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Horsemeat

Discussion in 'Food & Cooking' started by granny smith, Feb 7, 2011.

  1. Feb 7, 2011 #1
    granny smith

    granny smith

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    I read that Nebraska might soon be making it legal to sell horsemeat. I expect other states to follow suit, so I want to be ready, just in case. Anyone know a good way to cook it?
     
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  3. Feb 7, 2011 #2
    french fries

    french fries

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    Pretty much the same you'd cook grass fed beef or some really lean beef.
     
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  4. Feb 7, 2011 #3
    siduri

    siduri

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    When there was a lot of mad cow around we stopped eating beef, as did many othewr italians. Horsemeat has always been eaten here, and there are special butchers for it, but during that period it became more common and now supermarkets carry it too. I bought it often. It was traditionally considered particularly good for children, with it's higher nutritious value.

    Anyway, yeah, you can cook it like beef.  It's more tasty - more like real beef and not hormoned up artificially fattened beef.  Note that it gets blackish on exposure to air, but that's ok. 
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2011
  5. Feb 7, 2011 #4
    chefedb

    chefedb

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    Marinate it and cook like cuts of beef. It is a bit tougher thats why I marinate
     
  6. Feb 8, 2011 #5
    granny smith

    granny smith

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    That's a good thing to know! That would have probably freaked me out and I would have wasted a perfectly good piece of meat.

    Good to be forewarned that it might be tough, too. I can deal with that, as long as I am aware of the possibility.

    I tried to find someone locally to butcher horses for me, but they all tell me it's illegal for them to butcher them. It's not illegal to eat it, but you have to butcher it yourself. It might be worth the effort, especially since I can often get free horses.
     
  7. Feb 8, 2011 #6
    chrislehrer

    chrislehrer

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    Yes, it gets black. It can be a little tough, but that's mostly because it's so lean.

    A suggestion: smoked horsemeat is unbelievably fabulous -- a specialty of certain areas of Kyushu, the second or third island of Japan, depending on who's counting. Not that you must smoke it, but take into account that the total flavor thing works very well.

    If you are doing your own butchering or something, bear in mind that an old nag is going to be like an old hen: lots of flavor, kind of tough and stringy. Cut and cook it appropriately.
     
  8. Feb 8, 2011 #7
    granny smith

    granny smith

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    Hubby does the big butchering, but I break it down and package it. I could cure some of it, too. I have made cured, smoked hams and bacon, so that's another possibility.
     
  9. Feb 8, 2011 #8
    chrislehrer

    chrislehrer

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    There you go: cured, possibly smoked horsemeat. It'll be very dark, but it's terrific.
     
  11. Feb 8, 2011 #9
    butzy

    butzy

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    We have been able to get horse meat for a long time.

    I don't like it very much though. I found the taste a bit too sweet and overwhelming.

    I have no idea what cut is was as the horse steak tasted fine.
     
  12. Feb 8, 2011 #10
    homemadecook

    homemadecook

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    As I know, The meat of the horse is hard than the meat of the beef, is it true?
     
  13. Feb 8, 2011 #11
    siduri

    siduri

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    The horse steaks i've had were not tough or hard. 
     
  14. Feb 8, 2011 #12
    french fries

    french fries

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    Depends on the horse, how much exercise he got, etc... the horse meat I've had wasn't hard.
     
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2011
  15. Feb 9, 2011 #13
    granny smith

    granny smith

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    Maybe it would be a good idea to grain them out before butchering, like they do cattle. It fattens them, but, more importantly, it limits their exercise.
     
  16. Feb 10, 2011 #14
    chrislehrer

    chrislehrer

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    Thus the curing and smoking routine. Horses, these days, work for a living. That has ups and downs. Flavor is up, tenderness is down. So do something that draws on the flavor and downplays the texture, and you're all set.