Horse Meat · 4:26pm Dec 17th, 2016
Not for the squeamish.
Horse meat is back in the news this week. Eating the flesh of our pony friends is something that is simply not done in the UK, Ireland, the USA, and most of the rest of the world. Yet we take a perversely gleeful delight in sharing stories of other cultures doing it. The report of a Dutch café offering customers ‘My Little Pony’ burgers has spread far and wide via social media. This is indeed listed on their online menu. The fact that they use the English name implies it is a direct reference to our favourite show, which makes you wonder if they have negotiated a licence from Hasbro. What will come next? Will they launch a line of Rainbow Dash Lasagne, Pinkie Pie Sausages, and Rarity Kebabs?
Reading further, there is an interesting, if slightly unsavoury story here. The Unwanted Animal Kitchen (Keuken van het Ongewenst Dier), is an eatery run by pair of hippy artists, with the mission to make use of sources of meat which would otherwise be thrown away. In this case ageing ponies from an amusement park. Of course in many countries, eating horse meat is not seen as taboo, although it is not common. It is a thing in France and Italy, but in all my travels I never (knowingly) ate any (I have sampled other less-usual meals such a frogs legs). It seemed to be more a curiosity than a speciality, although I expect it is more common in some regions which I haven’t visited.
There are plenty of articles discussing the ethics of eating horse meat. It has been pointed out that logically, this is no different from eating cows, pigs, or many other species which regularly feature on the menu. There would be a certain hypocrisy about the USA and UK disapproving of foreigners eating horses, when we export horse carcasses for them to turn into food. Thinking things through rationally would either lead you to accept eating horses, or go vegetarian.
But while rational logic is the right way to address questions such as: How did life on earth arise? or Should Britain leave the European Union?, it is not so useful to answer other serious questions like: What shall we have for lunch? We feel we have a special connection with ponies and the idea that the burger on your plate came from a cute four-legged friend is enough to make you lose your appetite.
The idea that certain animals are not for eating is universal, even if the list of which ones varies enormously from country to country. This makes evolutionary sense. If food is abundant, you can boost your survival chances by being picky about what you eat, and select familiar options which you feel comfortable with. We may have acquired such an instinct as a way to avoid eating contaminated, or otherwise unhealthy food. Once this idea gets programmed into your head, it can be difficult to unprogram it. Hence people brought up in a religion prohibiting eating pork, sometimes continue to avoid it, even if they have stopped caring about any other religious instruction.
While others will take particular delight in breaking such taboos.
We do eat horse meat here in Finland, though it's not a common foodstuff by any means. My hometown has a burger restaurant where one of the dishes is "My Little Pony", with a hefty horse meat patty, beetroot compote, smoked cheese and BBQ sauce.
As for how it tastes... it's good. Kind of like a cross between beef and game meats like venison or elk; lean, tender, slightly gamy and slightly sweet.
Can attest from personal experience that horse is quite delicious. Dark, and quite lean, dry meat, but with a very unique and savory taste. I'd whole-heartedly recommend it, if you ever get the chance.
We're big, woozy, hypocritical squeamish two-faced bluffers about it here in Sweden, though. You'll never, ever see horse meat advertised directly, but nevertheless near every store has 'hamburger' meat as sandwich toppings, and various traditional sausages that make heavy use of horse while mentioning it in as small print as legally possible.
Think it's silly myself, but eh. People will be people.
I think the main difference between horses and other large farm animals, is that in places that dont tend to eat horses, the horse isnt just for hauling supplies, as in working For the human, but as a Ride animal, that works With the human. This I would think then acts to help make the horse appear more human, like Lenny?
Even now, if you want range, duration, capability, its difficult to beat the combination of a human on a horse, with a dog, and bow and arrow.
FYI, horse meat is perfectly legal in the US, but has to be advertised as such. However, from 2006 to 2011 it was illegal to render horses into meat within the US borders: they were shipped to Mexico and Canada, and sometimes meat was shipped back: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/01/is-horse-meat-legal-in-the-us_n_2966499.html
And actually even before that it looks like there hadn't been any approved slaughterhouses for a decade or more. Even now, some states (notably California) ban horse slaughtering or selling within their borders (the latter has some constitutional issues but that's another story).
However, there's basically no place in the US that sells horse meat (as far as I can find), so if you want to eat it, you have to do what huffpo did and import jerky.
I've had buffalo, though. Bit gamey, but not bad.
As long as the horses are slaughtered humanely I don't have an issue with it. For that matter, the same applies to cats and dogs. We got too many of the dang things that no one wants, and if they're gonna starve to death on the streets anyway... Cat and dog meat is illegal to sell in the US, though.
Mmm, frogs' legs. Feel like fish, taste like chicken. You can taste the evolution.
And yeah, the cultural taboos on which animals to eat are quite fascinating from an objective perspective. It seems almost silly until I actually try to picture a plate of something I didn't grow up treating as an option. Then some bit of my brain balks at the concept and the rest can't get in a word edgewise under the litany of "Nope nope nope."
Though I have never, and will never, eat horse meat, I have eaten some alligator. Alligator tastes weird.
4343330 You. Give me your hometown. Now.
Tried horse steak in France and donkey sausage in Austria. Both delicious.
I can see why people would balk at eating horse, but their reasons don't make much sense to me. As long as it doesn't involve cruelty to animals, I don't see a problem. To each his own (and his own taboos).
4343428
I remember that bison burgers were a menu item around Fermilab. Never tried one.
4343627
The best thing to come out of that scandal is that for a short period pony puns were fashionable. I had a lot of fun with that.
4343792 Like I said, gamy. It's pretty similar to beef other than that.
4343428
I've seen some bison ranches out in the country, in the state I live in. Back in my home county. It's picking up steam as an alternative to beef, but it's a bit pricey comparatively. It is good though.
I don't think we'll see Rarity Kebabs, but Rarity S'Mores sounds like a distinct possibility.
I've had kangaroo. I liked it. Like beef, but with an even beefier flavor, if that makes any sense.
4343337 A couple of years ago, at the height of the horse meat scandal, one of the best pubs here in my large-ish hometown in Sweden proudly advertised and served horse chili. It was delicious.
However, the pub owner is 1) Dutch, making him immune to silly Swedish taboos, and 2) a well-known stickler for the quality of his ingredients, so you knew you weren't eating some failed racehorse full of steroids and antibiotics.
Oh god, I need to update my list of Dutch stereotypes!
Oh, the irony that this post showed up in my feed.