If you ever feel like putting your dinner where your cliched saying is, you might first want to read up a bit on how to cook that horse you’re so hungry you could totally eat. Doug Powell, Ph.D.—professor of food safety at Kansas State University, and proprietor of must-read food and food safety site Barf Blog–can help, with a story detailing the flavors and cultural history of several favorite horse-related dishes from world cuisine, including…
Pictured: A sandwich made with Dutch smoked horsemeat (paardenrookvlees), cucumber, pesto and what looks to be some kind of soft, white cheese. I won’t lie. I would totally eat that. From Flickr user fotoosvanrobin, via CC.
Pastissada de Caval
In northern Italy, the traditional horse meat stew from Verona known as Pastissada de caval is made with wine and paprika. Legend has it that the dish originates from the town’s inhabitants marinating the meat from dead horses in the local Valpolicella wine and herbs and spices after a battle between the Ostrogoths and Barbarians in AD489. In Italy, horse – and donkey – meat has traditionally been cured to make bresaola or carpaccio.Alcoholic Mare’s Milk
This reliance on the horse on the central steppes also means a reliance on mare’s milk. Fermented, mare’s milk becomes a mildly alcoholic yoghurt-like drink known as Kumis or Airag. When visiting Mongolia in 2005 President Bush was apparently offered Kumis although there is no record as to whether or not he actually consumed it.