Darya In Italy: Vacanza, Cena di Cavallo

Some of you may find this unusual or even consider it animal cruelty, but in parts of southern and northern Italy horse is a very traditional meat to eat. It's very lean and healthy, and horses cannot withstand being fed steroids or antibiotics, so it is also very natural compared to much of the beef and chicken you find in the US. Since it is a traditional meat in Puglia, I wanted to try it. I am here to try new things and experience everything I can.

While visiting Ginosa we went out for a horse dinner. The place was not a traditional restaurant, but the back of a butcher shop. There we several tables and a brick wood oven where the butcher cooked everything. It was actually very delicious and after a 5 course meal of only meat, no veggies or other side dishes (besides cheese), we felt good. A normal dinner like this and I would have felt overly full and a little sick from eating so much, but it was quite the opposite. Since I love spicy food we were able to get the owner to share his special homemade spicy peppers with us. He made me eat one in front of him, I think he was expecting me to sweat and freak out a little. They were spicy! But I was able to handle it and ate more of them. Overall it was an excellent meal and experience.