Horsemeat's healing properties: Fact or fiction?
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.
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.