Horse meat has a slightly sweet taste reminiscent of a combination of beef and venison. Meat from younger horses tends to be lighter in color, while older horses produce richer color and flavor, as with most mammals. Horse meat can be used to replace beef, pork, mutton, venison, and any other meat in virtually any recipe. Horse meat is usually very lean. Jurisdictions that allow for the slaughter of horses for food rarely have age restrictions, so many are quite young, some even as young as 16 to 24 months old.
In Japanese cuisine, raw horse meat is called sakura (桜) or sakuraniku (桜肉, sakura means "cherry blossom", niku means "meat") because of its pink color. It can be served raw as sashimi in thin slices dipped in soy sauce, often with ginger and onions added. In this case, it is called basashi (馬刺し). Basashi is popular in some regions of Japan and is often served at izakaya bars. Fat, typically from the neck, is also found as basashi, though it is white, not pink. Horse meat is also sometimes found on menus for yakiniku (a type of barbecue), where it is called baniku (馬肉, literally "horse meat") or bagushi (馬串, "skewered horse"); thin slices of raw horse meat are sometimes served wrapped in a shiso leaf.
Horse meat is used in a variety of recipes: as a stew called pastissada (typical of Verona), served as steaks, as carpaccio, or made into bresaola. Thin strips of horse meat called sfilacci are popular. Horse fat is used in recipes such as pezzetti di cavallo. Horse meat sausages and salamis are traditional in various places. In Sardinia, sa petza 'e cuaddu or sa petha (d)e caddu (campidanese and logudorese for horse meat) is one of the most renowned meats and sometimes is sold from kiosks with bread - also in the town of Sassari is a long tradition of eating horse steaks (carri di cabaddu in the local dialect). Chefs and consumers tend to prize its uniqueness by serving it as rare as possible.