Horse meat for humans
What follows is a primer for food
consumption.
If times get hard, perhaps this post
might help you where you live.
And besides whatever custom and
culture you are from, also consider TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein), which is
just soybean fancied up to USA culture.
Even fake bacon bits are usually just TVP, bacon flavored. And also
consider wild game, be it big game, or smaller game like rabbits and grouse.
I myself have eaten some
"interesting" things. The more tamer things are like burgers made
from sheep, and even made from elk, all ground like burgers made from cattle.
Even cold chopped lamb intestine
soup was served as a "delicacy" at a Turkish wedding. Or how about
"balut" a Philippine "delicacy", which is basically a raw
fermented duck or chicken egg. Yep, we humans will eat about anything, and pay extra
for it, too.
Anyway, here's a wiki article on horse meat. And warning, the wiki link is long, so one can focus in on their culture and taboos, if they choose.
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Horse meat is the
culinary name for meat cut from a horse. It is a major meat in only a few countries, notably in Central
Asia, but it forms a significant part of the culinary traditions of many
others, from Europe
to South
America to Asia.
The top eight countries consume about 4.7 million horses a year. For the
majority of mankind's early existence, wild horses were hunted as a source of
protein. It is slightly
sweet, tender, low in fat and high in protein.
However,
because of the role horses have played as companions and as workers, and
concerns about the ethics
of the horse slaughter process, it is a taboo food
in some cultures. These historical associations, as well as
ritual and religion, led to the development of the aversion to
the consumption of horse meat. The horse is now given pet status by many in some parts of the Western
world, particularly in the U.S.A.,
United
Kingdom and Ireland,
which further solidifies the taboo on eating its meat.
History
In the late
Paleolithic (Magdalenian Era), wild horses
formed an important source of food. In many parts of Europe, the consumption of
horse meat continued throughout the Middle Ages until modern times, despite a
Papal ban of horse meat in 732. Horse meat was also eaten as part of Germanic
pagan religious ceremonies in northern
Europe, particularly ceremonies associated with the worship of Odin.
Domesticated
horses and cattle did not exist in the Americas until
the Age of Discovery, and the Conquistadors
owed much of their success to their war horses.
The Europeans' horses became feral, and were hunted by the indigenous Pehuenche
people of what is now Chile
and Argentina.
At first they hunted horses as they did other game, but later they began to
raise them for meat and transport. The meat was, and still is, preserved by
being sun-dried
in the high Andes
into a product known as charqui.
France dates its
taste for horse meat to the Revolution. With the fall of the aristocracy,
its auxiliaries had to find new means of subsistence. Just as hairdressers and
tailors set themselves up to serve commoners, the horses maintained by
aristocracy as a sign of prestige ended up alleviating the hunger of lower
classes. It was during the Napoleonic campaigns when the surgeon-in-chief of Napoleon's Grand Army,
Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, advised
the starving troops to eat the meat of horses. At the siege of Alexandria, the meat of young Arab horses
relieved an epidemic of scurvy. At the battle
of Eylau in 1807, Larrey served horse as soup and bœuf à la mode. In Aspern-Essling (1809), cut from the supply
lines, the cavalry used the horses' breastplates as cooking pots and gunpowder as
seasoning, and thus founded a tradition.
Horse meat
gained widespread acceptance in French
cuisine during the later years of the Second French Empire. The high cost of living
in Paris prevented
many working-class citizens from buying meat such as pork or beef, so in 1866 the
French government legalized the eating of horse meat and the first butcher's
shop specializing in horse meat opened in eastern Paris, providing quality meat
at lower prices. During the Siege of Paris (1870–1871), horse meat
was eaten by anyone who could afford it, partly because of a shortage of fresh
meat in the blockaded city, and also because horses were eating grain which was
needed by the human populace. Many Parisians gained a taste for horse meat
during the siege, and after the war ended, horse meat remained popular.
Likewise, in other places and times of siege or starvation, horses are viewed
as a food source of last resort.
Despite the
general Anglophone
taboo, horse and donkey meat was eaten in Britain, especially in Yorkshire,
until the 1930s, and in times of post-war food shortage surged in popularity in
the United States and was considered for use in hospitals. A 2007 Time
magazine article about horse meat brought in from Canada to the United States
characterized the meat as sweet, rich, superlean, oddly soft meat, and closer
to beef than venison.
Taboo
Attitude of various cultures
Horse is
commonly eaten in many countries in Europe and Asia. It
is a taboo
food in some English-speaking countries such as the United
Kingdom, Ireland,
the US,
and English
Canada. It is also taboo amongst the Romani
people and in Brazil.
