Get Your Goat or Cabrito

Just out of high school I went to San Antonio to look for work. My dad had informed me that we did not have any money for me to go to college, since my sister was attending James Dougherty School of Nursing in Corpus Christi. I was a real green horn when it came to job searching in SA. The only skills I had were clerical, so I went through the newspaper ads and went to a few places. What I should have known was what was meant by the ads that insisted "must apply in person." I thought that if I dressed nicely, I would do OK. But I encountered the turn-down of "that position has been filled." It took only a couple of those turn downs that I learned that it was the brown color of my skin that was not wanted for the position. Though that was not the first time I had experienced discrimination, it can still really get your goat.

So back home, looking through the Robstown Record, Mom read the want ads and suggested I apply for the clerical position at the Nueces County Farm Bureau. After an interview and recommendations from my high school typing and steno teachers, the position was mine. I was to get paid bi-weekly. My first paycheck for the first two weeks, minus deductions, amounted to $90! My dad did not believe in saving money, he did believe in celebrating life's achievements, however trivial. So to celebrate my first paycheck he suggested we all go to Nuevo Laredo to a much advertised restaurant El Rincón del Viejo. The featured fare was cabrito. Now that's a goat for celebration.

Fast forward to Summer 1998. No, not the olympics, but a celebration of a different sort. I was being recognized by the town of Marín, Nuevo León for my genealogical work. My mother's side of the family is a direct ancestral line to the founder of the town, José Martínez Flores. The town is a neat, small town, with no hotels, so we stayed in Monterrey. One of the must-do things for visitors is to dine on cabrito, namely at El Rey del Cabrito. My niece (picture above) was so taken with the display of the goats that she asked if she could go to the kitchen area and have her picture taken. Now those are tasty goats.

These memories came to me because the current issue of Time Magazine (August 25, 2008) has an article in their food section on goat becoming "a rising star among American meats."  You can even see a video on slaughtering, roasting goats. I still prefer the roasted cabrito.