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Eating Horse
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I've had my share of suspect meat throughout my travels and have learned to live by the Mystery Meat Rule of Ignorance: Don't ask and assume it is cow.
I ate a lot of meat in Kazakhstan a few years ago and for the most part, enjoyed whatever I found on my plate. Sure, the meat was a bit strange at times, but hey, it must Kazakh cow!
I don't recall, however, eating the most famous plate of meat in Kazhakstan, the national dish of beshbarmak. Had I done so, I would have known immediately it wasn't my friend the cow.
According to a Reuters article by Michael Steen, Beshbarmak actually comes from at least two, and perhaps even more, four-legged animals; the horse and the lamb. More specifically, it is stewed horse head, lamb, and liver. Apparently the liver can come from a variety of different creatures, hoofed or otherwise. The photo above includes beshbarmak served with the ever popular side dish of koybas: a boiled sheep's head.
The good news is that if the barnyard found on your plate tastes a bit funny, you can always wash it down with a swig of Kumys. That's fermented mare's milk for all you non-Kazakhs out there.
Filed under: Food and Drink, Kazakhstan
Reader Comments (Page 10 of 10)
Dolores Molano Nov 27th 2006 5:56AM
You are what you eat. I have tried foods from many different countries having grown up as an army brat. Some of them I like, some of them i had to gag down. The only concern I ever had is if the cook runs a clean kitchen and is a frequent hand washer. My father and brother loved blood sausage, my mother loved pig testicles. Personally I am a vegetarian and have no qualms eating spinach every day.
rc Nov 27th 2006 7:01AM
Ha! The usda also allows rat particles in all of processed food. I remember Karo Syrup.Rats ran along pipes and workers would "shoot" them with water hoses into vats containing syrup.
What about workers who pick our food? Do they wash their hands? NOT!
I wash all food that I may cut so crap does not go into the inside of food esp. fruit and veggies.
Nat Mar 10th 2007 11:22AM
For some strange reason, we are ok with eating a cow. A horse, we ride. I guess we are not comfortable(for lack of a better word)eating animals we consider pets.?
Robin Nov 27th 2006 10:42AM
Evidently Horse meat is a big business overseas.
There are 3 horse slaughter houses here in the USA.
2 in Texas and 1 in Illinois.
Owned and operated by the French and the Flemish.
I'll bet that many people who have put their horses up for auction have no idea they will end up in a slaughter house only to be a meal for somebody in Paris.
Another lovely little secret that most Americans don't know about.
debi Nov 28th 2006 6:46AM
I, too am glad to be in America where we don't eat our pets. Horses help plow fields, carried soldiers into battle, race and a host of other activities. And to thank them, we slaughter and eat them. Sounds barbaric to me.
MaggiefromMo Nov 27th 2006 12:59PM
Those who eat American horsemeat will die some day because of the cancer-causing in humans medications given to horses. When they do, I will laugh. Just think about the worm medications given to American horses on a regular basis. Horse eaters contribute to inhumane killing of American horses.
Pat Mulvey Nov 28th 2006 12:27AM
Seriously, there is nothing wrong with a diet that includes horse meat. My favorite is pferd-rouladen, or thin sliced horse meat rolls, filled with bacon, onion, pickle, and mustard, served with potato dumplings and gravy. The best hard sausage and salami can be from horse meat.
Keely Nov 27th 2006 8:17PM
I Live In North-Eastern, Texas And There Is A Horse Meat Processing Plant In The Town Next To Mine. That Has Unwanted, injured, And Old Horses Brought There To Be Processed For Human Consumtion Over Seas. I Dont Personally Eat Horse Meat, But If My Fam. And I Were Starving I Would Eat The Heck Out Of Some Horse, Or Dog Or Cat.
Lor in PA Nov 28th 2006 9:48AM
Horses are companion animals, like dogs and cats. They are not meant to be food. While I understand that I have no control over what goes on in third world countries, I am appalled that we have three horse slaughter plants here in the US, that supply horse meat to France, Japan, Belgium and Italy. In France and Japan horse is considered a delicacy. Last year, 90,000 American horses where slaughtered and sent overseas for human consumption. Over 92% of them were young and healthy, many pregnant mares with foals at their sides, brutally slaughtered with a captive bolt being slammed into their heads, and then hug by one back leg to "bleed out." The "captive bolt" is supposed to render the horses senseless, but as intelligent animals, they see the blow coming and try to flee...resulting in eye and face injuries. Many aren't even unconscious when their throats are slit.