Horse meat is not generally eaten in Spain (except in the
north) , although the country exports horses both "on the hoof and on the
hook" (i.e., live animals and slaughtered meat) for the French and Italian
market. Horse meat is consumed in some North
American and Latin American countries, and is illegal in some
countries. In Tonga, horse meat is
eaten nationally, and Tongan emigrees living in the United States, New Zealand,
and Australia have retained the taste for it, claiming Christian missionaries
originally introduced it to them.
In the past,
horse has been eaten by Persians, Turks,
some hanafi Egyptians,
and Tatars;
but it has never been eaten in the Maghreb.
Horse meat is
forbidden by Jewish
dietary laws because horses do not have cloven
hooves and they are not ruminants. It has been suggested that this holds a
practical purpose as horses were used as a means of transportation and did
work, although this is doubtful due to the lack of the horse
collar at the time of the formation of these laws.
In the eighth
century, Popes Gregory III and Zachary
instructed Saint Boniface, missionary to the Germans, to forbid
the eating of horse meat to those he converted, due to its association with Germanic
pagan ceremonies. The people of Iceland allegedly
expressed reluctance to embrace Christianity
for some time, largely over the issue of giving up horse meat.
In the end, the eating of horse meat was a concession granted in perpetuity
when the pagan
Norse Icelanders
eventually adopted Christianity en masse in
the year 1000 (although, in fact, the Church reversed its position soon
afterwards). Horse meat is now currently consumed in Iceland and many horses
are raised for this purpose. The culturally close people of Sweden still have
an ambivalent attitude to horse meat, said to stem from this time.
Henry
Mayhew describes the difference in the acceptability and use of the horse
carcass in London and Paris in London Labour and the London Poor
(1851). Horse meat was rejected by the British, but continued to be eaten in
other European countries such as France and Germany, where knackers often
sold horse carcasses despite the Papal ban. Even the hunting of wild horses for
meat continued in the area of Westphalia. Londoners also suspected that horse meat was
finding its way into sausages, and that offal sold as that of
oxen was in fact equine. About 1,000 horses were slaughtered a week.
In Russia, while there
is no taboo on eating horse meat per se, horse meat is generally considered by
ethnic Russians to be a low-quality meat with poor taste, and it is rarely
found in stores. However, it is popular among nomadic peoples of Eastern Russia
such as Tatars, Yakuts and Kazakhs.
Reasons for the taboo
In 732 A.D.
Pope Gregory III began a concerted effort to stop the ritual consumption of
horse meat in pagan practice. In some countries, the effects of this
prohibition by the Roman Catholic Church have lingered and horse
meat prejudices have progressed from taboos, to avoidance,
to abhorrence. In other parts
of the world, horse meat has the stigma
of being something poor people eat and is seen as a cheap substitute for other
meats, such as pork
and beef.
According to
the anthropologist Marvin Harris, some cultures class horse meat as taboo
because the horse converts grass into meat less efficiently than ruminants. When
breeding livestock for meat, a cow or a sheep will produce more meat than a
horse if fed with the same amount of grass.
There is also
an element of sentimentality, as horses have long enjoyed a close relationship
with many humans, on a similar level to household pets – this can be seen
projected in such Anglophone cultural icons such as Black
Beauty and Mr
Ed. Compare with the anthropomorphic
animals in Babe, Charlotte's
Web, and Freddy the Pig.
Totemistic taboo is
also a possible reason for refusal to eat horse meat as an everyday food, but
did not necessarily preclude ritual slaughter and consumption. Roman
sources state that the goddess Epona was widely worshipped in Gaul and southern
Britain. Epona, a triple aspect goddess, was the protectress of the horse and
horse keepers, and horses were sacrificed to her; she was
paralleled by the Irish Macha and Welsh Rhiannon. The Uffington White Horse is probable evidence of
ancient horse worship. The ancient Indian Kshatriyas
engaged in horse sacrifice (Ashwamedh Yaghya) as recorded in the Vedas and Ramayana; but
within context of the ritual sacrificial is not being 'killed' but instead
being smothered to death. In
1913, the Finnic Mari people of the Volga region were
observed to practice a horse sacrifice.
In ancient Scandinavia,
the horse was very important, as a living, working
creature, as a sign of the owner's
status, and symbolically within the old Norse
religion. Horses were slaughtered as a sacrifice to
the gods and the meat was eaten by the people taking part in the religious
feasts.When the Nordic countries were Christianized, eating horse meat was
regarded as a sign of paganism and prohibited. A slight skepticism against
eating horse meat is still common as a reminder of this in these countries even
today.
