It’s fair to say that New American Cuisine was based on charismatic goat cheese.

It is served warm, with a flourish of baby lettuces and rolled in fruitwood ash and floated upon sea-green virgin oil. It is sliced into medallions and garnished with nasturtium petals. It is topping fancy pizzas. It’s crumbled into pricey salads and mounded onto crisp baguette slices to accompany ultra-cool chardonnays and fumé blancs.

How odd it is that we swoon over this creamy, tangy cheese yet curl our lip at the notion of eating the meat of goat from whence it comes.

I’ve been wondering if the problem lies with the goat beards that are known as goatees?

We have always been suspicious of beards, on account of their connection with intellectuals and other dangerous left-wing subversives.

Another clue to our disdain may stem from saddling them with the name “Billy Goat” and calling their offspring “Billy the Kid.”

Billy – and Tom – as in Tom Cat, implies a tendency toward night prowling and the kind of lascivious behavior that leads to such wanton tendencies as begetting.

Naturally, thoughts about ‘right and wrong’ made me think the image problem might have something to do with goat’s hooves, which you will have noticed, are cloven. This anatomical anomaly, coupled with the dreaded horns mounted on their heads, leads to worrisome comparison with the Devil, the Greek goat god Pan, satyrs and yet other symbols of bawdy naughtiness, that have largely fallen from favor in the current climate if modified Puritanism.

And, of course, we all remember the Bible’s forecast of the Last Judgment, during which we will be separated into sheep and goats, and receive our long-term assignments accordingly.

The probable origin of the phrase, “getting our goat,” is the French expression prendre le chèvre, meaning, “to take the milch goat,” which could well be a poor person’s sole source of food or livelihood.

Today the goat association would prefer we cease to think of a goat as a disagreeable small, horned ruminant animal and instead come to regard it in astrological terms as it pertains to the constellation of Capricorn.

Even so, I am pretty much convinced that goat meat could provide us with another fabulous fad to distract us from the hard economic times that threaten to engulf us.

The young superstar chefs are rapidly approaching middle age and urgently need to come up with something fresh to capture our attention.  They could offer us roasted goat with octopus salad or maybe fricassee of stir-fried goat haunch with smoky chipotle and Armagnac-infused dried plums–formerly known as prunes–or even goat tortellini with lemon grass and rhubarb crumble.

The possibilities are infinite. Imagine if the nutritionists teemed up with the advertisers. Pretty soon we would be urged to have ‘an oat with our goat’! And there is plenty of work for farm-to-table birthers, rearers, milkers and artisanal goat cheese makers too.

As I was thinking about goats, I had quite forgotten that goats are also the source of MOhaiR and CASH$mere, our softest, costliest wools. We could consider combining the MO   R with the CASH. When this item appeared on the menu, we would cry out with one voice:

“What we want is MO—R  CASH!”

Rebecca Morris writes: “I’ve always loved to travel, but it wasn’t until my CIA (Culinary Institute of America) trip to Spain that I realized just how well food, wine, and the people that produce it can tell the story of a region.”

When my partner accepted a job in Australia, I barely hesitated to sell my car, leave my stable job as a recipe developer at America’s Test Kitchen in Boston, and head down under. Crazy? Not quite, just wanderlust.

I’ve been living in Sydney for two months now, and am happy to report that their advertising campaign is right: There really is nothing like Australia! In terms of the wide variety of food and wine, Australia goes way beyond the meat pie and the Vegemite. Take for instance the macadamia nuts that crunch and melt in your mouth, or the sensuous black truffles as big as your fist, or the rebel wine makers that are breaking all the stodgy ‘old world’ rules (and becoming wildly successful). There’s no way around it, Australia is primed to be the next destination on the bucket list of every food-loving traveler around the world.

At the moment, I’m in the running for an exciting food job in Australia that would allow me to stay for another six months. It is called, “One of the Best Jobs in the World” and is being promoted on by Tourism Australia.

When I heard of this opportunity, I had a gut feeling I should apply. I want to be a food writer and if I want to tell the story of a region through food, there is truly no better place to start than Australia because there is still so much to be discovered.

I put together a 30 second video highlighting my accomplishments and why I am qualified for the job of “Taste Master.” If hired, the job would involve going all over Western Australia (WA), eating, drinking, and foraging for the very best that their territory has to offer.

My goal at first was to just make it to the top 25, as there were over 45,000 applicants from all over the world applying for the same position as I was. Well, what do you know? I made the cut, and am now charging full speed ahead for the shot at being an ambassador to all things tasty in WA.

My next challenge will be to gain support on my social media sites until they narrow it down to the final three contestants on May 15th. You can keep up to date on my application, and read about what I’ve been up to in Sydney, on my travel blog, lucky country diaries.

A Personal Note: Rebecca, I am happy to be among the many voices who are singing your praises and hoping, hoping, hoping you win…Oh, I forgot…You are already a winner in my book!

I am often asked by my students and a number of career changers: “Should I go to culinary school? Do advanced degrees, like a BPS (Bachelor in Professional Studies) degree in culinary or pastry, really make a difference in my job prospects in the food industry?”

HERE ARE FIVE Reasons NOT to Enroll in a BPS Program

• It’s a waste of time: I already know everything.
• I already have a degree (though not in a hospitality-related field).
• It costs too much to get a BPS degree.
• I’ve been offered exactly the kind of job I would hope to get without having a BPS degree.
• A BPS from a culinary school is not as prestigious as a BA or BS from a “real” college or university.

AND FIVE (or More) Reasons to Continue My Education

Let me begin by saying that only one person knows everything and that person is your mother.

New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman recently wrote:

“Today there is no such thing as a high-wage, middle-skill job.

Now, high-wages are paid only to those with high-skills and higher education.

Every middle-class job today is being rendered obsolete or replaced faster than ever. That is, it either requires greater technological skill or can be done by more people around the world or is being made obsolete faster than ever. Technology has replaced many jobs that will never come back.”

Have you ever seen how fast a robot can chop an onion or make sushi?

So, let me offer my observations to your continuing your education concerns:

• Yes you have gained experience but on a balance sheet, a tangible degree counts for more than experience even if you have worked for one of the Masters of the Culinary Universe.

• You say you already have a degree from another school. Great. Only 30% of the population has one degree: having two degrees makes you more marketable. The more skills, knowledge and experience you bring to the table, the more attractive you will be to a prospective employer.

•  You say a BPS degree costs too much. How much is too much? If you invest in the stock market, there may be a crash. If you invest in real estate, a hurricane can destroy your investment. If you invest in yourself, you keep the power in your own hands.
• A BPS degree will almost certainly guarantee you a higher entry-level salary. Over your working life, you will earn, on average, between four and five times more money as an employee without a graduate degree. However: It’s not just what you have learned but what you can do with your knowledge.
• IF you agree with the idea that knowledge is power, you may agree that the more knowledge you have, the greater will be your opportunities for success.

If you were your own best friend, (which I hope you are), would you advise you to make the decision to shut the door to your future?