Horse meat, would you eat it?

From my recollection it was no different in taste or texture to beef. 

Mutton is meat from a mature cow and I believe ox is meat via a mature castrated bull. In both cases I think the meat would either have to be cooked very slowly for hours or more probably be hung to tenderise it thus giving it an acquired rich earthy taste.

 

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Mutton is actually meat from a Sheep, not a cow and tends to be very tough so you do need to cook it for a while to soften it.

However ox, which is as you say, from a castrated bull, normally  at least 3-4 years old is probably one of the best meats you can find and anything but tough. Actually it is very hard to find authentic ox these days as it is so expensive to produce. In Spain many places may offer ox (Carne de Buey) but it is normally just normal beef, cut thickly. You would need to go to a specialist meat restaurant to really enjoy ox, and more than often it is served on a hot stone with rock salt pretty much raw so you can cook it to taste. It tends to be served as a "chuleton" a very thick cut steak. You can easily tell the difference between authentic ox and normal beef, as it has a really deep red colour and is full of fatty threads.  it is not gristle but fat and makes the steak very very juicy and succulent. Logically as the bull has lived for longer it has had more time to generate fat and holds very little water. As far as flavour is concerned ox is out-standing, it is much higher in proteins than simple beef and far more tastier, but you pay for it too.

So I doubt very much that what you ate was ox as if you are a meat lover I am yet to find someone who doesn't like "Buey", it's like prefering a rump steak to a filet steak, very unusual. It was probably just normal beef they gave you, and maybe past it's sell by date!

Hence the taste! I would also assure you it was not horse, horse is a very well considered meat in Spain, and is not cheap, so if they were serving Horse, they would say it with pride and not use it as an expensive substitute. Makes no sense.

 

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 acer in response to what do they look like, once cooked they all look the same but when raw it is fairly simple to tell the difference.

Thought it would be easier with pictures!!

Horse meat has a very distinctive burgandy colour as you can see :

 

Ox meat (BUEY) has is  red in colour with the fatty threads in it.

 

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

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Many thanks for your replies Mac75, interesting stuff.   In actual fact it may have been horse meat, it was a bit browner than usual.  But there again it really wasn't that good, so perhaps not.

I had not realised the Spanish hold horse meat in such high regard, but nevertheless I prefer to avoid it, just a culture thing I suppose.  I cannot eat rabbit either as we used to keep them as pets.  Usually I opt for a "solomillo - muy echo" (spellings probably wrong) and I think I'll stick with that.

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Back in the early 90's when we drove from Santander to the Algarve via parts of Spain. I think it was valedolid or somewhere on that wonderful journey.( especially as I was driving a GSX 750) we stopped over night and I had ordered the T bone. It was about 2' long and extremely red in colour.I had 1 bite and, for me it was a little to high and that's coming from someone, who as a child, would always come across game being hung in dark back rooms.
Anyway, point is, I always felt that was horse meat, donky or even mule.
I would have eaten it had it not been high as for knowing it was horse? That's it right there, knowing what you eat. That is when the concept is difficult to swallow.
It's only like a Chinese take away using seagull and hiding the flavours with Mono sodium glutamate.
You just don't know, but ooo that was a lovely take away🇪🇸:)

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 My father was a Japanese prisoner of war, and he used to say that they ate anything it didnt matter what it was, anything to supplement a very poor diet, but he said it was strange how the "educated" commanding officers died first, due to the fact they would not eat most things!

Horse would have been heaven to father and his mates!

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As somebody who was born and raised in Africa, my view is that if it moves on land, I will eat it (and before anybody says anything, humans are not included).

In Africa an animal is your wealth and your survival. You do not waste any part of it. Horse is as good as cattle or buffalo or warthog or snake when it comes to food (have eaten these and more).

I am actually about to have buffalo burgers for lunch. I have yet to find a place in the UK that does horse meat but if I find one I would be looking to buy. Why would I eat other meat than beef, well I have not yet found British beef that tastes good enough to eat without assistance from curry or some sauce or spiced up.

I always look foward to my trips to Spain because I enjoy the Spanish meat.

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I had buffalo burgers in New York, brilliant low colestoral.
But did you know Lions don't eat muscle tissue as its toxic? We're the only species that throws away the best bits.

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If the American's can eat Rocky Mountain Oysters surely the Brits can eat horse meat, there's no comparison!

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 I love meat but I would not willingly eat Horse any more than I would eat a dog, some animals are best left off the menu due to the relationship they have with us.

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Ok but what if they are reared just for meat?  I think intrinsically there is nothing wrong with eating any meat, I think it's

the fact that we are not used to it, that makes one uneasy. The thought of eating dog makes me feel ill, but not because I have a

relationship with dogs, I'm not thinking "oh poor thing! stewed beagle! How could they?", but more because I have never considered it

a food source before and it really moves away from the norm. The koreans do not raise dogs as pets but as food as we do pigs, so I

think it only boils down to habit at  at the end of the day. I don't think that because we have a relationship with certain animals means

we shouldn't eat them. If that was  the case what would happen if everyone started to have pet pigs, would everyone give up their

bacon? I think not! :) 

 

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My friend has a pet pig and often they go to slaughter they key he says is not to name them, then your in trouble.they wont eat a cow in India? Dad always said if they didn't see the cow as sacred then it would cure the starvation problems. You know if the lights went out and we had no electric on tap 3 days time you be debating whether to kill your neighbour never mind a bloody horse.

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Very true! :)

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As a horse owner of many years and breeder of 2 beautiful  competition horses, I would not eat horse meat, although I did try a small piece in France many years ago. It actually is similar to beef but leaner.

what I strongly object to is not the eating of horse meat or any other meat, but the conditions in how the animals are kept and that there are short distances to the slaughter houses. Sadly, many horses that people do eat have travelled hundreds of miles by road in terrible conditions with no water for hours on end. So ask yourself why would you want to eat meat from a stressed animal, it will not be good for you. If you eat meat and I do, always buy and eat meat from good sources, buy better quality and smaller amounts. We are supposed to be civilised, but there are disgraceful practises that go on with horse meat trade, so beware. 

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Very valid point, thanks for the eye-opener

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I agree 100% pasha.  We are fortunate enough to live next to a free range/organic farm and I buy our chicken, eggs etc from him.  I did however eat horse meat in France and other places when i was very young and somewhat ignorant to the treatment of animals.  But I remember, I did like it.

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Unfortunately animal rights is big issue, but there are farms that are well run. I suppose the slaughter houses are even more of an issue. I remember what Paul Mcartney once said : " if slaughter houses has glass wall we would all be vegetarians". As the Spanish say " what the eyes don't see the heart doesn't feel" which is probably why it still goes on.

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it has even been proved that plants can "feel" pain

Pseudo-scientific claptrap. Utter garbage with no scientfic basis whatever.

And... incidentally, even if they did (which they don't) it is your moral imperative to consume the life-form with the lowest levels of perception and sentience. That probably incudes some posters on these forums...

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 if you saw a plant dying of thirst could you pass it without feeding it?

If so, then your not remotely in tune with the life on this planet.

Just think about it for a second before you call me a nut.

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 People pass by human beings dying of thirst or going hungry and aren't for stopping and buying them lunch, let alone watering plants.

Anyway how do you know it's dying of thirst and not something else? 

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