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8 Countries Slaughter The Most Horses For Food

by Wikipedia
The biggest horse slaughtering countries are
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
Worldwide
Totals 4,727,829 720,168

(not an endorsement of Wikipedia's elimination of peace, environment and animal
rights sites)
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 consuming about 4.7 million horses a year. For the majority of mankind’s early existence wild horses were hunted as a source of protein.[1][2] According to Viande Richelieu, one of the largest North American horse meat exporters, it is slightly sweet, tender, low in fat, and high in protein.[3]

However, because of the role horses have played as a companion and as a worker, 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 USA and UK, which further solidifies the taboo on eating its meat. This avoidance and the loss of taste for it is relatively modern, although it arises out of complex historical and cultural origins.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History
* 2 Taboo
o 2.1 Attitude of various cultures
o 2.2 Reasons for the taboo
* 3 Production
* 4 Opposition to production
* 5 Nutritional value
* 6 Preparation
* 7 Horse meat in various countries
o 7.1 Asia-Pacific
+ 7.1.1 Australia
+ 7.1.2 China
+ 7.1.3 Kazakhstan
+ 7.1.4 Indonesia
+ 7.1.5 Japan
+ 7.1.6 Mongolia
+ 7.1.7 Tonga
o 7.2 Europe
+ 7.2.1 Austria
+ 7.2.2 Belgium
+ 7.2.3 France
+ 7.2.4 Germany
+ 7.2.5 Hungary
+ 7.2.6 Iceland
+ 7.2.7 Italy
+ 7.2.8 Luxembourg
+ 7.2.9 Malta
+ 7.2.10 Netherlands
+ 7.2.11 Norway
+ 7.2.12 Poland
+ 7.2.13 Serbia
+ 7.2.14 Slovenia
+ 7.2.15 Sweden
+ 7.2.16 Switzerland
+ 7.2.17 United Kingdom
+ 7.2.18 Ukraine
o 7.3 North America
+ 7.3.1 Canada
+ 7.3.2 United States
+ 7.3.3 Mexico
o 7.4 South America
+ 7.4.1 Chile
* 8 See also
* 9 References
* 10 External links

[edit] 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.[citation needed]

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.[4] 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.[5] 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.[6][7]
Hunger during World War II led to horses being eaten

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.[8] During the Siege of 1870-71, 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,[9] and in times of post-war food shortage surged in popularity in the United States[10] and was considered for use in hospitals.[11] 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.[12]
[edit] Taboo
[edit] Attitude of various cultures

Horse is commonly eaten in many countries in Europe and Asia.[13] It is a taboo food in English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, the US, English Canada and in Australia; it is also taboo amongst the Romani people and in Brazil and India. Horse meat is not generally eaten in Spain, 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.[citation needed] 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.[14]

In many Muslim countries today, horse meat is considered makruh, meaning it is not forbidden, but strongly discouraged. One reason given for its prohibition is the need for horses in military and other uses, and as such, considering the decline in use of horses for such purposes, some consider its consumption permissible. Horse meat is eaten in some Muslim Central Asian countries with a tradition of nomadic pastoralism, e.g., Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. In other majority-Muslim countries, there have been many instances, especially wars and famine, when horses were slaughtered and eaten.[citation needed] In the past, horse has been eaten by Persians, Turks, some hanafi Egyptians, and Tatars; but it has never been eaten in the Maghreb.[15]

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.[16][17] The people of Iceland allegedly expressed reluctance to embrace Christianity for some time, largely over the issue of giving up horse meat.[18] 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).[19] 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 underhand 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.
[edit] Reasons for the taboo

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.[18] 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,[5] some cultures class horse meat as taboo because the horse converts grass into meat less efficiently than ruminants. When breeding cattle 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 My Little Pony. 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;[20] she was paralleled by the Irish Macha and Welsh Rhiannon. The Uffington White Horse is probable evidence of ancient horse worship. The ancient Indian Brahmins engaged in horse sacrifice (Ashwamedh Yaghya) as recorded in the Vedas; but within context of the ritual sacrificial is not being 'killed' but instead being smothered to death.[21] In 1913, the Finnic Mari people of the Volga region were observed to practice a horse sacrifice.[21]

