When I go to bed on most days I dream about beef. Stewed beef, roasted beef, beef bones, knuckle bones, tripe, cassings. I dream about it all being piled, steaming on my plate only to wake up to the reality of vegetables – no potatoes remember.

Then I thought occurred to me, why not just buy goat meat? Goats are traditionally cheaper than cattle and hence their meat is priced accordingly, so I thought. So I went looking in butcheries and shops.

The thing is unless you are very foolish and don’t care about your health goat meat is very hard to find. Most street vendors have it but believe me sooner or later you will live to rue buying meat from them.

The only shop that had meat was TM Pick N Pay and they wanted a pot of gold in exchange for it. It was selling for an eye-watering price of $129.99 per kg. The bond is not what it was in 2016, I know, but that is still a princely sum for us working folk.

You don’t have to pay that price

So what is a carnivorous human being to do? There is a place called Mbudzi in Harare chances are you have heard of it. There is a reason why they call it that. There they sell goats for $20 USD or $320 bond.

The guys selling the goat will slaughter it for you and cut it into manageable pieces you can take home in exchange for the hide and head. Even if you choose the smallest goat the price will never go anywhere near what TM is asking for.

The acquired taste of goat meat

Depending on the recipe the cost of goat meat is not unlike that of beef. I find the smell of raw goat meat off-putting though and if you are like me spices might be your friend as you will need them to mask this smell.