Horse Meat: Sourcing, Preparing, Eating

[shelora]

Does horse meat appear on restaurant menus in Montreal? I have put out the query to all the Canadian regions.

If you've eaten it, how was it served and did you enjoy it?

Thanks,

Shelora

[hodge-podge]

Try La Palette in Kensigton for horse tenderloin and Batifole in the east end for horse tartar.

[piperdown]

If you want to try to at home Whitehouse meats in St Lawrence Market will get it for you if you special order it.

If you've never had it, it's definitely worth it. Horse meat is awesome.

[shelora]

Thank you all for the great info. You are all beautiful.

If we see boar, bison, deer, and elk on menus, why not horse? Appreciator, is it because horses are pets to so many that you are having a hard time with the concept? I must say I would have a hard time with dog or kitten on any menu. So far.

I've put the call out to the other Canadian forums, just to see who is eating horse in Canada.

I'm kinda excited about this new menu option. Vancouver and Nikuya meats, here I come.

Nwyles, would you ever consider serving horse as a special?

[carswell]

It's a regular feature on the menus of a few places and puts in an occasional appearance on a few more. Nearly all are French bistro-type establishments. A while back, in her Hour column, our own MaeveH wrote:

Although Europeans love horsemeat, anglophones are reluctant to eat Black Beauty. Aux Deux Canailles (256 Roy E.; 844-0222) serves equine tartare, with an adorable raw quail egg in a half-shell on top. Le Continental (4169 St-Denis; 845-6842) also has horse, raw and cooked.

To that short list, I'd add the Old Montreal's Tintinesque Le Petit Moulinsart; Belgian fast food chain Frite Alors !, which not only offers horse tartare and steak but also cooks their delicious fries in horse and/or beef tallow; and Le Tartarin, the resto/café arm of the Prince Noir butcher shop that recently moved to the new extension at Jean Talon Market. Am fairly sure I've seen horse on the menus of L'Express and Au Petit Extra at one time or another. Globe, too?

I like horse just about any way I can get it. Bavette (flank steak) is classic, especially with a red wine or cream sauce. It's great in stews. And horse tartare beats beef any day of the week, though Au Pied de Cochon's venison tartare is even better. IMHO, of course.

Edited March 3, 2005 by carswell (log)

[shelora]

Excellent fun article by Maeve H, thanks for that.

And it has been a secret desire of mine to consume frites done in horse fat. Montreal has it going on. Horse tartare seems to be the most popular preparation, yes?

Have you ever cooked horse at home?

[Chocoholic]

Oyama sausage in Granville Island sells it, even though they don't advertise it as such in English. I guess they don't want to offend/gross out too many people. It is a deli meat called "Paarde rookvlees" which is a Dutch delicacy, smoked horse meat. They also have the beef version simply called "rookvlees" (literally translated as "smoked meat") which is a cured and smoked beef cut. Deliciously salty with a hint of smoke. In fact I had some on a slice of sunflower seed bread this morning. Hmm....

In Holland you get it sliced paper thin and pile it on a well buttered round airy crispbread called "beschuit" and have it for breakfast. I miss my mum's weekend morning spreads...

Oyama also has a buffalo version sometimes which is equally tasty.

[shelora]

"If you want to try to at home Whitehouse meats in St Lawrence Market will get it for you if you special order it. "

Thanks. Do you know where they are getting the meat? Locally? Have you ever cooked with it at home?

S

Edited March 3, 2005 by shelora (log)

[shelora]

Thanks. Great! Oyama has been added to my list.

So far seems like horse tartare is the most popular dish available in Toronto and Montreal.

Served mostly in French style bistros. Are Vancouver-ites that squeamish about eating horse that is has to be listed in a different language? Actually it does sound more interesting.

[carswell]

Horse tartare seems to be the most popular preparation, yes?

←

In restos, possibly, though most places that serve tartare offer steak or burgers too. Maybe one of our chef members can provide specifics.

At home, I'd wager that cooked carries the day.

The reason for horse tartare's popularity is historic as well as gastronomic, by the way. Unlike beef, horse is not a carrier of tapeworm or tuberculosis, which made it preferable for raw preparations.

Have you ever cooked horse at home?

Sure. Lots of butchers, including my neighbourhood boucherie, and even some grocery stores carry it. Very flavourful, signficantly fewer calories than beef and not nearly as pricey as other specialty meats like venison and caribou.

