Horse Meat Is A Delicacy In Many Countries

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Believe it or not, there are many countries in the world where people enjoy horse meat burgers.

Because horses have played a major role in the history of civilized society, both as harnessed animals and as pets, for many cultures even the thought of eating horse meat is taboo. Americans, for example, would not accept the idea of eating a horse.

But in South America, China, Japan and a number of European countries, including France, Italy and Switzerland, it is as common on the table as other meats. Eight of the world's most populous countries eat nearly 5 million horses each year.

In France, the appetite for horse meat has existed for several centuries. Baron Jean-Dominique Larry, Napoleon's surgeon, made a proposal when troops were starving to cook and eat meat from horses that had died in battle. So the cavalrymen took the horse meat, roasted it on fire, put spices and set the consumption of horse fillet.

Horse meat is actually quite healthy, as long as you can abstract from the image of the animal looking at you with its pitiful eyes. The meat is lean, fine, slightly sweet, rich in protein.

Horses are even immune to mad cow disease. Montreal is a special lover of horses and butchers who specialize in this area have been particularly busy in recent years, thanks to the spread of mad cow disease.

Much of the 65,000 horses slaughtered each year in the United States are shipped to Japan, Europe and Quebec, where the meat is consumed. In Quebec and European countries, only specialty horse meat stores can sell it and it is sold in the form of minced meat, sausages, steaks.

The individual decision to consume horse meat is often based on religious reasons. Many Muslim cultures do not strictly forbid the consumption of horsemeat, but do not recommend it. One explanation for discouraging the consumption of this meat is that horses are used regularly in the armies of Muslim countries.

However, as their use for military purposes has declined these days, many believe that eating horses should not be banned. Jewish dietary laws forbid the consumption of horse meat due to the fact that horses are not ruminants. In the Roman Catholic Church, the ban on eating horses dates back to the 8th century and still applies.

Probably the biggest reason many people are disgusted by the idea of eating a horse is that for centuries, humanity has maintained a close relationship with these animals, like pets.

This closeness is regularly demonstrated in movies and books. Most people in the United States consider horses to be companions, not dinner. But in many other countries around the world, they are considered a delicacy.