Horsemeat's healing properties: Fact or fiction?

By Singgir Kartana

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Horsemeat is generally frowned upon for different reasons. Some consider it distasteful and others would say they do not have the heart to slaughter the hard-working graceful animal for food.

But in Yogyakarta, famous for its wide array of traditional delicacies, there are two roadside vendors offering horsemeat satay, one on Jl. Sudirman near Hotel Santika and the other at Kranggan market, less than one kilometer away.

Eko Tamtama, 35, who sells satay on Jl. Sudirman, says the idea came in 1997 when he almost gave up thinking what speciality could attract hungry folks and new customers on the street.

"I thought I would at last be able to rid myself of competitors," said the high school graduate from Boyolali.

Horsemeat satay is prepared in the same way as "conventional" chicken or mutton satay. The seasonings are the same: chili sauce, salt and pepper served with peanut sauce or ketchup. Customers say horsemeat is as tasty as mutton or beef, except that it is more fibrous.

Eko buys the meat from a slaughterhouse in Bantul, just south of Yogyakarta, at Rp 25,000 per kilogram. The horses are bred especially for consumption.

On busy days, Eko sells up to eight kilograms of horsemeat a day, earning some Rp 100,000. A portion that contains 10 satay sticks costs just Rp 5,000.

Horsemeat is claimed to have certain healing properties. Many believe it is good to cure skin diseases, asthma and -- for the healthy -- the low-cholesterol satay is said to be good to warm the body and improve appetite among children.

Aris, 35, an employee of a local media company reported that the acute asthma he suffered for 16 years was gone after he consumed horsemeat regularly for three months.

"My hair stood on end when I was about to consume the meat for the first time. But then I convinced myself that it is just as good as other meats," he says.

Budiarto, 40, has a different story. His acute headache disappeared after he got addicted to horsemeat satay over the past three months.

So, people go to the warung (foodstall) to consume horsemeat satay to cure their ailments rather than to savor it as a rare delicacy.

Pessimists say that the numerous reported healing properties of horsemeat are a myth rather than a fact. No scientific studies have proved it.

"There has been no research on the nutritional value of horsemeat, perhaps because it is not generally consumed," says Endin Paryanto, chief of the nutrition department at Sarjito General Hospital, Yogyakarta.

He says there could be truth in the reports that claim horsemeat can cure ailments like asthma and eczema.

"To say that a disease can disappear because an individual had a strong belief in the meat's healing property is wrong because physical ailments cannot be cured with psychological effects alone."

Whatever people say about horsemeat, it has enriched Yogyakarta with more food choices.