How to cook your horse

BRUSSELS, Belgium — Europeans may not be happy to eat horse disguised as beef, but the noble steed has long been part of the diet in much of the continent. Here are some recipes:

1) Tartare de Cheval (Raw, ground horse)

(translated from the online French horse butcher: http://boucherie-cheval.fr)

Ingredients:

25 oz horse tenderloin

3 oz capers

3 oz gherkins

3 oz shallots

4 egg yolks

2 oz grated parmesan

lime juice

Tabasco

Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper

Preparation:

Finely dice the horse meat.

Mince the shallots, capers and gherkins and mix them in with the horsemeat.

Season with lime juice, Tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Mix.

Form into four patties. Make a dip in the center of each patty and place an egg yolk on each one.

Serve raw.

The egg should be mixed into raw meat on plate. Best with toast.

2) Orecchiette con ragu di cavalo Pugliese (pasta with horse meat sauce)

(From the www.gustopuglia.com featuring recipes from Italy's southern Apulia region)

Ingredients:

18 oz orecchiette pasta

3 oz ground horsemeat

1 oz minced pork

14 oz tomato sauce

bay leaves

a small glass red wine

1 TB chopped carrot

1 TB chopped celery

1/2 onion

3 TB extra virgin olive oil from Apulia

salt and pepper

Preparation:

Chop the onion and put it in a saucepan with the olive oil, the chopped celery and carrot, and bay leaves. Sauté over moderate heat.

Raise the heat and add the ground meat, sauté quickly and deglaze with red wine.

Add the tomato puree, with salt to taste.

Lower the flame and cook over low heat for at least an hour.

Cook the orecchiette in a saucepan filled with boiling, salted water, drain and serve with the meat sauce. Finish the dish with a sprinkling of freshly ground pepper.

3) Foal goulash

(translated from the horse butchers Knoche & Sohn, in Helmstedt, Germany)

Ingredients:

2 and 3/4 cup foal meat

1 TB flour

22 fl oz meat stock

2 onions

4 ripe tomatoes

2 eggs

1 bunch of chives

4 TB olive oil

2 TB vinegar

1 TB butter

Curry powder, paprika, salt and pepper

Preparation:

Cut the onions into rings.

Heat 2 TB of the olive oil. Add the meat and stir until browned. Add the onions and cook over a low heat.

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, curry powder and pepper and sprinkle with a TB of flour. Stir well.

Gradually pour in the warm stock. Cover and simmer about 1 hour.

Slice the tomatoes and sprinkle with the olive oil and vinegar. Season to taste. Sprinkle with chopped chives.

Serve the goulash with spinatspatzle (spinach noodles) with the tomato salad on the side.

4) Snicli od konjskog mesa (Horse meat steak)

(translated from the Croatian recipe site: www.recepti.hr)

Ingredients:

Horsemeat steaks

olive oil

butter

rosemary

white wine

sugar

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a saucepan.

Add the chopped rosemary and fry for 1 minute.

Add chopped onion and fry, stirring until they begin to brown.

Add a little sugar and stir in until it starts to caramelize.

Add a little white wine and stir over the heat for 3-4 minutes.

Meanwhile fry the steaks in hot olive oil.

Serve the steaks with the sauce.