1184 Horses and Donkeys ?

Can't help chuck, the only donkey I am aware of is in England, speculating in Property, he does follow the horses though, so, there might be something in it :confused:

Those miniature donkeys featured in an edition of ItalyMag are threatened largely due to their popularity as meat for human consumption.

Don't know if they distinguish between horse and donkey when selling the meat though.

Read William Black's "Al Dente - The Adventures of a Gastronome in Italy". A good read.
Essentially he travels around Italy munching anything and everything remotely resembling food as he goes, anyway, when in Mantova he munches or chews upon Donkey Stew - Stracotto d'Asino, he even gives the recipe! Apparently you have to slow cook the stew for 7-8 hours in order for it to be sufficiently tender.
Not sure whether a butcher would differentiate between horse and donkey meat but in view of the necessary cooking time I guess they would have to.
Buon Appetito!
Anne2

In the Veneto, donkey is still popular in country areas. In the Valpolicella hills, for example, I've been served [I]spezzatino di asino[/I], a rather rich, sweetly tasting meat stewed in local wine (very good, accompanied by a richly flavoured Valpolicella [I]ripasso[/I]).

Across the border in France, the famous [I]sauçisson d'Arles[/I] is made, in part, with donkey meat.

Near where I live in Devon, there is an organisation, [URL=http://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/]The Donkey Sanctuary[/URL], that has done much to promote animal welfare for donkeys, first throughout Europe and indeed now throughout the world. Today donkeys are no longer such a prevalent beast of burden in Italy as they once were in the past, so my guess is that such dishes will soon become part of gastronomic folklore, enjoyed mostly for the taste memories that bring the remembrance of things past.

Marc

Unfortunately I have to confirm that in Italy horse meat and donkey meat is still part of the cuisine. In many areas they might have also a name in the local dialect, so you would not be able to recognise it on menus...or at the butcher's.
The Italian for "Donkey" is "asino" or "asinello" and the various regions have different ways of preparing donkey meat, with which they make stews or even salami.
In some cases you also have mule meat which in Italian is "mulo".
These dishes and the consumption of equine or other types of meat is decreasing now and, as Marc says it is becoming part of the folklore.
People are more and more encouraged to eat fish or poultry as part of low-cholesterol, healthy eating diet and in a few restaurants they are starting to offer vegetarian options.

I wonder if donkey/horse salami tastes as bad as red deer salami? We tried that last year and it was not nice at all - ok for cooking but not for eating 'fresh'.

Have you noticed the first ad at bottom of thread !!!!

You can order a Donkey from Texas and it looks like Post and packaging is available !!!!....just popping over to Ostuni to wrap one up and send it to George....it can help control the 'thugs' !!! :D

seriously, thanks for all the info.......

The problem with ordering a Donkey from Texas is that it would need time off regularly to justify the "fight for freedom", and, I don't think the thugs would be too worried, LOL, they're currently reading up on how to dismantle Alfa 155's to get at stoats ;) :)

I don't get any ads..........................

Alex now informs me we once had 'Burro' in Mallorca.. :eek: ....i must have been on the wine 'cos I don't remember......he says it was lovely...philistine !!!

Sorry to say I consumed Donkey a few weeks ago at a local agri-tourismo here in Sardinia, very taisty..... I also had wild boar, horse, deer, rabbit and goat.

All at the same time !!!!! Fancy wild boar ..what's that like ?

It was all just different meats on different plates, they all tasted great, some gamier than others but all very nice. But I am a big meat and fish fan.

Will, my first instinct with the giraffe was a wind up......but I'm not sure 'cos when we were in Australia , we went to a barbecue under the stars in the desert ( absolutely fabulous...tables all laid out with white table cloths /flowers etc and an astronomer - or would it have been an astrologist !- he didn't tell our fortune any way !! :rolleyes: )- shone huge light things in the sky and showed us all the constellations and then we could look thru huge telescopes to see for ourselves....
Ah memories ! :) ...sorry..went off on one there !!!...anyway we ate : Kangeroo ( very nice ) and emu sausages,( I kid you NOT !!! ) and something else which I can't remember ...Possum Pie perhaps ;) !!!.....Oh I know Ostrich...a bit tough .

There's an Emu farm up near Amandola, or they might be ostriches, honest, between Servigliano and Smerrillo...

I don't believe for one minute that you can cross an Appenine Pony with a Giraffe :rolleyes:

Ahhh, so gene splicing at work, he probably worried in case anyone finds out officially ;) have heard about the cross, a bloke I lived next door to in Great Lumley, went to University in Brisbane when he got his doctorate in Genetics, this area was one which interested him a great deal, mainly to provide affordable meat to the poorer countries, and, keep hedges trimmed, also, provide fun for the farmers children while the animal growing. A beast of burden as it matured, then a source of food...

"or human that ill advisedly walks around in pantomime horse gear for a laugh (some laugh!!!) seems to be shot as an involuntary action ... whereas in the cultivated, sophisticated Marche they contemplate whether any further leverage/bucks can be extracted from the situation before they shoot............."

