A horse is a horse, of course, of course...

..., especially when it's "basashi." That's Japanese for "raw horse meat." In Japan, it's a delicacy (As Noriko sometimes tells me I'm not, when I exhibit ungentlemanly behavior, as in,"You're not a delicacy.").

J-Ma and J-Pop headed far south, a couple of weeks ago, for Kumamoto City's Country Gold Festival. In Kumamoto, horse is a regular dish. I was sitting around trying to think of how it may have been started. My best guess is that being hungry was the first step, long ago. J-Pop was happy to have some sent in a cooler, upon his return home.

It was about $20 for maybe a dozen thin slices. I only ate two of them. One for a taste test and the other just to make sure the results were conclusive. I can't say it had much of a taste. It was a deep, dark red, without any of the little white, fatty lines that is seen in beef. It's supposed to be quite healthy when compared to the other red meat.

I did feel a little guilty, afterwards. Horses are our friends, right? I mean, I wouldn't eat dog, would I? Or would I? I definitely wouldn't eat cat. There's a bear farm up north and I wouldn't mind taking a swipe at having a couple of bites of that (cooked). J-Ma explained that eating horses look different than riding horses. I mean, milking cows do look different from the other variety.

During our meal, I couldn't help but try to make a few horse jokes. "I'm so hungry I could eat..." or "Hi Ho Silver, Away!!!!" as I swallowed. Unsurprisingly, I was the only one that got them.

"Horse! The other red meat!"

"Got horse?"

"Horse. It's what's for dinner."

You get the idea.

These are a couple of pics of Charlie Nagatani. He's been organizing Country Gold for the past 20 years. His mission is to create bridges of friendship between cultures through country music. I think plans for the first Country Gold in China have been underway. This year's headliner was the Charlie Daniels Band. J-Pa's review: "He didn't move around much."

FOR MORE INFORMATION: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basashi This entry has some interesting information concerning the history of eating horsemeat. There's also a list of countries and their horseeating practices. I'm not alone, after all. Don't judge me too harshly. How does the saying go? Don't judge me until you've ridden a mile in my saddle?

That's all. I better wrap it up. My voice is getting hoarse. Please comment and give me any more puns you can come up with.

Signed,

Wilbur