Edited March 3, 2005 by carswell (log)

[jamiemaw]

I'm sorry... this is still completely gross to me...

Why would I eat cow and not horse..... now that, is good question.

But you know what... no matter how I slice it.... eating horse just isn't on.

Granted, I've worked with horses in a past life (not in the woo woo sense, just a number of years ago)...... they have personalities, a few of them are damn smart.  I can't eat something like that.

Sniff..... wondering if I need to revisit the veg only thang again, right when I'm on the verge of sinking my teeth into a juicy sirloin..... what's up with that?.....

←

Vegetables have feelings too. Just ask 80% of Vancouver City Council members.

[hayasaka.k]

Vegetables have feelings too. Just ask 80% of Vancouver City Council members.

I suppose I wouldn't handle dog or cat too well, and I'd likely draw the line at insects.

Never thought to prepare it on my own but I've had horse sashimi on several occasions at Yoshi (on Denman). I found the slightly grassy dipping sauce rather amusing.

[nwyles]

Thank you all for the great info. You are all beautiful. 

If we see boar, bison, deer, and elk on menus, why not horse? Appreciator, is it because horses are pets to so many that you are having a hard time with the concept? I must say I would have a hard time with dog or kitten on any menu. So far.

I've put the call out to the other Canadian forums, just to see who is eating horse in Canada.

I'm kinda excited about this new menu option. Vancouver and Nikuya meats, here I come.

Nwyles, would you ever consider serving horse as a special?

←

I have never really thought on this too much. My initial response is yuk and I am not sure why. I am not a "horsey" person and don't have problem loading "bossy" the cow into the cooler. I have a friend from South Africa that was mentioning zebra steaks - I thought about it for a minute, realizing that this was what the land provides in that part of the world. Perhaps it has something to do with the domestication of horses - I would not eat "spot" the dog or "morris" the cat either but have no problem chowing down on "fluffy" the bunny.

Am I wierd ?

I think that if I went to a high end restaorant ie: Lumiere and he had a horse proscuitto or something like that, I would try it. I would have the faith that the product was of the highest quality and the preparation was the best that I would ever have had a chance to have it. Would I be so brave on say, a not so high end restaurant on the Downtown Eastside , I don't think so.

What else would I not eat ?

Bugs

Dog

Cat

Seagull

Crow

Weasel

Rat

Squirrel

any sort of primate - monkey, gorilla etc.

spider

dolphin

eagle

mustard

That is all I can think of right now. I am sure this wil spark a few questions and sub topics.

Neil

[Chocoholic]

The "adventures in eating" forum has some interesting threads about eating foods that the average westerner would never think of eating.

I guess it all depends on your cultural background and upbringing. My hard-core Sicilian mother in law collects and eats snails from her garden, puts a piece of pork lard on crusty bread and has it for breakfast and serves pasta with thick pieces of pork skin. I love her home made sausages but I am very afraid to ask what is in them. Most people shiver at the sight of pork lard or skin (and I had some trouble trying it when it was put in front of me) but she digs into them with a nonplussed demeanor.

Mustard Neil? What's wrong with that?

[agog]

Hello,

There used to be a meat vendor/butcher out on Hastings that advertised horse meat for sale. This was some time ago. Does anyone know if it is still there and where it is located?

←

That place was a Dutch deli as I recall-it also was said to have an excellent licorice selection.

Given my predilection I never darkened their door and the place passed from existence in the mid to late 70's.

←

I'm not sure if this is the same place but there is/was a store that sold horse meat on Hastings about 2 or 3 blocks east of Main Street on the north side. They actually had a hanging sign that had the picture of a horse head on it. I understood this is the way horse butchers advertise in Europe. It was still there in the early 90s so it's likely a different store. Also, I remember it being there in the mid 60s.

[Keith Talent]

I imagine dolphin would be superb.

[Keith Talent]

I knew I had a larger point to make than a desire to try dolphin. I've got to quit drinking at lunch. I see that the Vancouver Park Board is thinking of closing the petting zoo. Anyone know what thet plan on doing with all those delicious looking animals? I bet the goats go cheap. We should plan a get together.

And we're going to need someone that grew up on a farm and is willing to do the deed. I nominate myself to hang around and bitch about how long the butchering process is taking while slagging BC wine. I'll also get the fire started.