It is notable
that, despite horses having been bred in England since pre-Roman times, the English
language has no widely used term for horse meat, as opposed to four for pig meat (pork, bacon, ham, gammon) three for sheep meat (lamb, hogget
and mutton), two
for cow meat (beef
and veal), and so
on. English speaking countries, however,
have sometimes marketed horse meat under the euphemism
"cheval meat" (cheval being the French
for horse). Also, note that the words pork, bacon, mutton, veal, and beef all
derive from Anglo-Norman vocabulary, becauseof the class
structure of England after the Norman Conquest in 1066 CE: the
poor (Anglo-Saxon-speaking Britons) tended the animals, while the rich
(French-speaking Normans) ate the meat. The peasants had very little to do with
horses.
Production
In most
countries where horses are slaughtered for food, they are processed in a
similar fashion to cattle, i.e., in large-scale factory slaughter
houses (abattoirs) where they are stunned with a captive
bolt gun and bled to death. In countries with a less industrialized
food production system, horses and other animals are slaughtered individually
outdoors as needed, in the village where they will be consumed, or near to it.
In 2005, the
eight principal horse meat producing countries produced over 700,000 tonnes of
this product.
Major
Horse meat Production Countries, 2005[30][dated info]
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||
Country
|
Animals
|
Production
in metric tons
|
China
|
1,700,000
|
204,000
|
Mexico
|
626,000
|
78,876
|
Kazakhstan
|
340,000
|
55,100
|
Mongolia
|
310,000
|
38,000
|
Argentina
|
255,000
|
55,600
|
Italy
|
213,000
|
48,000
|
Brazil
|
162,000
|
21,200
|
Kyrgyzstan
|
150,000
|
25,000
|
England
|
150
|
25
|
Worldwide
Totals |
4,727,829
|
720,168
|
In 2005, the 5
biggest horse meat-consuming countries were China (421,000 tonnes),
Mexico, Russia, Italy, and Kazakhstan (54,000 tonnes). In 2010, Mexico produced
140,000 tonnes, China - 126,000 tonnes, Kazakhstan - 114,000 tonnes.
As horses are
relatively poor converters of grass and grain to meat compared to cattle, they
are not usually bred or raised specifically for their meat. Instead, horses are
slaughtered when their monetary value as riding or work
animals is low, but their owners can still make money selling them for
horse meat, as for example in the routine export of the southern
English ponies from the New
Forest, Exmoor, and Dartmoor.
British
law requires the use of "equine
passports" even for semi-wild horses
to enable traceability (also known as "provenance"), so
most slaughtering is done in the UK before the meat is exported, meaning that
the animals travel "on the hook, not on the hoof" (as carcasses
rather than live). Ex-racehorses, riding horses, and other horses sold at
auction may also enter the food chain; sometimes these animals have been stolen or
purchased under false pretenses. Even famous horses may end up in the slaughterhouse;
the 1986 Kentucky Derby winner and 1987 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year
winner, Ferdinand, is believed to have been slaughtered
in Japan, probably for pet food.
There is a
misconception that horses are commonly slaughtered for pet food, however. In
many countries, like the United States, horse meat was outlawed in pet food in
the 1970s. American horse meat is considered a delicacy in Europe and Japan,
and its cost is in line with veal, so it would be prohibitively expensive in
many countries for pet food.
The British
newspaper The Daily Mail reports that every year, 100,000
live horses are transported into and around the European
Union for human consumption, mainly to Italy but also to France and
Belgium.
Meat from
horses that veterinarians have put
down with a lethal injection is not suitable for human consumption, as the
toxin remains in the meat; the carcasses of such animals are sometimes cremated
(most other means of disposal are problematic, due to the toxin). Remains of
euthanized animals can be rendered, which maintains the value of
the skin, bones, fats, etc., for such purposes as fish food. This is commonly
done for lab specimens (e.g., pigs) euthanized by injection. The amount of drug
(e.g. a barbiturate) is insignificant after rendering.
Carcasses of
horses treated with some drugs are considered edible in some jurisdictions. For
example, according to Canadian regulation, hyaluron,
used in treatment of articular disorders in horses, in HY-50 preparation should
not be administered to animals to be slaughtered for horse meat. In Europe, however, the same preparation is
not considered to have any such effect, and edibility of the horse meat is not
affected.
Opposition to production
Main article: Horse
slaughter
The killing of
horses for human consumption is widely opposed in countries such as USA and Britain where horses are generally considered to be
companion and sporting animals only. Horses in the United States are not bred,
raised or treated as meat. Almost all equine medications and treatments are
labeled 'not for horses intended for human consumption.' In the European Union,
horses intended for slaughter cannot be treated with many medications commonly
used for U.S. horses. For horses going to slaughter, there is no period of
withdrawal between the time it leaves home and the time it is butchered. French
actress and animal rights activist Brigitte
Bardot has spent years crusading against the eating of horse meat. However,
the opposition is far from unanimous; a 2007 readers' poll in the London magazine Time Out showed that 82% of respondents
supported chef Gordon Ramsay's decision to serve horse meat in his
restaurants.
