As served in Trattoria La Molinara in Verona, Italy. Incredible quality and taste!
Bleu, just the way I like it, never tried horse but for beef the saying goes:
Knock it’s horns off, wipe it’s bum, and twice over a candle.
How does horse compare to other meats?
Mmm, I had horse many times in my life. To me it tastes like horse. I’d say it has a bit more taste than beef (beef is quite bland IMHO, not really a fan) so more similar to pork in this regard. But less fat than pork. It is about as chewy as good lamb. For me personally horse is a better lean steak than beef. But beef is better when it has a lot of fat. Basically, horse meat has taste, but in beef fat has taste.
I like me a rare steak, but that looks barely cooked at all
We eat a lot of raw meat in Europe. And that’s the kind of rare steak you’ll get not only in Italy, but also in France, UK and elsewhere. We also have dishes like tartare and carpaccio which are just straight raw meat.
That’s disgusting. And I’m not saying that from personal preference, I’m saying that from a modern understanding of food borne illness and parasites.
Nope, it’s completely fine to eat cow or horse meat cooked like that (but not ovines, pigs or birds). It’s very common in Italy. Never heard of food poisoning from this kind of meat. I do hear of food poisoning from chicken meat or seafood, though, as they are more prone to host dangerous parasites. I would still carefully select the meat vendor or restaurant, though.
That’s totally fine and safe in countries with high quality food and high standards of husbandry.