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.[22] 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.[23]

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, because of the class structure of England after the Norman Conquest in 1066 CE: the poor (Saxons) tended the animals, while the rich (French-speaking Normans) ate the meat. The peasants had very little to do with horses.
[edit] 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.[24]

In 2005, the eight principal horse meat producing countries produced over 700,000 tonnes of this product.

Major Horse meat Production Countries, 2005[25][dated info] 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
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).[26]

As horses are relatively poor converters of grass and grain to meat compared to cattle,[5] 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.[27][28] 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,[28] 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.[29] 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.[30]

There is a misconception that horses are 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,[31] 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.[32]

Meat from horses that veterinarians have put down with a lethal injection is not consumed, as the toxin remains in the meat; the carcasses of such animals are cremated (all other means of disposal are problematic, due to the toxin).
[edit] Opposition to production
Main article: horse slaughter

The killing of horses for human consumption is widely opposed in countries such as USA and Britain[33] where horses are generally considered to be companion and sporting animals only.[34] 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 celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay's decision to serve horse meat in his restaurants[35] (see further discussion here).
[edit] Nutritional value
Selected nutrients per 100 g (3.5 oz)[36] 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
[edit] Preparation
Smoked and salted horse meat on bread.

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.
[edit] 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[37] Country 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.

[edit] Asia-Pacific
[edit] Australia

Australians do not generally eat horse meat, although they have a horse slaughter industry that exports to Japan, Europe, and Russia.[38] 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).[39] A British agriculture industry website reported that Australian horse meat production levels had risen to 24,000 tons by 2009.[37]

On 30 June 2010, 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".[40]

Mr. Garreffa is the owner of Mondo Di Carne, a major wholesale meat supplier which supplies many cafes restaurants & hotels in Western Australia.[41] 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.[40]

By July 2, an online petition had been created to stop the sale of horse meat for human consumption in Western Australia.[42] This decision has caused some outrage with a petition started to be signed to overturn this decision from the Department of Agriculture. However several local newspaper forums indicated that the general public were not greatly biased either way, in fact many voiced their openness for alternate meats.[citation needed]
[edit] China
See also: Chinese cuisine

Horse meat is not available in most parts of China, although it is generally acceptable to Chinese. Its lack of popularity is mostly due to its low availability and some rumors saying that horse meat tastes bad or it is bad for health, even poisonous. 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 Vermicelli (马肉米粉) in Guilin. In the northwest, Kazakhs eat horse meat (see below). In Hebei province and Beijing, Donkey Burger (驴肉火烧) is a popular snack.Donkey Burger is made of stewed donkey meat in a baked Chinese bun. The two most popular versions of Donkey Burger originate from Hejian and Baoding in Hebei province.[43][44]
[edit] 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.[45] 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.[46]
[edit] 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.[47]
[edit] Japan
See also: Japanese cuisine
Basashi from Kumamoto

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 (Japanese: 馬刺し). Basashi is popular in some regions of Japan and is often served at izakaya. 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.[48][49] There is also a dessert made from horse meat called basashi ice cream.[50] The company that makes it is known for its unusual ice cream flavors, many of which have limited popularity.
[edit] Mongolia
Packaged Mongolian horse meat
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.[51] 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 warms them up.[52]

Other Asian nations import processed horse meat from Mongolia.[53][54]
[edit] Tonga

This section does not cite any references or sources.
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011)

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.
[edit] Europe
[edit] Austria
See also: Austrian cuisine
Fast food shop selling horse Leberkäse (Pferdeleberkäse) in Vienna