Nutritional value
Selected
nutrients per 100 g (3.5 oz)
|
||||||
Food
source
|
Calories
|
Protein
|
Fat
|
Iron
|
Sodium
|
Cholesterol
|
Game meat, horse, raw
|
133
|
21 g
|
5 g
|
3.8 mg
|
53 mg
|
52 mg
|
Beef, sirloin, raw
|
140
|
21 g
|
7 g
|
1.7 mg
|
53 mg
|
42 mg
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Preparation
Horse meat has
a slightly sweet taste reminiscent of a combination of beef and venison. Meat
from younger horses tends to be lighter in color while older horses produce
richer color and flavor, as with most mammals. Horse
meat can be used to replace beef, pork, mutton, venison and any other meat in
virtually any recipe, although the cooking time is shorter than that of beef or
pork. Horse meat is usually very lean and tender. Jurisdictions which allow for
the slaughter of horses for food rarely have age restrictions, so many are
quite old. However, unlike many other types of meat, horse meat becomes more
tender as the animal advances in age.
Those preparing
sandwiches
or cold meals with horse meat usually use it smoked and salted. Horse meat
forms an ingredient in several traditional recipes of salami.
Horse meat in various countries
In 2009, a
British agriculture industry website reported the following horse meat
production levels in various countries:
Horse
meat production levels
as of 2009 |
|
ountry
|
Tons
per year
|
Mexico
|
78,000
|
Argentina
|
57,000
|
Kazakhstan
|
55,000
|
Mongolia
|
38,000
|
Kyrgyzstan
|
25,000
|
Australia
|
24,000
|
Brazil
|
21,000
|
Canada
|
18,000
|
Poland
|
18,000
|
Italy
|
16,000*
|
Romania
|
14,000
|
Chile
|
10,000
|
France
|
7,500
|
Uruguay
|
8,000
|
Senegal
|
9,500
|
Colombia
|
6,000
|
Spain
|
5,000*
|
* Including donkeys.
Asia-Pacific
Australia
Australians do
not generally eat horse meat, although they have a horse slaughter industry
that exports to Japan, Europe, and Russia. Horse meat exports peaked at 9,327 tons 1986,
declining to 3,000 tons in 2003. The two abattoirs in Australia licensed to
export horse meat are Belgian-owned. They are at Peterborough in South
Australia (Metro Velda Pty Ltd) and Caboolture abattoir in Queensland (Meramist
Pty Ltd). A British agriculture industry website reported that Australian horse
meat production levels had risen to 24,000 tons by 2009.
On 30 June
2010, the Western Australian Agriculture Minister Terry
Redman granted final approval to Western
Australia butcher Vince Garreffa to sell horse meat for human consumption.
Nedlands restaurateur Pierre Ichallalene announced plans to do a taster on Bastille
Day and to put horse meat dishes on the menu if there's a good reaction.
Mr. Redman said that the Government would "consider extending approvals
should the public appetite for horse demand it".
Mr. Garreffa is
the owner of Mondo Di Carne, a major wholesale meat supplier which supplies
many cafes restaurants & hotels in Western Australia. He commented that there is no domestic market
for horse meat, but there is a successful export market, which he believes
Western Australia should have a share of.
For a short
time an online petition had been created to stop the sale of horse meat for
human consumption in Western Australia. This decision caused outrage amongst
some groups, limited reaction from many and ethusiasm from others. Several
local newspaper forums indicated that the general public were not greatly
biased either way, in fact many voiced their openness for alternate meats
Horse meat
consumption has continued as a niche market in Australia, with further
potential for growth as gourmet interests develop.
China
See also: Chinese
cuisine
Although it is
generally acceptable to Chinese people, outside of specific areas such as Guilin in Guangxi or inYunnan province,
horse meat is not particularly popular due to its low availability and rumors
that horse meat tastes bad or it is bad for health, even poisonous[citation needed]. In Compendium of Materia Medica, a pharmaceutical
text published in 1596, Li Shizhen wrote "To relieve toxin caused by eating
horse meat, one can drink carrot juice and eat almond."
Today, in southern China, there are locally famous dishes such as Horse Meat Rice
Noodles (马肉米粉; Pinyin: mǎ ròu mǐ fěn) in Guilin. In
the northwest, Kazakhh
people eat horse meat (see below).
