I want to shower you with sugar lumps

[venta]

Just because I'm curious:

Poll

This is assuming witting consumption rather than burgers of dubious origins.

Comments

[bopeepsheep]

I don't mind eating it, have done before and would again except for the fact that it doesn't like me. It isn't quite 'don't eat red meat' because I can eat some cuts/dishes very happily, although I suspect I may eventually give up most red meat.

[venta]

I presume you've eaten it in forn parts, rather than in the UK?

I've never seen horse on menus/for sale in the UK, but I'm not sure whether a butcher could sell it even if there were a market.

[bopeepsheep]

Yes, in Belgium and France. It's often to be found in the Sunday and Monday markets when we are down in Midi-Pyrenees.

It's not illegal to prepare or sell horse in the UK, nor to import it from Europe, but it has been very rare (for 'but horses are pets' reasons, and the general decline of horse numbers, rather than health or safety concerns) since the end of WWII. Gordon Ramsay said we should revive it a few years ago but I don't think anything much came of that. (The surge in rabbit consumption might be an indication that we're ready to revisit horse, but I doubt it.)

NB was a horsey kind of child, and much prefer them to, say, dogs. Just not in the least bit sentimental about meat.

[venta]

Oh, has there been a surge in rabbit consumption? That's probably explain why the rabbit I bought last year was so bastard expensive.

[sushidog]

I've had it in Switzerland; it's nice!

[venta]

This morning (following the news on the radio), the boyfriend reminded me that he once had horse sushi in Japan. Horse sushi sounds like the weirdest thing ever (not that I wouldn't try it!)

[bateleur]

Horse sushi sounds like the name of a spoof Twitter account!

[nalsa]

Or one of those "indier-than-thou" bands that spring up so often in Newmarket.

[uitlander]

It's a very dark meat. It makes an excellent steak and I occasionally brought slices of smoked horse meat back with me from Belgium.

[ceb]

I may just be being oblivious but I don't remember ever eating anywhere where it was on the menu.

[venta]

No, me either (or I'd have tried it!)

I have done a certain amount of eating in France and Belgium, but obviously not in the right places.

[lnr]

Oh drat - I *may* have eaten horse meat in France as a teenager, but my notoriously dodgy memory can't be sure. If so I certainly didn't dislike it, and I'd be 100% willing to eat it (again) in future as I'm pretty sure I *would* like it even if I haven't actually had it.

I have no objection in principle to it being in burgers, so long as they're well labelled.

[venta]

I have no objection in principle to it being in burgers, so long as they're well labelled.

Indeed! I wasn't going to use the poll results to conclude that it didn't matter if beefburgers were made of horse :) Also, more than worrying about whether I want to eat horse, I just find it slightly alarming that the food manufacturing process is such that the wrong stuff can sneak in without anyone noticing.

Most news reports have commented that in the UK people "won't" eat horse (and I think my perception confirms that). So... I suspect what we can most safely conclude is that people who read this LJ are not representative of the UK at large!

[lnr]

I think that's a conclusion I may have come to already even without the evidence of your poll :)

[motodraconis]

I was under the impression that it was illegal to eat discarded riding horses or pet horses as they will have had a lot of routine medication, so horsemeat comes from specifically farmed or culled semi-wild horses. I've not researched this thoroughly myself though. Though last time I was in France I saw a horsemeat shop - the meat is sold separately from a normal butcher as the regulations are strict in keeping the meat safe and not sourced in any way from a medicated ridden horse.
I ate horse sporadically as a child, but the last time was a delicious horse 'n sauce in Belgium. Very tasty.