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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] France
Contrefilet of horse meat, in France.
A butcher shop specializing in horse meat in Pezenas, Languedoc, 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.
[edit] 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 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. Especially cat and dog breeders and owners value horse meat as a lean and healthy pet food.
[edit] 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 very popular.
[edit] 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, as its consumption was one of the concessions won when the pagan Norse Icelanders eventually adopted Christianity in the year 1000.
[edit] Italy
Venetian horse meat butcher
See also: Italian cuisine

Italian cuisine is highly regional: thus, horse meat is popular e.g. in Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, or in Sardinia; while it not very popular in most part of Italy, used just by a few consumers or even seen as a bad thing (like eating a pet). Horse meat is used in a stew called pastissada (typical of Verona), served as horse or colt steaks, as carpaccio, or made into bresaola. Horse fat is used in recipes such as pezzetti di cavallo. In the region of Veneto a dish is prepared which consists of shredded, cured horse meat on a bed of arugula, dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice. Also in Veneto, horse meat sausages called salsiccia di equino or salami; and thin strips of horse meat called sfilacci are sold (a popular local pizza is made with sfilacci on it). The straight horse meat steak carne di cavallo, similar to classic American Porterhouse steak, is generally available in the Alto Adige/Südtirol region of the Italian Alps; while in Veneto a smaller horse steak is typical and often called, with a Venetian name, straeca. In Sardinia sa pezz'e cuaddu is one of the most renowned meats and is sold in typical kiosks with bread panino con carne di cavallo. Chefs and consumers tend to prize its uniqueness by serving it as rare as possible. Donkey is also cooked, for example as a pasta sauce called stracotto d'asino. 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."[55]
[edit] Luxembourg

Horse meat is commonly found on menus in Luxembourg.[citation needed]
[edit] Malta
See also: Maltese cuisine

In Malta, stallion meat (Maltese: Laħam taż-żiemel) is commonly used in various dishes. It is usually fried or baked in a white wine sauce. A few horse meat shops still exist and a few restaurants serve it for locals and tourists.[56]
[edit] Netherlands
See also: Dutch cuisine
Horse meat from the Netherlands

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[57]), fried fast food snacks and ready-to-eat soups.[58][59]
[edit] 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.[60]
[edit] 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. You can find some shelters for old and unwanted horses that are rescued from slaughter, The Tara Rescue and The Animals of Eulalia Faundation.
[edit] 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 anoemia. 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.
[edit] 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.[61][62]
[edit] 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 medwurst and is used as an alternative to them on sandwiches. It is also possible to order horse beef from some well-stocked grocery stores.
[edit] Switzerland
See also: Swiss cuisine

In Switzerland, horse meat may be used in Fondue Bourguignonne. Horse steak is also 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.
[edit] United Kingdom
See also: British cuisine

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[63][64] (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.[65] Horse meat may be consumed inadvertently. A 2003 Food Standards Agency investigation revealed that salami and similar products such as chorizo and pastrami sometimes contain horse meat without this ingredient being listed.[66] Listing is legally required.[67]
[edit] 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.
[edit] North America
[edit] Canada
See also: Canadian cuisine

Agriculture in Quebec seems to prosper under the prohibitions from the United States. 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".[12] 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.
[edit] United States
See also: Cuisine of the United States
See also: Horse slaughter#The underlying issue in the United States

Horse meat is rarely eaten in the United States. Horses are raised instead as pets, for working purposes (Farming, police work, and ranching), or for sport. Horse meat holds a very similar taboo in American culture, the same as 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.[68] 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, Ore.: "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, Conn., 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.[69]

Harvard University's Faculty Club had horse meat on the menu for over one hundred years, until 1985.[70][71]

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.[72][73] The closure reportedly caused a surplus of horses in Illinois.[74]
[edit] Mexico

As of 2005, Mexico was the second largest producer of horse meat in the world.[25][dated info] It is used there both for human consumption and animal food.[citation needed]
[edit] South America
[edit] Chile
See also: Chilean cuisine