Kazakhstan
See also: Kazakh
cuisine
In Kazakhstan
horse meat is a large part of the diet, due mainly to the nomadic roots of the
population. Some of the
dishes include sausages called kazy and shuzhuk made from the
meat using the guts as the sausage skin, zhaya made from hip meat which
is smoked and boiled, zhal made from neck fat which is smoked and
boiled, karta made from a section of the rectum which is smoked and
boiled, and sur-yet which is kept as dried meat.
Indonesia
See also: Indonesian cuisine
In Indonesia,
one type of satay
(chunks of grilled meat served with spicy sauce) known as Horse Satay (Javanese:sate
jaran, Indonesian:sate kuda) is made from horse
meat. This delicacy from Yogyakarta is served with sliced fresh shallot (small
red onion), pepper, and sweet soy sauce.
Japan
See also: Japanese
cuisine
In Japanese
cuisine, raw horse meat is called sakura (桜?) or sakuraniku
(桜肉?) (sakura
means cherry blossom, niku means meat) because of
its pink color. It can be served raw as sashimi in thin
slices dipped in soy sauce, often with ginger and onions added. In this case,
it is called basashi (馬刺し?). Basashi
is popular in some regions of Japan and is often served at izakaya bars.
Fat, typically from the neck, is also found as basashi, though it is
white, not pink. Horse meat is also sometimes found on menus for yakiniku (a
type of barbecue), where it is called baniku (馬肉?, literally
"horse meat") or bagushi (馬串?,
"skewered horse"); thin slices of raw horse meat are sometimes served
wrapped in a shiso
leaf. Kumamoto, Nagano
and Ōita are famous for basashi, and it is
common in the Tohoku region as well. Some types of canned
"corned meat" in Japan include horse as one of the ingredients. There
is also a dessert made from horse meat called basashi ice cream. The
company that makes it is known for its unusual ice cream flavors, many of which
have limited popularity.
Mongolia
See also: Mongolian
cuisine
Mongolia, a
nation famous for its nomadic pastures and equestrian skills, also includes
horse meat on the menu. Mongolians also make a horse milk wine, called airag.
Salted horse meat sausages called kazy are produced as a regional
delicacy by the Kazakhs in Bayan-Ölgii
aimag. In modern times, Mongols prefer beef and mutton, though during the
extremely cold Mongolian winter, many people prefer horse meat due to its low
cholesterol. It is kept non-frozen and traditionally people think horse meat
helps warm them up.
Other Asian
nations import processed horse meat from Mongolia.
South Korea
In South Korea,
raw horse meat, usually around the neck part, is consumed. It is usually
seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil. Horse meat is a popular delicacy on Jeju island.
Tonga
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help
improve this section by adding citations to reliable
sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011)
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In Tonga, horsemeat or
"lo'i ho'osi" is much more than a just a delicacy; the consumption of
horsemeat is generally only reserved for special occasions. These special
occasions may include the death of an important family member or community
member or as a form of celebration during the birthday of an important family
member or perhaps the visitation of someone important like the King of Tonga.
In Tonga, a
horse is one of the most valuable animals a family can own because of its use
as a beast of burden. Therefore the slaughter of one's horse for the purpose of
consumption becomes a moment of immense homage to the person or event the horse
was slain for. Despite a diaspora into Western countries like Australia, USA and New Zealand
where consumption of horsemeat is generally tabooed, Tongans still practice the
consumption of horse meat perhaps even more so because it is more readily
available and more affordable.
Europe
Austria
See also: Austrian
cuisine
Horse Leberkäse
is available and quite popular at various hot dog stands. Dumplings can also be
prepared with horse meat, spinach or Tyrolean Graukäse (a sour milk
cheese). They are occasionally eaten on their own, in a soup, or as a
side-dish.
Belgium
See also: Belgian
cuisine
In Belgium
horse meat (paardenvlees in Dutch
and viande chevaline in French) is highly prized. It is used in steak
tartare in which compared to the beef equivalent the richer flavor of the
horse meat lends itself better to the pungent seasoning used in preparation.[citation needed] Besides being
served raw it can be broiled for a short period producing a crusty exterior and
a raw moist interior. Smoked horse meat is very popular as breakfast and
sandwich meat. Horse steaks are also very popular: the city of Vilvoorde has
a few restaurants specializing in this dish. Horse-sausage is a well-known
local specialty in Lokeren with European recognition. Horse sausage (also called
boulogne) is always square to be distinguished from pork and or beef
sausages. Lean, smoked and sliced pork fillet (paardenrookvlees or paardengerookt)
is popular too. It is an offence to sell horsemeat as if it were beef. During German Occupation beef and horsemeat could not
be sold in the same shop and Belgian butchers continued this tradition
afterwards.
