Have you ever eaten horse meat? Horses are not unusual animals, but
In fact, horse meat itself has a very high nutritional value, and the taste of eating is also very good.
Kazakhstan, for example, which in the past was called a "people on horseback", has a very deep relationship with horses, and even regards horses as an indispensable part of their lives.
Not only do they breed horses in large quantities in their daily lives, but they also make them into rich dishes and put them on the table. It can be said that horse meat in these countries has been carved into part of the national culture.
Horse meat is even more protein-rich than beef. And because the horse itself is very good at sports running, unlike cattle and sheep are relatively quiet animals, easy to "tun fat", so the fat content of the horse is very small, that is to say, most of the horse meat is lean meat, which is not fond of eating fat friends, is simply a blessing.
Not only will horse meat taste better than beef and mutton, but eating horse meat will not make people overweight.
At the same time, horse meat is rich in unsaturated fatty acids, which can promote metabolism and allow the body's functions to function more efficiently and healthily.
Therefore, eating horse meat can not only effectively prevent arteriosclerosis, but also anti-aging and make your skin appear more shiny.
But although horse meat has so many advantages, eating horse meat seems to be very beneficial to health, but horse meat in the world, it is still a relatively niche food, in the world's diet is not very frequent, far less than beef, lamb, pork, chicken and other meats that we can see everywhere in our daily lives.
Especially in China, because of the influence of our country's long-standing agricultural civilization,
In addition to being influenced by the traditional history and culture of our country, another important reason why horse meat is less eaten is that its feeding cost is very high.
We can see by looking at the appearance of the horses,
Horses look very robust, they have very little fat on their bodies, most of them are muscle. In addition, the horse's nature is to love sports and be good at running, so the consumption of food by horses is also very large.
But it is precisely because they are good at exercise that they are relatively low in the conversion ratio of food to meat. So after we feed the same amount of the same food to the horse and the pig, the weight gain of the horse is much smaller than that of the pig, which also invisibly increases the cost of raising the horse.
That is to say, compared with the average pig, cattle and sheep and other livestock, the breeding of horses has no cost advantage at all. The cost of raising horses is high, and the market price of horse meat will be expensive, not as close as the price of chicken and pork, so there are naturally fewer people raising horses.
Not only that, but the horse's food requirements are also more picky than those of cattle and sheep, and the horse's feed is generally more delicate. This is mainly because the digestive system of horses is different from that of animals such as cattle and sheep, and it is relatively fragile.
For example, cattle have four stomachs, the range of food acceptance is very wide, and they usually have the ability to "regurgitate" so that their digestive system can digest food faster.
But the horse has only one stomach, and after eating, its digestive system is far less able to convert energy quickly than the cow, so the horse's growth rate is also slower than that of the cow.
In addition, because the horse is an animal that is naturally very good at running, it has been a very valuable animal since ancient times, and before humans entered the era of industrialization, horses have been the most important means of transportation for humans.
In ancient times, our postmen traveled to all corners of the country, and they also sent letters or delivered messages by riding horses. When the two armies are at war, there will also be intelligence personnel who ride special horses to monitor every move on the battlefield, also known as "detective horses".
Moreover, in ancient times, a "post road" was specially built for horses like today's highway system, and even the emperor in ancient times needed to use horses to pull a carriage.
In ancient times, the status of horses was no less than that of today's cars, and the ancient people liked "sweat and blood BMW" and was like the sports cars that today's "local tycoons" liked, which was a symbol of status.
Moreover, horses have long played an important role in human warfare.
Even in the Tang Dynasty of China, Tang Taizong Li Shimin carved stone tablets for the six horses that had followed him all the way to the south and the north when he fought in the world, in order to commemorate them, known as the "Six Horses of Zhaoling".
It can be seen that whether it was used in ancient times for transporting and transmitting letters, or for the killing of knights in war, horses have always been able to play a role much higher than other animals, so horses have a higher status in the hearts of the people, far higher than pigs, cattle and sheep and other general livestock.
The high status of horses in ancient times has also been passed down to the present, people have a sense of affinity for horses, and naturally regard horses as "friends" of humans, so this is another important reason why people rarely eat horse meat.
Nowadays, only in Xinjiang can be seen in China, horse meat can be seen.
On the streets of Xinjiang's Ili region, smoked horse meat and smoked horse intestines can also be seen everywhere, which also reflects China's diversified ethnic characteristics.
Of course, although there are fewer people who eat horse meat, it is not impossible to enjoy it in today's life. However, as an animal that accompanies the development of human beings, horses can also be said to be a great hero, so in countries like China that have not been deeply influenced by nomadic culture, the acceptance of horse meat is still not so high.