Researchers at a Polish university have put mare’s milk to the test, with delicious results. Sixty volunteers were enlisted to taste-test ice cream and yoghurt made of horse milk in a bid to introduce more ‘functional foods’ to Western diets. Functional foods offer additional benefits than just sustenance – think ‘superfoods’ like specially bred produce, foods enriched with probiotics, and naturally power-packed products. 

Mare’s milk is naturally high in lactose, has a low casein-to-whey ratio, contains nutritious bioactive compounds, proteins, cultures and enzymes, and is slow to digest. It is also closer in makeup to human milk than conventional cow’s milk, which could be easier to digest for those with sensitivities to cow dairy products.

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The researchers wanted to see if the health benefits of mare’s milk were worth the taste and according to participants, the ice cream and yoghurt are top-notch. Describing them as creamy with a pleasant texture and visual appeal, the horse ice cream samples were enriched with yoghurt cultures as well as inulin – a powerhouse for gut flora.

Consumption of horse milk isn’t a new phenomenon in fact, it has been a staple of the Mongolian diet for millennia. It’s important to note that in Mongolian culture, the treatment of horses is significantly better than the industrialised Western dairy industry – and with a life expectancy of 20 years or more, the ethics of a horse dairy industry would need serious scrutiny.

How to make ice cream

If you can’t get your hands on a few litres of horse milk, don’t fret. We’ve got plenty of incredible ice cream recipes here if you want to give it a shot.

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