In Chile, it is used in charqui. Both in Chile, horse meat was the main source of nutrition for the nomadic indigenous tribes, which promptly switched from a guanaco-based economy to a horse-based one when the horses brought by the Spaniards bred naturally and became feral. This applies specially for the Pampa and Mapuche nations, who become fierce warriors on horseback. Pretty much like the Tatars, they ate raw horse meat and milked their animals.
[edit] See also

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on
Horse

* Taboo food and drink
* Horse slaughter
* Repugnant market
* Blood of the Beasts (Le Sang des bêtes), a 1949 documentary film
* List of meat animals

[edit] References

1. ^ Melinda A. Zeder (2006), Documenting Domestication, University of California Pres, pp. 257, 258, 265, ISBN 0520246381, http://books.google.com/?id=EaVTxjrbIFQC
2. ^ David W. Anthony (2008), The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, Princeton University Press, pp. 199, 220, ISBN 0691058873, http://books.google.com/?id=rOG5VcYxhiEC
3. ^ Viande Richelieu page title: Clarifying the notion of horsemeat covers Nutrients, Age, The sex of the animal, Race, Color, Tenderness, Taste, and Meat cuts.
4. ^ Fernando Terrejón G. (2001), Exotic Livestock production and the Transition, "Geohistorical Variables in the Evolution of the Pehuenche Economic System During the Colonial Period" (in Spanish), Universum Magazine (University of Talca) 16: 226, http://universum.utalca.cl/contenido/index-01/torrejon.html (Spanish title: El Ganado Exótico Y la Transición Prodictiva , Variables Geohistóricas en la Evolución del Sistema Económicl Pehuenche Durante el periodo Colonio).
5. ^ a b c Harris, Marvin (1998), Good to Eat: Riddles of Food and Culture, Waveland Pr Inc, ISBN 1577660153, http://books.google.com/?id=B1oGAAAACAAJ
6. ^ Larrey is quoted in French by Dr Béraud, Études Hygiéniques de la chair de cheval comme aliment, Musée des Familles (1841-42).
7. ^ Larrey mentions in his memoirs how he fed the wounded after the (1809) with bouillon of horse meat seasoned with gunpowder. Parker, Harold T. (1983 reprint) Three Napoleonic Battles. (2nd Ed). Duke University Press. ISBN 0-82230547-X. Page 83 (in Google Books). Quoting Dominique-Jean Larrey, Mémoires de chirurgie militaire et campagnes, III 281, Paris, Smith.
8. ^ Kari Weil, "They Eat Horses, Don't They? Hippophagy and Frenchness", Gastronomica Spring 2007, Vol. 7, No. 2, Pages 44-51 Posted online on May 22, 2007. (doi:10.1525/gfc.2007.7.2.44)
9. ^ Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa by Matthew Fort. 2005, p253. ISBN 0-00-721481-2
10. ^ Charles Grutzner, Horse Meat Consumption By New Yorkers Is Rising; Newark Dealer Reports 60% of Customers Are From City--Weinstein Will Not Prohibit Sale of the Flesh Here 25 Sept 1946
11. ^ James E. Powers, NEAR-BY HOSPITALS DOWN TO MINIMUM OF MEAT SUPPLIES, The New York Times, 29 September 1946
12. ^ a b "Horse — It's What's for Dinner" by Joel Stein, Time magazine, 8 February 2007.
13. ^ 2008 - It is Time to Tell the Truth ...about Horse Slaughter, flyingfilly.com, archived from the original on 2008-04-18, http://web.archive.org/web/20080418011736/http://www.flyingfilly.com/horse_slaughter.htm, retrieved 2008-05-20 (See the list headed "Horsemeat—By Any Other Name")
14. ^ Simoons, F.J., 1994, Eat not this Flesh, Food Avoidances from Pre-history to Present, University of Wisconsin Press.