France
See also: French
cuisine
In France,
specialized butcher shops (boucheries chevalines) sell horse meat, as
ordinary butcher shops have been for a long time forbidden to deal in it.
However, since the 1990s, it can be found in supermarket butcher shops and
others.
Horse meat was
famously eaten in large amounts during the 1870 Siege
of Paris, when it was even included in haute
cuisine menus.
Germany
See also: German
cuisine
In Germany, horse
meat is occasionally used in Sauerbraten,
a strongly marinated type of sweet-sour braised meat dish. Other traditional
horse meat dishes include the Swabian Pferderostbraten and Bavarian Rosswurst
(horse sausage). In recent times, the eating of horse meat has become a
controversial issue and beef is nowadays often substituted for the horse meat
in Sauerbraten. However, horse meat, sold by specialized Pferdemetzgereien
(horse butcheries), is still occasionally used for steaks, roasts and goulash
by many people in all parts of Germany, since it is supposed to be healthier
than beef and pork while being cheaper than venison. It is however far from a
common supermarket item. In particular, cat and dog breeders and owners value
horse meat as a lean and healthy pet food.
Hungary
See also: Hungarian
cuisine
In Hungary, horse
meat is only used in salami and sausages, usually mixed with pork. These products
are sold in most supermarkets and many butcher shops and are not particularly
popular.
Iceland
See also: Cuisine of Iceland
In Iceland, it is
both eaten minced and as steak, also used in stews and fondue, prized for
its strong flavor. It has a particular role in the culture and history of the
island. It has been said that the people of Iceland were reluctant to embrace
Christianity for some time largely over the issue of giving up horse meat after
Pope Gregory III banned horse meat consumption in 732 AD. Horse meat
consumption was banned when the pagan Norse Icelanders
eventually adopted Christianity in the year 1000,.
The island eventually lifted the ban because of the starvation it caused.
Italy
See also: Italian
cuisine
Horse meat is
especially popular in Lombardia, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Parma, Apulia and the
Islands of Sardinia
and Sicily
Horse meat is
used in a variety of recipes: as a stew called pastissada (typical of Verona), served as
steaks, as carpaccio,
or made into bresaola
. Thin strips of horse meat called sfilacci are popular . Horse fat is
used in recipes such as pezzetti di cavallo. Horse meat
sausages and salamis are traditional in various places . In Sardinia sa
petza 'e cuaddu or sa petha (d)e caddu (campidanese
and logudorese
for horse meat) is one of the most renowned meats and sometimes is sold in
typical kiosks with bread - also in the town of Sassari there's a
long tradition of eating horse steaks (carri di cabaddu in the local
dialect). Chefs and consumers tend to prize its uniqueness by serving it as
rare as possible. Donkey
is also cooked, for example as a stew called stracotto d'asino and as
meat for sausages e.g. mortadella d'asino . The cuisine of Parma features a horsemeat tartare called pesto
di cavallo, as well as various cooked dishes.[66][67]
In Veneto the
consumption of horse meat is dating back at least till the period 500-1000
B.C., when the Veneti settled in the Euganean region. They were a
people migrating from Asia Minor through the Balkans; also known and
appreciated for being excellent horse breeders. They bred horses for any
purpose: towing and transportation, farm work, military uses and human
nutrition too. Through the centuries they were also esteemed suppliers of
horses for the cavalry and carriage of the Roman legions. Horse meat
consumption is a deep rooted tradition and almost a pride in various regional
locations. This tradition has developed several specialties and recipes in the
local cuisine. Horse meat is widely on sale in butcheries, hypermarkets,
supermakets and minimarkets throughout the region, at higher prices than other kinds
of meat, as it 's regarded as the most valued in absolute: a sort of formula
one, more priced and esteemed than beef or pork. Some ultra-specialised
butcheries offer only selected cuts of equine meat (horse, donkey and mule).
In the Province
of Padua horse meat is a key element of the local cuisine; particularly in the
area that extends south-east from the city, historically called saccisica.
Specialties based on horse meat constitute the main courses and best
attractions of some typical restaurants in the zone. They are also offered
among other regional delicacies at the food stands of many local festivals,
related to civil and religious anniversaries. Most notable is the "Sagra
del Cavallo": a festival that is held annually in the small town of Legnaro,
totally dedicated to horses, included their consumption for food.
Some
traditional dishes are:
- Sfilacci
di cavallo: tiny frayings of horse meat, dried and seasoned;
to be consumed raw, with some olive oil or lemon juice.
- Straéca: horse
steak, variously cooked and dressed on the grill, pan or hot-plate.
