In honor of that annual American tradition taking place Saturday at 6:24 p.m, the Kentucky Derby, Short Order has compiled a list of the top five dishes made with the dinner of champions: horse meat. Now, before you let your preconceived notions and ethnocentric American ideals take over, check out what the rest of the world is eating.
Horse Meat Carpaccio, Bresaola, and Tartare
In Italy, horse or colt steaks are sliced thin and served as a carpaccio, dried and delivered as bresaola, and also brought to the table tartare. News broke in February 2010 that Italy's parliament was considering a ban of horse meat for similar reasons the United States ceased to allow it a half century ago. Referring to horses, Italy's minister of agriculture, Luca Zaia, stated they should not be eaten because they are "considered just like cats and dogs."
The Telegraph ran a story on the possible ban in February 2010, however the author was unavailable. Referred to World Horse Welfare, a charity campaigning to "end the long distance transportation of horses to slaughter in Europe," press officer Louise Chapman stated that "there is no news on a ban and at this time it is unlikely as it (horse) is so widely consumed in Italy." Additional research has turned up with no insight into the status of the proposed ban on horse meat in Italy.
Horse Meat Roast with Blue Cheese
The Canadian website www.metro.ca
has - among 19 horse meat recipes - what appears to be a
seriously savory dish of horse meat roast with blue cheese and
horseradish sauce. Seared in a skillet with hot olive oil, the roast
is rubbed with dijon mustard and seasoning before baking in
the oven. A sauce is prepared with blue cheese, sour cream,
horseradish, chives, and mayo. Nothing says Sunday dinner quite like
a horse meat roast!
Pony Stroganoff
On mini-horse.org, there's a fine line between a heartfelt awareness of the U.S. miniature
horse and a sardonic appreciation of the physically limited equine. It
begins with ground pony chuck, which is browned and seasoned, then
added to a mixture of sour cream and onion soup mix. The final
product is served over egg noodles.
Kazi, Karta, and Shuzhuk
"Kazakhs are born in horses," says
an expression of Kazakh Nomads. In Kazakhstan, horse meat is a large
part of the diet of the once nomadic people. Kazi and karta are
simply boiled large intestine and stomach, respectively. Both are
quite fatty and are suggested to be eaten warm. Shuzhuk is a kind of
sausage whose casing is small intestine filled with rib meat
and fat. The proportion of fat to meat in shuzhuk
may vary from almost all meat to almost all fat - it's purely a
matter of taste.
Horse Meat Stew
Horse meat became all the rage in
France during the Napoleonic Wars, when the stout commander's surgeon
suggested starving troops eat their horses. During this period, the
high cost of living made most meats unaffordable. Horse flesh was
soon deemed legal and edible, showing up hanging in Parisian butcher
shops. The recipe calls for slicing that hunk of horse meat into chunks and browning it in
a skillet with olive oil. Chop vegetables including carrots,
potatoes, and celery, and add to a pot with chicken broth, red wine,
Worcestershire sauce, and olive oil. Throw in the horse meat and
voila!
Still so hungry you could eat a horse?!
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