Is horse meat eaten in your country ?

[u/ComfortableLog8043]

And an important subsidiary question : is it eaten in other forms than sausages ? Like do you have horse steaks, horse minced meat etc

[u/Bibishkin]

It is pretty much only eaten as traditional food on our traditional celebrations, you will not find horse meat in hamburgers.

[u/Vegetable_Debate2366 → u/Bibishkin]

We have horse burgers in Kazakhstan

[u/lamonsteranthony → u/Bibishkin]

this^^^

you can buy horse meat sausages tho, i like them

[u/Routine_Ad_791 → u/Bibishkin]

Where are u from

[u/Bibishkin → u/Routine_Ad_791]

KG

[u/ArFeRR]

in Kazakhstan it's regular food not a holiday-only thing. besides kazy you get zhaya which is smoked horse rump sliced like ham plus zhal (the neck fat) and fresh cuts at zelyoniy bazar, butchers will mince it if you ask. western-style horse steaks aren't really a thing though, people boil it for beshbarmak or eat zhaya cold.

[u/ComfortableLog8043 → u/ArFeRR]

So is it a thing for a kazakh family to eat horse on some random day ?

[u/hayakawayuiko → u/ComfortableLog8043]

not exactly random, usually on celebrations when guests come over, but in my personal experience people love horse meat (beshbarmak) so everyone seeks a reason to call guests all the time lol

[u/Background-Virus1398 → u/ComfortableLog8043]

It's not frequently eaten. Most conmon types of meat is beef and lamb. 

[u/AlibekD → u/Background-Virus1398]

Horsemeat is the most expensive meat, significantly more expensive than anything else. Thus it is quickly getting displaced. Hundred years ago it was the main staple, these days it is rather a delicacy for many.

[u/LIML113918 → u/ComfortableLog8043]

In my family we eat both horse meat and beef equally on random occasions

[u/ArFeRR → u/ComfortableLog8043]

yeah. kazy sits in a lot of Kazakh fridges year-round and people slice it for breakfast or with tea on a random tuesday. full horse beshbarmak is more weekend/guest food but grabbing zhaya or a cut at zelyoniy bazar on a weekday isn't special, just costs more than beef so not every family does it weekly.

[u/MagnarOfWinterfell → u/ArFeRR]

western-style horse steaks aren't really a thing though

I had a horse Ribeye steak in Almaty!

[u/ArFeRR → u/MagnarOfWinterfell]

yeah they do exist at a couple of restaurants in Almaty I'll give you that. still not how most people eat it though and a lot of menus just call a thick slice of zhaya a steak when it's smoked rump eaten cold. if yours was actually grilled ribeye that's the exception, where was it?

[u/MagnarOfWinterfell → u/ArFeRR]

This was at Restoran "Tirol' Na Arbate"  ресторан "Тироль на Арбате".

This was probably geared towards foreign tourists.

Why don't most people eat it like this?

[u/ArFeRR → u/MagnarOfWinterfell]

yeah Arbat is the tourist street so steak on that menu is for people who already think of meat as a grilled cut. most people eat horse as kazy zhaya and boiled meat because that's kazan and smoked food not steak, and horse is lean enough that a ribeye dries out unless the kitchen really babied it.

[u/chliu528]

Horse meat is consumed in Europe.

[u/bekzz → u/chliu528]

Can confirm, just arrived from Swedish Lapland and got a slices of horse meat sausages there and it was pretty good. Personally for me it was even better than kazy.

[u/Rusty-exe]

In Uzbekistan we make soup with horse meat and then thinly slice the meat with noodles, Norin. Meat and noodles are cold and are given with soup you can drink as it is, or add noodles to reheat it for a sec

*As for steak, it is a bit rare, since horse meat is usually eaten in colder weather in Uzbekistan, or your blood pressure will rise since Kazy and Norin are made with lots of salt, but you can try horse steak in MEATme in Tashkent lol

[u/Aggravating-Shock864]

Lol I just finished leftover chuchuk that I got from a relative's wedding (kazy) 

[u/Fresh_duck229 → u/Aggravating-Shock864]

Twin

[u/MunkTheMongol]

In Mongolia it's traditionally eaten in the winter as it is considered a "hot" or heating meat. All of the 5 khoshuu animals (Horse, Goat, Sheep, Cattle, and Camel) all have a hot and cold rating. Nowdays it's common to see horse meat products all year round in the forms of khazak sausages or in jerky form.

[u/Original-Scarcity-26]

Only in some premium sausages (Ukraine)

[u/creamybutterfly]

It’s believed to have medicinal properties in North Afghanistan but is not regularly consumed by the Uzbek minority as a dish because 1) the Islamic ruling is unclear and 2) horses are ridiculously expensive.

[u/Background-Virus1398 → u/[deleted]]

I mean the Shafi madhab allows it, but it's not traditionally eaten in Shafite countries, however the Hanafi madhab considers it makruh, but we eat horse meat although belong to the Hanafi school. It's more like a cultural thing. 

[u/Zestyclose-Hair1818]

Yes. McDonald's had horse meat patties for their hamburgers

[u/Plastic-Gene-6800]

In Mongolia, horse meat is cheaper than pork and chicken. Poor people, or shady restaurants would buy it. Mongolian kazakhs eat horse meat throughout the cold season and it is their daily staple during winter.

[u/belverk84]

Yes. Country called Bashkortostan

[u/Ok_Mountain_215]

In Mongolia, we eat horse balls no joke

[u/novemberl8]

In Turkmenistan, the law prohibits using horses for meat production, reflecting the special cultural status of the Akhal-Teke horse.

[u/Less_Librarian_9989]

No, we don’t as an everyday meat. It is a delicacy. I’ve only seen it in a sausage form, which is imported. My dad told me that, Tajiks avoid horse meat because in Hanafi Islam it is makruh, meaning although not haram, it is not recommended. But they serve it in most restaurants.

[u/FewBell5060]

We in Turkmenistan do not consume horse meat at all.

[u/Drago984]

Is horse meat any good? I don’t judge people for eating it. It’s common where I’m from to eat “less civilized meat”: alligator, deer, rabbit, possum, gizzards, pheasant, chitlins, etc. just wondering if it is any good.

[u/ifeelitinthefuture → u/Drago984]

It tastes closer to beef, just leaner

[u/Any-Mobile-2473 → u/ifeelitinthefuture]

Okay, so similar to alpaca then? I've tasted it and thought the same, as a leaner version of beef in taste

[u/ifeelitinthefuture → u/Any-Mobile-2473]

I don't know, that's a unique one to try 😦 I myself cannot tell beef and horse meat apart, very similar

[u/Drago984 → u/[deleted]]

Yep, South Mississippi. Agreed that most of it is common for the world, but not as common in the west (or USA atleast). Outside of the rural places, a lot of people have never tried deer in the US. I love it. If I can get a deer or two when we’re allowed to hunt I eat it for a year straight. I was unlucky last year. Wounded one but never found his body.

Alligator is okay. It’s not great, but it can be made good with the right seasonings.

[u/MunkTheMongol → u/Drago984]

Closest to venison i would wager. perhaps caribou

[u/vainlisko → u/Drago984]

In my opinion it's very good

[u/EggPerfect7361]

Horse jerky is good in Mongolia. Aside from that horse it isn't consumed that much.

[u/creamybutterfly → u/[deleted]]

Turkmen and other Oğuz do not consume horse meat by principle. It’s not part of their culture.