Posted on 06/06/2005 2:30:27 PM PDT by ktvaughn
Vote YES on Sweeney-Spratt Agriculture Amendment to End Horse Slaughter
The U.S. House is expected to vote on June 8 or 9 on the Sweeney-Spratt amendment to prevent tax dollars from being used to promote horse slaughter. Please take action right now—send an email and make a phone call to urge your U.S. Representative to vote YES on the Sweeney-Spratt Amendment.
Americans love horses—they are our trusted companions, our Olympic heroes, and our loyal work animals. Polls show time and time again that Americans don't support slaughtering our horses for foreign dinner plates. This travesty must be stopped...and by taking action, you can ensure that it will be.
You can reach your Representative by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121. Your phone call could make all the difference. Not sure what to say? Here's a sample phone script for when you call:
Neither can my wife when she eats cabrieto and not knowing what it is. She just knows my smoked brisket is better.
Is there an issue here that I'm missing?
Pig meat = pork
Horse meat = ???
Ford bought 52 wild horses to save them and sent them to a preserve in South Dakota. I saw a story this morning on the news. Also, some random girl and her mom bought a pregnant horse to save it. We all have our 'pet' projects.
Not really. There are many Americans who eat horsemeat and are not beyond barbequing up a side of dog. The problem is you just don't know any of them.
I'm pro glue.
I think we should have humane slaughter whether the abattoir personnel know the horse personally or not.
Exactly. What folks find is that it's expensive, and you can't just dump the cost on "others." It's expensive to feed a horse, and expensive to euthanise it and render the carcass when it gets too old. Slaughter for food is reasonably humane and makes a profit for the owner.
*looks at own skin*
some people make me wonder
Although people in the United States of America rarely eat horse meat, many horses from the US are sold for slaughter and consumption in Europe, Mexico or Japan. A Food Standards Agency (FSA) 2003 investigation has revealed that salami and chorizo on sale in the UK sometimes contain horse and donkey meat, without being mentioned on the food label—something that is required. Much of the horse meat produced in the US is sold to zoos for carnivore feeding, due to its high protein content.
Those preparing sandwiches with horse meat usually use it smoked and salted. Horse meat forms an ingredient in several traditional recipes of salami, and in Kazakhstan it is used in hazy (horse sausage).
Japanese call raw horse meat sakura (cherry blossom) from its pink color. It is often served as sashimi where it is called basashi and serve it in thin slices with soya sauce and wasabi. In Switzerland horse meat may be used in Fondue bourguignonne. It is widely believed that traditional Belgian fries (pommes frites) were cooked in horse fat, but in fact ox fat was used, although this has been supplanted by nut oil (considered inferior by many) for health reasons. In Italy horse fat used in recipes such as Pezzetti di Cavallo . In Chile it is used in charqui. In Iceland it is used for fondue, but it is mostly used for stews for its strong flavor.
Personally, my own horses will not be slaughtered, but will be put down if and when needed by my vet, as peacefully as I can make it.
Recipes
Picula ad Caval
This traditional Italian recipe will serve 6
21/4 pounds ground horse meat
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2-1/2 ounces ground cured lard (or pancetta)
2 onions, minced
1 glass dry white wine (though some Italian chefs prefer broth)
6 ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled, seeded, chopped, and drained
2 bell peppers, ribbed and seeded, then diced
2 Tbsp. minced fresh herbs (basil, sage, and rosemary in proportions to taste)
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and freshly ground pepper
Heat the oil, lard, and onion in a skillet. Sauté until the onion has become golden but don’t let it get really brown. Add the horse meat and brown it, stirring frequently. When it has browned, sprinkle in the glass of wine and reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Cover it, and let it cook for at least an hour. Mix in the chopped tomatoes and diced peppers, and continue cooking for another half hour.
Ten minutes before removing the dish from the stove, sprinkle the minced herbs over everything. Serve it hot with salt and pepper to taste.