The three plants are Belgium owned and it is a $12 million dollar a year industry. However, they manage to make it look like they are operating at a loss and last year paid just $5 in income taxes. From a purely economic perspective, these "plants" have no business operating on American soil.
In Sept 2006 the US House of Representatives overwhelming passed HR 503, an Amendment to ban the slaughter of horses in America for overseas consumption. The bill is currently languishing in the Senate Commerce committee, because Senate Majority leader Frist refuses to schedule it for a vote. Big Beef's "deep pockets" are heavily involved, as they are afraid the slaughter of cattle may be targeted next. That is not the case...This is not an eat meat vs. don't eat meat issue. It's a matter of humane treatment for companion animals. To comment further, American horses are wormed, vaccinated and given other drugs regularly (for example Bute, which is very toxic to humans) and therefore horse meat is not even healthy for humans to consume. Cattle raised for consumption may not be legally treated with these types of drugs, so as not to be toxic to humans!
Please visit these sites for additional information:
https://community.hsus.org/campaign/FED_2006_horses_senate3
http://campaigningforbarbaro.com/
http://humanityforhorses.blogspot.com/
Can you imagine eating Seabiscuit? Flicka? Barbaro?
It's time to end the horror for America's horses.
Lor in PA
Terrydear Nov 28th 2006 10:36AM
Eating horse is like eating dog or cat, and here in America they are a part of our families...maybe other countries open up their orphanages...we love and care for and protect our family members...
otherlyn Nov 28th 2006 11:24PM
It makes no sense to me, how humans can be so heartless, so selfish, so sick. The head of that sheep is not appitizing, yet that young man looks so pleased. He is a sad spirit. I am sad for him and for his innocent victim.
And the discussion of eating horse is just as disgusting.
The barbaric practice of selling American horses to foreign owned slaughterhouses for human consumption of the meat is insane.
Don't the people who eat horsemeat realize that the meat is loaded with drugs and poison? Don't they know what they are doing to themselves and their children?
Don't they realize that the horseflesh they are eating was very likely some child's stolen pet, or a horse that someone thought was being sold to a good home?
Horses are not food! They are helpers and companions. People all over the world need to know that America's dirty little secret is...horseslaughter...and the exportation of tainted meat.
There is so much more that I could say, but the truth about the slaughter, and the image in the picture has sucked the energy from me right at the moment.
Animals are not SOMETHINGS...they are SOMEONES. They think,they feel, they react and communicate. They too have been given the gift of life.
Shame and dishonor is upon arragant and self-important little men and women who have no remorse at all for robbbing the world of life and beauty. The depth of human cruelty and the coldness of some hearts hurts me to my very soul.
Pleas spread the world about the horrors of horseslaughter. Perhaps if they know, hearts will change, and innocent life spared.
Deborah L Frazier Nov 28th 2006 11:53PM
RE: Post #8
http://tinyurl.com/y5lf3r
mikki Nov 29th 2006 6:27PM
what is sad is that so many "americans" who love to ride horses, watch horses race, dance, barrel ride, rodeo etc are not aware that horses are being slaughtered in the USA to be shipped overseas to sold as a delicacy meat item. the horses that are going to slaughter are pregnant mares, yearlings, foals, old and crippled, young, stolen and just not wanted...all going for 45 cents a pound. the american icon as proud as the eagle...used to build this country being slaughtered for someone's profit and gain. call your senators, tell them to vote for s1915...horse anti-slaughter. https://community.hsus.org/humane/leg-lookup/search.html
JB Dec 15th 2006 4:32PM
You can get horse at any izakaya (essentially a pub) in Japan. It's usually raw, sliced thin, and lightly frozen (to the point that it has a few ice crystals in it).
It's not all that good, being quite gamey and a bit liverish...
Whale, on the other hand, can be delicious when properly prepared.
Barb Dec 31st 2006 5:47PM
I personally wish I could travel more to be able to try the various foods of the world. Please add your country that you are from when writing your comments. Barb in the U.S. of America
Jenny the meat lover Jan 14th 2007 5:48PM
I guess nobody has ever been really poor here. I haven't either but I wouldn't turn my nose up at other people who are. So don't eat the damn horse...duh! I love bunny rabbits and horses also but have no qualms about eating the hell out of them!