In mid-September. was the web magazine Kjötbókin, www.kjotbokin.is, formally opened, when the first chapter on lamb was made accessible.
The meat book is based on the Icelandic meat book from 1994, where parts of the meat carcasses are listed with descriptions of the type of meat in question; bone structure and muscle name. Now another chapter is ready, but it is about horsemeat. The web magazine is a collaborative project between Matís and the agricultural associations, graphic design was done by PORThönnun, the programming was done by Einar Birgir Einarsson and photos were taken by Odd Stefán Þórisson.
The project manager of the web-based Meat Book is Óli Þór Hilmarsson. He says that its goal is to gather information in one place about the names of muscles and how they are cut, and that there will be connections to recipe websites, utilization figures, published reports, recordings, book chapters and articles related to the type of meat in question. That is to say, that there will be everything you need to know about meat in one place and that the project is under its working title: "Information service about Icelandic meat".
Óli Þór says that in Iceland there are certain prejudices against horsemeat. "It is clear that there is always some demand, at least for foal meat, but the supply is not great. The nations we look up to in terms of cuisine, such as Italy, Spain and France, are big on horsemeat and use it in a variety of ways. I think it's only a matter of time before we Icelanders accept the horsemeat and go to see all kinds of horsemeat products, including sausages. According to a new survey by Matís, which was conducted last summer, consumption of horsemeat is insignificant in Iceland, or about 10 times a year among Icelandic men and five times among women. Horse meat is extremely tender meat and the utilization compared to bones is good. The main thing is that the fat can be a nuisance; both that sometimes it is full of her and then she has to crave if she gets too old. Horses are monogamous like pigs and therefore do not need time for fattening like bulls and lambs. Therefore, it should be easy in modern meat processing to prevent the development of horsemeat. "
Óli says that Icelandic horsemeat is fully comparable to horsemeat in Europe. "This is what meat buyers in Italy told us during the export there. The fatty acid composition of Icelandic horsemeat is much healthier than European horsemeat, but the main thing was that Italians complained about the small size of carcasses compared to other breeds of horses. "
Work has begun on the chapter on beef, but then the white meat takes over. It is estimated that it will take about two months to complete each chapter.
For more information Óli Þór Hilmarsson and Gunnþórunn Einarsdóttir.
This article is taken from Bændablaðið from 19 January. (http://bondi.is/lisalib/getfile.aspx?itemid=5315).