Pastissada
Another traditional Italian recipe from the Verona area.
2 pounds horse meat
2 ounces lard or porkback fat
2-3 carrots, cut into slivers
2 sticks celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves
a dozen coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic
1 bottle Italian red wine
flour, enough to brown the meat with
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. butter kneaded into enough flour to make a small ball
paprika to taste
Slather the meat with the lard and slivers of carrots. Dice the other vegetables and put them, with the meat and spices (except the paprika) in a bowl. Pour the wine over everything, then cover and marinate in the refrigerator for three days, turning the meat occasionally.
Pat the meat dry with paper towel (keep the vegetables and the marinade), flour it, and brown it in the oil over a brisk flame. Add the vegetables. When they’ve cooked for a few minutes, pour the marinade over the meat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about three hours. Once the meat is done, remove it to a platter saving the sauce that has been formed with the marinade.
Return the sauce to the fire, thicken it with the butter-flour ball, and season it to taste with paprika. Pour the sauce over the meat, and serve with a good traditional side dish.
Filet Mignon
This simple French classic serves 4.
4 four-ounce filets of horse
4 slices bacon
salt and pepper to taste
Prepare exactly as for a filet mignon. Wrap outside of filet with uncooked bacon slice and secure with toothpicks. Broil to taste.
Sauerbraten (Sour Roast)
Practically a German sacrament
2-1/2 lbs. horse meat roast
4 strips bacon (optional)
soup vegetables: carrot, celery, leek (optional), parsley root (optional), onion (optional)
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 pint red wine (optional)
1 garlic clove
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp. juniper berries
3 allspice corns and/or cloves
3 peppercorns
1 thyme branch
1/4 cup pork lard
1 Tbsp. flour (optional)
1/2 cup raisins
salt
pepper
maple syrup (to taste)
Vigorously rub the roast with the bacon. Clean and wash the vegetables and cut them into pieces. Bring the vinegar to boil with some water or stock, then let it cool down a bit and add the meat, garlic, spices, and the vegetables. Let it marinade in a closed bowl for several days (but at least 24 hours) in a cool place.
Remove the horse meat from the marinade and roast it in the lard. Then slowly add the marinade, together with the vegetables and the spices. Braise it in the oven for 2 to 21/2 hours at 350 degrees. Remove the bay leaves, the cloves and the juniper berries from the gravy. Strain the gravy, and perhaps thicken it with some flour. Add the raisins and season it with salt, pepper, and maple syrup. Serves 4.
One man's pet is another man's dinner. We should spend more time and money trying to save humans.
I've been buying 'the good stuff', Alpo sliced, for my labrador. Heated up with that gravy, and with some mashed pertaters, why that stuff looks pretty tasty.
I agree with you about domestic horses and the trust we've asked them to give us...there must be an unspoken pact that says, "I won't eat you (or hurt you, for that matter).
It says something about our humanity that we recognize and value companion animals, as well as working animals. Food animals should probably be raised as food animals, but then you have PETA screaming about the inhumanity and cruel treatment of those too.
Sweet-and-Sour Mr. Ed
Blackened Black Beauty
Silver Kabobs
Trigger Picata
Seattle Slew Stew
I believe in the slaughter of horses for food, especially those that kick humans or unable to be domesticated. Some horses are just mean and eating them to me is just payback.
Horses can live to be 30+ years old. Either slaughter them or buy them and then care for them properly for the next several decades. What really bothers me is so-called rescue groups that take in horses promising to care for the the rest of their lives and then somehow they haven't planned on the COST.
Result is the horses are malnourished or flat out starved to death. Slaughter is quick and kinder IMO. We have a twenty year old mare that we will keep the rest of her life. She goes thru almost a bale of hay a day plus some oats. Multiply that by the thousands of unadoptable wild horses, surplus domestic horses, problem horses, etc. Better to put them to good use.
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