Horse meat, would you eat it?

Horse meat, I know it is quite unthinkable for many to eat it, but I have to say it is incredibly tasty and I absolutely love it. Before I came to Spain I found it absolutely unthinkable, poor things! You don't eat horses!  But in Spain they do and they love it. Actually with the recent crisis horse meat is on the rise. I read an article the other day that stated that over 5000 horses are being processed for food every month as families cannot afford their upkeep. Slaughtering has increased by 31% in the first quarter and the abondonment of horses has increased by 80% on last year. As the shelters have no means to keep these horses as they now have no government subsidies they are sent off to the knackers yard to be turned into food. So for those who like horse meat, supply is on the rise! Hopefully prices will come down as it is a rather expensive meat. Anyone fancy a horse-meat hamburger?  It may sound horrible but it is one of the juiciest burgers you will find. It wasn't until my wife gave it to me without knowing what it was that I actually got hooked on it. 

So with all this said I was just wondering if anyone has grown to love what was once an "unthinkable" dish before they came to Spain or are there still unthinkable dishes that you refuse to try?

This message was last edited by mac75 on 25/09/2012.

I have been vegetarian for just over 36 years (no meat, fish, chicken or eggs) and I have to say I find the idea of eating any kind of meat unthinkable, your question though, is interesting in terms of how most meat eaters categorise animals as either pets or food.

In my view and, I accept it is not shared by many (though I might wish it was so) all animals enjoy kindness and comfort as well as feeling fear and pain and for me that makes it unthinkable to put them through the slaughterhouse process, I would much prefer there to be less animals and breeds around than have them farmed for meat.  My family comes from a farming background and my great grandfather was a gamekeeper so I grew up with farm animals and game and saw animals go from birth to the slaughterhouse to the table and I gave up eating them as soon as I was able to express an opinion and enforce it. To me it seems hypocritical to say "ah we don't eat the cute or intelligent ones"

 I must confess the thought of eating horse meat makes me very uncomfortable although I have eaten it once about twenty five years ago.

Our young family were in the south of France, unable to speak a word of French but entered a quite classy restaurant . The menu was totally in French & the waiter spoke no English, so we just selected a soup & main course. It wasn't until we returned to our hotel to look at the translation we realised we had eaten horse. We didn't tell the kids for about fifteen years!

 My daughter went to France on an exchange when she was 15. The toilet was outside and all the meat was hanging in there much to her horror.

Then they served dinner the first day and explained it was horse meat, she has been a vegetarian ever since. Not her best holiday.

Patricia

No I would never eat horse meat.

However, I also think that they shouldn't be serving "exotic", unusual meats to children, especially when their parents are not there to give them some sensible advice and protect them.

Yes I would and I have. In Spain and France. As a previous poster has says, you can make lovely burgers from it.

Yum.

 Knight99

I don't see anything exotic about a horse, maybe a crocodile or a snake I would call "exotic" (both of which I have eaten) and why would you need to protect children from horse meat? Would you protect them from beef? whats the difference? a part from the fact that people don't eat it in the UK. I can understand that you consider it unthinkable as you do not see horses as being a natural food source, but I'm not sure I understand what advice you would give against it?

Has anyone eaten any other foods in Spain that they "considered" unthinkable before?

My wife loves sheeps brains "sesos", it is still "unthinkable" for me to even try them and as she can't disguise them as anything else I will probably never try them. Just can't get over it, they are served in the skull which has been cut down the middle, so you can imagine the sight. Apparently they are delicious but I certainly do not feel that I am missing out!

 Sooooo

if Cow is beef; Pig is pork, Deer is venison; Sheep is lamb, what is horse?

Yea I have eaten Crocodile, snake & kangaroo but what grasshoppers & all the bugs that Northern Thailand eat? I failed on that.

Horse is Horse,  as Chicken is Chicken, as Turkey is Turkey and Rabbit is Rabbit

can't see the confusion.

Don't blame you on the Bugs though, couldn't see myself eating those either!