15. ^ Françoise Aubaile-Sallenave, "Meat among Mediterranean Muslims: Beliefs and Praxis", Estudios del Hombre 19:129 (2004)
16. ^ William Ian Miller, "Of Outlaws, Christians, Horsemeat, and Writing: Uniform Laws and Saga Iceland", Michigan Law Review, Vol. 89, No. 8 (Aug., 1991), pp. 2081-2095 (subscription required)
17. ^ Calvin W. Schwabe, Unmentionable Cuisine, University Press of Virginia, ISBN 0-8139-1162-1
18. ^ a b "U.S.D.A. Promotes Horse & Goat Meat". International Generic Horse Association. http://www.igha.org/USDA.html. Retrieved 2007-08-09. (quoting a 1997 USDA report said to be no longer available online)
19. ^ vol 2 p 7-9
20. ^ Powell, T. G. E., 1958, The Celts, Thames and Hudson, London
21. ^ a b Campbell, Joseph, Oriental Mythology: The Masks of God, Arkana, 1962, pp190-197 ISBN 0-14-019442-8
22. ^ Phillip Pulsiano; Kirsten Wolf (1993), Medieval Scandinavia: an encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, p. 523, ISBN 9780824047870, http://books.google.com/?id=d-XiZO8V4qUC.
23. ^ Anders Andrén; Kristina Jennbert; Catharina Raudvere (2006), Old Norse Religion in Long Term Perspectives: Origins, Changes and Interactions, an International Conference in Lund, Sweden, June 3–7, 2004, Nordic Academic Press, p. 131, ISBN 9789189116818, http://books.google.com/?id=gjq6rvoIRpAC.
24. ^ C.J. Chivers, A Sure Thing for Kazakhs: Horses Will Provide The New York Times
25. ^ a b (PDF) THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF A BAN ON THE HUMANE SLAUGHTER (PROCESSING) OF HORSES IN THE UNITED STATES, The Animal Welfare Council, Inc., citing FAO-UN Horticultural Database, May 15, 2006, p. 10, http://www.animalwelfarecouncil.com/html/pdf/consequences.pdf, retrieved 2008-11-06
26. ^ The Alberta Horse Welfare Report, 2008
27. ^ - BBC Inside Out - New Forest Ponies
28. ^ a b - BBC Inside Out - NFU Countryside Online: Passports for Ponies (archived from the original on 2006-10-07)
29. ^ Slaughter of Lady
30. ^ Death of a Derby Winner
31. ^ Horsemeat in France (June 2006), Librairie des Haras nationaux.
32. ^ Tom Rawstone (19 May 2007). "The English horses being sent to France to be eaten". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=455953&in_page_id=1770. Retrieved 2007-10-04.
33. ^ Week in pictures - Who wants to eat horsemeat?
34. ^ Americans squeamish over horse meat, St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved November 5, 2009.
35. ^ Time Out 30 May–5 June 2007
36. ^ Compare foods, NutritionData.com.
37. ^ a b Argentina-Horse Meat world production figures, Farming UK, January 17, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
38. ^ Exporting red meat to Russia: Understanding the context, 7 October 2010. Retrieved on 2010-10-22.
39. ^ Horse slaughter and horsemeat: the facts
40. ^ a b Bob Broadfield, Butcher gives horse meat a run, au.news.yahoo.com.
41. ^ Welcome to the Mondo's Family;
^ Mondo Wholesale Meat Supplies.
42. ^ Stop the sale of horse meat for human consumption in Western Australia, change.org.
43. ^ Donkey meat: the most traditional way to get a piece of ass (March 26, 2010), Global Times.
44. ^ Fatty Wang’s Donkey Burgers (王胖子绿肉火烧) (August 17, 2010), shopping-in-beijing.com.
45. ^ "Food in Kazakhstan". Food in Every Country. Referenced 5/6/08.
46. ^ Horse meat dishes in Kazakhstan. Retrieved 13 January 2009. (archived from the original on 2008-06-10)
