a rheumy, weathered eye upon an equally shaggy looking flock of horned, nondescript nannies and billies.
The territory in which these goats wander can hardly be considered lush; it is the scrubland that flanks railway tracks and rough country lanes a few hundred metres from the seaboard. They have voracious appetites; it seems they will digest almost anything!
I have watched them avidly and witnessed them sure footedly scrabbling up into lower branches of trees and below chomping nettles, wild garlic, herbs… even cacti.
This scenario is continued not only on the edge of ‘ resort’ civilization but all over rural and rustic parts of the Costa Blanca.
I have spotted grazing goats in many places, regularly foraging in abandoned allotments and even within range of my apartment.
Parallel with the main arterial N332, ‘ La carretera del cognac’ that meandering lane which I mentioned above, connects Altea la Vella to Benidorm ( to the delight of topers who wish to keep off the main road when they’ve had a few too many) is a popular ‘ cabra’ paradise. On neglected stretches of the lane, they can be seen gnawing bushes to shreds even chomping the bark – chewing bamboo stalks, munching thistles and devouring anything vaguely green in sight.
For anyone wishing to watch goat antics, several distinct breeds like the horned Ibex, can still be seen in their natural habitat. Contrastingly, the La Mancha domestic variety looks like a woolly English sheep.
I am not hung up on goats but I do find them interesting to watch; they are capricious and arrogant. My interest in goats though is more of a gastronomic one. Merely writing about them gets my mouth watering.