I can understand the vegetarian who won't eat meat of any kind and I can understand the difficulty that a meat eater might have with eating horse meat ie; in the UK, a horse is seen as a member of the family in the same context as a dog or a cat etc. However, would the case for NOT eating horse meat be overturned if you and your family were truly suffering from the economic crisis in Spain (or anywhere else)?  Or is it a case that the Spanish don't see their horses as being part of the family, as we do here in the UK? 

I'm thinking I'd eat anything if I was really hungry...anything edible, that is!  I'm also guessing that not all of the horses being slaughtered are actually being eaten by people.  Some of them must be going into animal feed?

 As a teenager i would go to a mobile keebab van after the pub kicked out,the owner was fined for h&s matters and it came out that the meat was horse that he was serving, best keebab i have ever tasted.

I recently went away camping for the weekend and a friend of mine had just returned from france where he had purchased some duck and it was the best duck i have ever tasted,when i said so and asked why we don't get duck like it he explained it was illegal to sell it here as the ducks were force fed this i had a problem with this as its cruelity but eating a horse slaughtered in a way to cause least suffering as possible i have no trouble with.

When in spain and france i am sure i have eaten alsorts of things i wouldn't have if i knew before what they were.

I've never tried horse meat and although the idea makes my stomach turn I suppose it's no worse than eating a cow, a pig or a lamb.

Oh how I would love to be a vegetarian 

I certainly can't entertain the idea of eating brains though.  I see them all the time in the supermarket and wonder who on Earth eats them.  Urgh.

Just glad I'm not starving yet!

I can't say I've ever tried horse meat either, well at least knowingly! But having been here such a long time it doesn't really shock me anymore. Many friends of mine swear by it, apparently you can cook it really well done and it will still be juicy all the way through unlike Beef which dries up straight away and turns into cardboard. So I will certainly try it!

Brains : Never! Wouldn't even consider it. I find it hard enough to eat octopus!

However there is still something that I haven't tried and really should, it is a really expensive delicacy in Spain as they are so dangerous to collect and cost around 100 euros a kilo.

Percebes -  Goose Barnacles, just the sheer sight of them is enough to put me off as they look like some Alien's toes, very unappetising. 

Lovely! Still think I would rather spend my money on something else though!

 Anyone for black pudding? YUM!

Thanks Ian for that one, I've seen those and always thought the same! But this really takes the biscuit. 

For those of you who haven't seen them before : 

The famous Baked Sheep's Brains! MMMM                 Robertt8696,   I'll take black pudding anyday!

Once you've had enough of the picture just say so and I'll remove it . I know it's disgusting and repulsive

but it is a culinary delight here!!!! Culture is culture. But I guess the first guy who tried this and actually discovered that it was edible must have been dying of starvation, just the thought of it makes me sick!! 

Aproveche!

Bring on the Horse meat hamburgers! 

This message was last edited by mac75 on 28/09/2012.

Yep, that looks pretty horrific and good point, who was that first person who though brains was a good idea??

Horse meat now seems quite acceptable in comparison 

Yep disgusting picture please remove it. I have now unsubscribed to this thread as I do not want to see these sorts of pictures or read about how simply yummy meat is - this is entirely my personal preference and no judgement on anyone else  simply that as a vegetarian I just find most of the discussion here upsetting.

 Most vegetarians such as Dalmata do not eat meat because they claim they couldnt eat a living thing, well what is a vegetable if it is not a living thing? It breeds by producing seeds, it grows as it ages, and it has a cell structure just as an animal does, it has even been proved that plants can "feel" pain, so whats the difference between  a carrot or a good horse steak?

Can anyone please say what horse meat looks and tastes like.  The reason I ask is that I have used a Spanish restaurant near Mazarron twice where the meat looks just like beef, but tastes decidedly different - it's got a kind of "earthy" cum "rich, past it's sell by date" taste that wasn't at all to my liking.  It's translated by the waiter as being "Ox" but I had my doubts and reading this thread I just wonder...