Again, Will, spot on, I have seen some houses which have obviously been sold to people wearing the rear half of a comedy horse outfit, and, really, shooting the purchaser is probably the only thing left... OR, maybe they were bought over the internet from an Abruzzese bar owning unregistered estate agent type...

It must affect the accoustics, right...
Whereas, of course, in Le Marche, we have the open air eating and drinking, much more sensible, and easier to clean up afterwards. :)
Wowwwwww, just realised Will, we've come full circle, back to the title of the post..."horses and donkeys" wierd...

[QUOTE=alex and lyn]All at the same time !!!!! Fancy wild boar ..what's that like ?[/QUOTE]

Wild boar is sublime! Wild boar salami is simply out of this world (also, about the only way you can affordably get this meat in the UK/Eire).

Boring , serious question now....went out to lunch yesterday and Wild Boar was on Menu ( but didn't notice it until after we had order !!! :rolleyes: ) ...would it have been available now or is it seasonal ( i.e. only in hunting season ) ???

We actually had agnello , which was a plate of supposedly Lamb chops which looked gorgeous, but I suspect was the rear end of an old mutton sheep as it was so tough !!!!!

Is Agnello supposed to be Lamb or can it be Mutton ?????...mind you the chef was having a bad day ! :(

[QUOTE=alex and lyn]Boring , serious question now....went out to lunch yesterday and Wild Boar was on Menu ( but didn't notice it until after we had order !!! :rolleyes: ) ...would it have been available now or is it seasonal ( i.e. only in hunting season ) ???

We actually had agnello , which was a plate of supposedly Lamb chops which looked gorgeous, but I suspect was the rear end of an old mutton sheep as it was so tough !!!!!

Is Agnello supposed to be Lamb or can it be Mutton ?????...mind you the chef was having a bad day ! :([/QUOTE]

I believe there is a defined hunting season for wild boar but the rules are flexible as they are such a pest in parts of Italy. Certainly the hinterlands of Campania has built a thriving business out of wild boar products so they must be kept in supply year round.

oooh goody !!!! Will order it next time we go there ( we'll give them another try after the Lamb/Mutton !!!!..before we reserve judgement ! :) ) it'll nearly be hunting season soon won't it , anyway ???

Any views on lamb and mutton ???

[QUOTE=alex and lyn]oooh goody !!!! Will order it next time we go there ( we'll give them another try after the Lamb/Mutton !!!!..before we reserve judgement ! :) ) it'll nearly be hunting season soon won't it , anyway ???

Any views on lamb and mutton ???[/QUOTE]

Mutton comes into its own in slow cooked dishes. It would be great in something like a tagine for instance.

Otherwise stick with lamb.

Hi,

Puglia is a a region renowned for fruit trees, Olives, Vineyards and vegetabes in general. For generations the only animals present in Puglia have always been sheeps in fact Puglia makes a lot of different sheeps and goat cheese.

Horses are ever popular but are not kept on "bellavista" as will easily be stolen, horse trading is very profitable. so most people keep them in 2off the Road" private stables, just like I do.

Donkeys are not popular either as there are not many hills or mountains and therefore a horse can do the job just aswell.

Cows will find it very hard to find decent grass to eat.

Donkey meat is not very popular, is mostly eaten in the north.

Horse meat instead is a delicacy and even doctors tel yu to eat it when one is anemic or in need of a boost.

Davide & Ursula

[QUOTE=Davide & Ursula]Hi,

Puglia is a a region renowned for fruit trees, Olives, Vineyards and vegetabes in general. For generations the only animals present in Puglia have always been sheeps in fact Puglia makes a lot of different sheeps and goat cheese.

Horses are ever popular but are not kept on "bellavista" as will easily be stolen, horse trading is very profitable. so most people keep them in 2off the Road" private stables, just like I do.

Donkeys are not popular either as there are not many hills or mountains and therefore a horse can do the job just aswell.

Cows will find it very hard to find decent grass to eat.

Donkey meat is not very popular, is mostly eaten in the north.

Horse meat instead is a delicacy and even doctors tel yu to eat it when one is anemic or in need of a boost.

Davide & Ursula[/QUOTE]

When I asked a former flat mate (she was French and had said they ate horse as a matter of course) what horsemeat was like, she described it as tasting like beef but with a finer 'grain'. Would you concur?

Hi,

I would not say like beef, as Horse meat is quite sweet to the taste and beef tastes saltier to me. Somehow, I might be crazy, but it reminds me of ostrich meat.
It can be eaten like a carpaccio (Raw) with a sqeeze of lemon or like a minute steak.

It is not an everyday meal, rather a change to beef or other meat.

Davide

[QUOTE=Davide & Ursula]Hi,

I would not say like beef, as Horse meat is quite sweet to the taste and beef tastes saltier to me. Somehow, I might be crazy, but it reminds me of ostrich meat.
It can be eaten like a carpaccio (Raw) with a sqeeze of lemon or like a minute steak.

It is not an everyday meal, rather a change to beef or other meat.

Davide[/QUOTE]

Well, I know how ostrich differs from beef so that gives me a fair idea. Thanks!