cavallo

Although not as widely eaten as in France, you may still run across it, especially in the Veneto and Lombardy–regions that saw some of the biggest cavalry battles in Italian history, starting (or so they say) back to the tail end of the Roman Empire, in the late 5th century AD, when Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, defeated Odoacer, king of the Heruli and of the eastern Roman empire in the valley of the Adige.

In a peasant economy, nothing went to waste, and the people developed a taste for dead battle horse and created several recipes for it, including the Veneto's famous stew, pastissada.

Around Italy you'll also find horses made into salami, bresaola and other sorts of sausages and cured meats—and for the brave, horse carpaccio.

The Slow Food Presidium includes a rare salame of smoked horse meat, Carne di cavallo affumicata.