Breathe in the aroma;change is in the air

Aromatics.....the reason for the season. The foods are heartier, the back drop becomes golden and my ass begs for a baked potato....Carbs are my cryptonite,what of it....

A French cook willoften use the phrase les aromates to describe not only herbs n spices that will go into her dish,but also the aromatic vegtables-carrots,celery,turnips and a plethora of the roudy onion(allium)family-of which the flavours all must balance and compliment each other.

Hippophagy.....its what's for dinner.....

Why don't we Americans eat Horse? Calm down you little Buck a roo let me explain....well its redder than beef and we Red Blooded Americans love us some RED Meat. It is a sweeter flesh than beef hence the need to dump ketchup could be averted. Texture beats beef as an old horse or colt will both have a tender quality without the pricey breeding or genetic tom foolery. Lean and unmarbled flesh should be a draw in this health concious time.
Now as I scratch my head the puzzle gets all SUDOKU on me when I think about all the horse consumed by our European brethern. From the French who we usually so closely watch what's on their plate (up to 4lbs annually per french person and one in 3 consume it regularly) Belgium, Italy, Germany, Russia and the Dutch to name a few. This is more lamb ,Veal or Mutton us Americans eat annually....In Japan it is becoming a very popular Sukiyaki dish rising to 3% of Japans meat consumed is Nelly the Horse.
Ohhh I know they are so smart and we would NEVER eat an intelligent beast...I put my bet on a Pigs intellect over a horse any day.
This equine beast has had his highs and lows in the worlds culinary history....let's dip into this trough and see what we find.......

Way back when Grandpa was a teen during the Stone Age, hunters gorged themselves north and south of the equator on Wild Horses. The Asiatic pastorialists who first domesticated this beast enjoyed its bounty as did the PRE Christian folks of N Europe;NOM NOM NOM. Then during the rise of the Middle Eastern Empire the taboo began... Romans refused to indulge and during early medieval times the horse was receiving the European Sacred Cow status. Some crazy papal decree kept starving Midievalans from having this rich protein . Then a few years pass(yes Pat my PHd of history everyone know more than a few years) French Revolution brought the Equine treat back to the Euro plate. By the 19th century is was WHATS FOR DINNER all across Europe minus Britain.( They said blech) By WW1 13 thousand tons eaten then by WW2 the trend reversed again. Why the green light red light acceptability of this protein source is so interesting. AND why did the Brits and americans avoid it all together?
I could blather on and on about the Mongol warriors feasting on the blood and flesh while washing it down with fermented horse milk, or about ......crap my Sciatica is donkey punching me in my back I gotta stop ......I'm not done with this so bare with me while I go lay on my back legs in air and a opium drip...