- Bistecca
di puledro. foal steak, similar to straéca, but generally
softer.
- Spezzatino
di cavallo. small chunks of horse meat, stewed with tomato
sauce, parsley and other herbs. Usually consumed with polenta.
- Prosciutto
di cavallo: horse ham, served in very thin slices.
- Salame di
cavallo: various
kinds of salami, variously produced or seasoned, sometimes made of pure
equine meat, sometimes mixed with others (bovine or swine).
- Bigoli al
sugo di cavallo: a typical format of fresh pasta, similar to thick
rough spaghetti, dressed with sauce like bolognese, but made with
minced horse meat.
In Southern
Italy, horse meat is common eaten everywhere - especially in the region of Apulia, where it is
considered a delicacy. It is often a vital part of the ragù barese in Bari.
According to
British food writer Matthew Fort, "The taste for donkey and horse
goes back to the days when these animals were part of everyday agricultural
life. In the frugal, unsentimental manner of agricultural communities, all the
animals were looked on as a source of protein. Waste was not an option."
Luxembourg
Horse meat is
commonly found on menus in Luxembourg.[citation needed]
Malta
See also: Maltese
cuisine
In Malta, stallion meat
(Maltese: Laħam taż-żiemel) is usually fried or baked in a white
wine sauce. A few horse meat shops still exist and it is still served in some
restaurants.
Netherlands
See also: Dutch
cuisine
In the Netherlands,
smoked horse meat (paardenrookvlees) is sold as sliced meat and eaten on
bread. There are also beef-based variants. Horse meat is also used in sausages
(paardenworst and frikandel), fried fast food snacks and ready-to-eat soups.
Norway
See also: Norwegian
cuisine
In Norway,
horse meat is commonly used in cured meats, such as vossakorv and svartpølse,
and less commonly as steak, hestebiff.
In
pre-Christian Norway, horse was seen as an expensive animal. To eat a horse was
to show that you had great wealth, and to sacrifice a horse to the gods was
seen as the greatest gift you could give. When Norwegians adopted Christianity,
horse-eating became taboo as it was a religious act for pagans, and thus it was
considered a sign of heresy.
Poland
See also: Polish
cuisine
Horse meat is
used in production of kabanos, but it has recently been declining in
popularity. Live, old horses are often being exported to Italy to be
slaughtered. This practice also garners controversy. Horses in Poland are
treated mostly as companions and the majority of society is against the live
export to Italy.
Serbia
See also: Serbian
cuisine
Horse meat is
generally available in Serbia, though mostly shunned in traditional cuisine. It is,
however, often recommended by General Practitioners to persons who suffer from anemia. It is
available to buy at three green markets in Belgrade, a
market in Niš,
and in several cities in ethnically mixed Vojvodina,
where Hungarian
and previously German
traditions brought the usage.
Slovenia
See also: Slovenian
cuisine
Horse meat is
generally available in Slovenia, and is highly popular in the traditional cuisine,
especially in the central region of Carniola and in
the Kras region.
Colt steak (žrebičkov zrezek) is available in some restaurants and there
is a popular fast-food restaurant in Ljubljana
called Hot-Horse that serves hamburgers made of horse meat.
Sweden
See also: Swedish
cuisine
Smoked/cured
horse meat is widely available as a cold cut
under the name hamburgerkött (hamburger meat). It tends to be very
thinly sliced and fairly salty, slightly reminiscent of deli-style ham. Gustafskorv,
a smoked sausage made from horse meat, is also quite popular, especially in the
province of Dalarna, where it's made. It is similar to salami or metworst and is
used as an alternative to them on sandwiches. It is also possible to order
horse beef from some well-stocked grocery stores.
Switzerland
See also: Swiss
cuisine
The ordinance
on foodstuffs of animal origin in Switzerland
explicitly list equines
as an animal species allowed for the production of food. Horse steak is quite
common, especially in the French-speaking west, but also more and more in the
German-speaking part. A speciality known as mostbröckli is made with
beef or horse meat. Horse meat is also used for a great range of sausages in
the German-speaking north of Switzerland. Like in northern Italy, in the
Italian-speaking South, local "salametti" (sausages) are sometimes
made with horse meat. Horse meat may also be used in Fondue
Bourguignonne.
United Kingdom
See also: British
cuisine and 2013 horse meat contamination
scandal
In the United
Kingdom, the slaughter, preparation and consumption of horses for food is not
against the law, although in practice it has been out of fashion since the
1930s and there is a strong taboo against it. It was eaten when other meats
were scarce, such as during times of war (as was whale meat,
never popular and now also taboo). The sale of horse meat in supermarkets and
butchers is minimal, and most of the horse meat consumed in the UK is imported
from Europe, predominantly the South
of France, where it is more widely available.