[cook-em-all]

And it has been a secret desire of mine to consume frites done in horse fat

Horses seem pretty lean to me, I've never heard of cooking with horse fat. If anything horse is way too lean for my taste-It's like eating low grade beef.

[Vancouver Lee]

I would not eat "spot" the dog or "morris" the cat either but have no problem chowing down on "fluffy" the bunny.

←

Please add "Rainy" the duck, "Honky" the goose and "Wooly" the lamb to the list: I had rabbits, ducks, geese and sheep as pets when I was little, and have no problems whatsoever eating any of these.

But horse makes me go "ew" for reasons I cannot fathom. Yet another very interesting thread that has veered away from the local angle. Can Arne be far off to steer us back on track?

Edited March 3, 2005 by Vancouver Lee (log)

[nwyles]

I knew I had a larger point to make than a desire to try dolphin. I've got to quit drinking at lunch. I see that the Vancouver Park Board is thinking of closing the petting zoo. Anyone know what thet plan on doing with all those delicious looking animals? I bet the goats go cheap. We should plan a get together.

And we're going to need someone that grew up on a farm and is willing to do the deed. I nominate myself to hang around and bitch about how long the butchering process is taking while slagging BC wine. I'll also get the fire started.

←

Goat ! - No problem. Perhaps we could turn them into goumet burgers. No prob with the deed either. Will you bring the wine ?

[canucklehead]

I knew I had a larger point to make than a desire to try dolphin. I've got to quit drinking at lunch. I see that the Vancouver Park Board is thinking of closing the petting zoo. Anyone know what thet plan on doing with all those delicious looking animals? I bet the goats go cheap. We should plan a get together.

And we're going to need someone that grew up on a farm and is willing to do the deed. I nominate myself to hang around and bitch about how long the butchering process is taking while slagging BC wine. I'll also get the fire started.

←

I have a personal theory about eating animals - I think that you have to be willing to kill them if you are going to eat them. You cannot hide from the fact that something has died for you to eat it. So respect it and use every bit of it. The River Cottage Meat cookbook has a series of photos of what happens when a cow is slaughtered. Hugh Fearnly does it for two reasons 1) to show animal slaughter can happen in humane way and 2) there is no escaping that the moo-cow is being killed.

So - if Keith holds down the animals - I will do the deed at the petting zoo. I say this even though the last time I made lobster pasta - I was a little shaken when I dispatched the live lobsters.

The only thing that I can't seem to eat are blood products. Most notably the blood cubes that some chinese place serve. Thinking about has made me very very queesy.

[Keith Talent]

If you can get the park board to sell us a goat for roasting, I'll supply '61 Petrus. I'm pretty confident that I'm not going to need to phone a NY auction house, bid a case and have it put on Jamie's account.

If you are sucessful with the goat though, phone the aquarium and see if they've got any surplus dolphins swimming around.

[Daddy-A]

Yet another very interesting thread that has veered away from the local angle.  Can Arne be far off to steer us back on track?   

Daddy-A (aka Syncro-Boy) sits at the keyboard, slowly wringing his hands. A dilemna has presented itself: to have the "Horse-meat in Vancouver" thread moved to a more appropriate location in Adventures in Eating, or to simply let things be, and watch this humourous excercise in human-animal relations play itself out.

Taking a bite of his Secritariat Sashimi, he decides to continue reading ...

[Vancouver Lee]

If you can get the park board to sell us a goat for roasting, I'll supply '61 Petrus. I'm pretty confident that I'm not going to need to phone a NY auction house, bid a case and have it put on Jamie's account.

If you are sucessful with the goat though, phone the aquarium and see if they've got any surplus dolphins swimming around.

←

Makes mental note not to bring Junior Vancouver Lee to this eGullet gathering.....

[nwyles]

Ok, in order to get this thread back on topic, or at least with a local angle.

Yes, the horse meat place was on Hastings. I remember it from my yoot as I was riding downtown on the Vomit Comet ( #10 Hastings ). I always wondered about it but never enough to go in.

As to the Vancouver Aquarium, we are yearly members so if there was a chance to do some "harvesting", we should be notified.

As for the Vancouver Children's petting zoo, that would have to be a "covert" op, although the stink of the goat would lead the Vancouver police right to us.

That should satisfy the "local" content issue !