47. ^ "Lesehan Jaran - Jogja". April 2, 2007. http://ngincip.blogspot.com/2007/04/lesehan-jaran-jogja.html.
48. ^ Brief Overview of the Draft Revision of Quality Labeling Standard for Canned and Bottled Livestock Products, Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (from PuntoFocal Argentina).
49. ^ NOTIFICATION, World Trade Organization, 16 January 2006.
50. ^ Clay Thompson (14 December 2006), When it comes to eating horse, most say nay, The Arizona republic, http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1214clay1214.html, retrieved 2007-11-15
51. ^ Michael Kohn, (2008), Mongolia, Lonely Planet, p. 43, ISBN 9781741045789, http://books.google.com/?id=7JVGCF-MPB0C.
52. ^ What to Eat in Mongolia, khaliuntravel.com
53. ^ Tasting Mongolian horse meat at Seventeen Saloon, hochiminhcity.gov.vn
54. ^ Meat Production in Mongolia, canada-mongolia-connection.com
55. ^ Eating Up Italy: Voyages on a Vespa by Matthew Fort. 2005, p253-254. ISBN 0-00-721481-2
56. ^ Carolyn Bain (2004), Malta & Gozo, Lonely Planet, p. 56, ISBN 17405917, http://books.google.com/?id=lqHLlLsgi1IC&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=%22horse+meat%22+malta, retrieved 2007-09-14, "Did you know? Many of the village restaurants specialising in rabbit also feature horse meat on their menu."
57. ^ Brabants Dagblad "Deurnese vinding de frikandel", 19 februari 2009
58. ^ Lokerse paardenworsten, streekproduct.be.
59. ^ Erkende Lokerse paardenworst wil Europees, nieuwsblad.be, 28 September 2007.
60. ^ Jochens, Jenny (1998), Women in Old Norse Society, Cornell University Press, pp. 87–88, ISBN 9780801485206, http://books.google.com/books?id=3h-lkgBWercC
61. ^ Hot Horse, ljubljana-life.com, http://www.ljubljana-life.com/eat/restaurants_details/96-Hot_Horse, retrieved 2007-12-03
62. ^ Dan Ryan (14 December 2006), Taste Ljubljana—Capital Ideas, http://www.sloveniatimes.com/en/inside.cp2?uid=9233471E-2FB7-2359-C795-B29EDCF6A4A2&linkid=news&cid=762059D5-F84D-020A-FBA5-2AD66B5F38CB, retrieved 2007-12-03
63. ^ - Food Programme, April 2004
64. ^ - BBC - WW2 People's War - Horsemeat, A Wedding Treat
65. ^ - We Should Eat Horse Meat
66. ^ Horse meat found in salami, BBC News, june 4, 2003.
67. ^ UK labelling laws
68. ^ ALLOW HORSE MEAT FOR FOOD IN CITY The New York Times, 22 December 1915
69. ^ Christa Weil (March 5, 2007), We Eat Horses, Don’t We?, The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/05/opinion/05weil.html, retrieved 2008-09-05
70. ^ The Pros and Cons of Eating Horses
71. ^ About the Club : History, The Harvard Faculty Club.
72. ^ BELTEX CORPORATION; DALLAS CROWN, INC., v. TIM CURRY, District Attorney Tarrant County, 05-11499 (19 January 2007). Text
73. ^ Tara Burghart (29 June 2007). "Last US Horse Slaughterhouse to Close". The Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070629/horse-slaughter/. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
74. ^ WIFR (Illinois), "Cavel International Shutdown Causes Abundance of Horses", March 26, 2008

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Horse meat

* "U.S.D.A. Promotes Horse & Goat Meat". International Generic Horse Association. http://www.igha.org/USDA.html. Retrieved 2007-08-09. (quoting a 1997 USDA report said to be no longer available online)
* La Viande Chevaline, a web site made by the French Horse Meat Industry structure, called Interbev Equins (French)

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