Horse meat may
be consumed inadvertently. A 2003 Food Standards Agency (FSA) investigation revealed
that salami and
similar products such as chorizo and pastrami sometimes contain horse meat without this
ingredient being listed. Listing is legally required. In 2013, horse DNA was also discovered in
trace amounts by an investigation by the Irish Food Safety Authority on sale in
products at a number of supermarkets across Republic of Ireland and the United
Kingdom. 27 samples of horse DNA were found in products including beefburgers,
lasagne and
frozen curry
obtained from Iceland and Tesco in the UK and
Ireland. Tesco's own "Everyday Value" brand burgers were shown to
contain 29% horse meat. In
Ireland contaminated products were also discovered on sale in Dunnes
Stores, Lidl and
Aldi. [87] In
February 2013, the FSA tested samples of Findus beef lasagne
and found them to contain between 60% to 100% horse meat.
Ukraine
In Ukraine, especially
in Crimea and other southern steppe regions, horse meat is consumed in the form
of sausages called Mahan and Sudzhuk. These particular sausages are traditional
food of the Crimean Tatar population. BLOWJOBSSSSblowwwwwwjobs
North America
Canada
See also: Canadian
cuisine
There is a
thriving horse meat business in Quebec; the meat is available in most supermarket chains.
Horse meat is also for sale at the other end of the country, in Granville
Island Market in downtown Vancouver where, according to a Time
magazine reviewer who smuggled it into the United States, it turned out to
be a "sweet, rich, superlean, oddly soft meat, closer to beef than
venison". Horse meat is
also available in high end Toronto butchers and supermarkets. Aside from the heritage of
French cuisine at one end of the country and the adventurous foodies of
Vancouver at the other, however, the majority of Canada shares the
horse meat taboo with the rest of the Anglosphere.
This mentality is especially evident in Alberta, where
strong horse
racing and breeding industries and cultures have existed since the
province's founding.
United States
See also: Horse slaughter#Underlying issue
Horse meat is
rarely eaten in the United States. Horse meat holds a taboo in American culture
which is very similar to the one found in the United Kingdom (previously described),
except that it is rarely even imported.
Restriction of
human consumption of horse meat in the U.S. has generally involved legislation
at the state and local levels. In 1915, for example, the New
York City Board of Health amended the sanitary code, making it legal to
sell horse meat. During World War
II, due to the low supply and high price of beef, New Jersey
legalized its sale, but at war's end, the state again prohibited the sale of
horse meat.
In 1951, Time
magazine reported from Portland, OR: "Horsemeat, hitherto eaten as a stunt
or only as a last resort, was becoming an important item on Portland tables.
Now there were three times as many horse butchers, selling three times as much
meat." Noting that "people who used to pretend it was for the dog now
came right out and said it was going on the table," and providing tips for
cooking pot roast of horse and equine fillets. A similar situation unfolded in
1973, when inflation raised the cost of traditional meats. Time reported
that "Carlson's, a butcher shop in Westbrook, CT that recently converted
to horse meat exclusively, now sells about 6,000 pounds of the stuff a day."
The shop produced a 28-page guide called "Carlson's Horsemeat Cook
Book" with recipes for chili con carne, German meatballs, beery horsemeat,
and more.[90]
Harvard University's Faculty Club had horse meat
on the menu for over one hundred years, until 1985.
California Proposition 6 (1998) was
passed by state voters, outlawing the possession, transfer, reception or
holding any horse, pony, burro or mule by a person who is aware that it will be
used for human consumption, and making the slaughter of horses sale of
horsemeat for human consumption a misdemeanor
offense.
Until 2007, a
few horse meat slaughterhouses still existed in the United States, selling meat
to zoos to feed their carnivores, and exporting it for human consumption, but
the last one, Cavel International in Dekalb,
Illinois, was closed by court order in 2007. The closure reportedly caused
a surplus of horses in Illinois.
On November 18,
2011, the ban on the slaughter of horses for meat was lifted as part of the
Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2012.
Mexico
As of 2005,
Mexico was the second largest producer of horse meat in the world. It is used
there both for human consumption and animal food.
South America
Chile
See also: Chilean
cuisine
In Chile, it is used in charqui. Also
in Chile, horse
meat became the main source of nutrition for the nomadic indigenous tribes,
which promptly switched from a guanaco-based economy to a horse-based one after the horses
brought by the Spaniards bred naturally and became feral. This applied
specially to the Pampa
and Mapuche
nations, who became fierce horseman warriors. Similar to the Tatars, they ate
raw horse meat and milked their animals.
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