Horse Meat: Sourcing, Preparing, Eating

[Keith Talent]

I wouldn't personally eat Secretariat sashimi, being that the horse has been dead FOR FIFTEEN YEARS.

Arnie, if you need us to call 911, mash something into the keyboard and hit submit. Your epitath is going to be "Helpjhsadf876iu87^$uhjdfv09", and sadly people are going to read it and not be able to diferentiate it from you regular postings.

[carswell]

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.

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You're right that horsemeat is very lean. However, some internal organs, in particular the kidneys, are sheathed in fat, which is especially desirable because it is relatively free from impurities. (The same's true for hogs; leaf fat, the fat surrouding the kidneys, is considered the best for making lard.)

The "Fries" chapter in Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything contains quite a bit of info on the subject. According to Steingarten, Alain Passard of L'Arpège cooks his fries only in horse fat, claiming they "have a not disagreeable horsey flavor ... a lightness and a true crispness you cannot obtain with other fats and oils." As part of his quest to find the best recipe for fries, Steingarten convinced a travelling friend to bring back six pounds of horse fat from Austria. Then, with three friers going — one filled with horse fat, one with beef tallow and one with peanut oil — he got down to work. "The peanut-oil version was good, but the beef- and horse-fat fries were exceptional, especially after I had diluted the animal fats by half with peanut oil. The potatoes were extraordinarily crisp and tasty, and they stayed that way much longer than usual."

Steingarten also mentions that Parisian chef Alain Dutournier cooks his fries in goose fat in a two-stage process: the first frying is at low temperature and the second, after a two-hour wait, starts at 280ºF and with the temperature gradually increased to 392ºF.

Edited March 3, 2005 by carswell (log)

[estufarian]

Try La Palette in Kensigton for horse tenderloin ...

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La Palette only has it as a daily special (it's not on the regular menu) but it is available fairly often.

It comes two different ways:

1. As a steak

2. As a course called "Quack 'n Track" - a 4 oz horse steak with duck confit. Worth having this one (especially for the name).

[shelora]

Nice diversion, boys.

Do you think Nikuya Meats is getting the horse meat locally?

If anyone cares to check the Toronto forum, there are some interesting takes on serving horse meat at La Palette.

Dang, I want some.

[Daddy-A]

Here's the link for the TO thread (CLUNK)

From that thread:

La Palette only has it as a daily special (it's not on the regular menu) but it is available fairly often.

It comes two different ways:

1. As a steak

2. As a course called "Quack 'n Track" - a 4 oz horse steak with duck confit. Worth having this one (especially for the name).

A.

[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. "

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

S

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I'm not sure where they get it, but I think it was local. They used to have it readily available but switched to the special orders a year or so ago (I don't think there was much of a demand for it). Growing up in Switzerland we used horse all the time. Now we usually get it if we're going to do a meat fondue, and the taste is better then beef for fondue.

[George W.]

About last October Rosewater Supper Club had a "horse meat" main dish - they had a much fancier name for it and it was excellent.

[tinhead]

Sushi Bar Wabi Sabi does a good job with horse sashimi as well. Yummy.

[HKDave]

That place on Hastings everyone remembers selling horsemeat was called Best Bi Meats. It's been gone for years....

I've had horse sashimi, and it didn't do much for me either way.

Horse fat is supposed to be the ultimate for french fries, but I've never (knowingly) tried them.

[CharlieR]

You can get smoked horse meat at Charelli's Delicatessen in Victoria.

They don't always have it in. But if you request it they'll order it for you.

Hope this helps all of you.

It's really good if it's sliced thin and on nice white bread.

Charlie

[sandra]

check out the menu for Pastis in NYC.  I beleive the option is Hamburger, or Hamburger Cheval

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That would be "a cheval" which means with a fried egg on top...

[shelora]

"You can get smoked horse meat at Charelli's Delicatessen in Victoria."

Thanks! Thanks to everyone for your tips. I'll most likely go for the fresh horse meat and hopefully obtain some fat as well for some serious frites.

[hodge-podge]

the mention of horse fat fries is from jeffry stenigartens book ¨the man who ate everything¨. the fat he mentions is from the fat that surrounds and protects the kidneys. just make sure the fat is fresh!

[shelora]

Chef Moreno from Bis Moreno has a little surprise for those attending the 10 course tasting menu this Sunday, March 20th.

If anyone here goes, please let me/us know how it was.

Edited to add - the event is sold out.

Edited March 15, 2005 by shelora (log)

[Edible Vancouver]

Chef Moreno from Bis Moreno has a little surprise for those attending the 10 course tasting menu this Sunday, March 20th.

If anyone here goes, please let me/us know how it was.

Edited to add - the event is sold out.

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I was speaking with Cate Simpson, the publicist for Bis Moreno, last evening and Mr. Moreno has offered to put on a small dinner for Egulleters on Monday evening featuring some horse meat if anyone is interested. Please send me an email to eric@edible-vancouver.com by Friday at 8:00 pm if you are interested. If there is enough interest they will set a menu and a price and I will post it on Saturday.

Cheers,

Eric

[shelora]

Think of me

[chefzadi]

Groups save horse from slaughter.

About 37,000 wild horses and burros roam the Western range, about 9,000 more than the BLM has said the natural forage can sustain.

Wild Horses Wyoming purchased the mustangs, all of them mares, for $50 each. The sale was announced March 1.

Putting them on good rangeland allows them to forage for themselves, and remain in that same mode that they were in out on the range," he said. "Once the land is paid for, then the horses become more or less maintenance free."

[jhlurie]

Question to the room:

Wouldn't horse meat taste somewhat different depending on the horse's breed?

I imagine some of the same rules apply as with any animal--fattier horses probably taste a bit better, as possibly would younger ones (well, that last part would be another hot-button issue, wouldn't it?).

[chefzadi]

Question to the room:

Wouldn't horse meat taste somewhat different depending on the horse's breed? 

I imagine some of the same rules apply as with any animal--fattier horses probably taste a bit better, as possibly would younger ones (well, that last part would be another hot-button issue, wouldn't it?).

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Information on horsemeat

"The older the horse, the more tender it is; it's the opposite of other meats," said Jean-Claude Terraillon, proprietor of J.Cl. Terraillon, a Geneva horse meat wholesaler and retailer.

The optimal age for slaughter is between 10 and 15 years; the minimum, 7 years, Terraillon said. (emphasis added)

"Foal (meat) is OK up to 15 months," Terraillon said. The "white" meat of very young horses is prized in Italy, but people in French-speaking nations prefer the red meat of older horses.

"After that, you have to wait six years," Terraillon said. "You can't expect a farmer to keep a horse that long."

American "free range" horsemeat is apparently coveted. I've had horsemeat in France, but it was more common for my parent's generation. So I don't know that much about it. I don't recall it being around that much. There's a thread in the French forum about it.

[scottie]

I'm wondering whether the American beef industry has something to do with making the sale of horsemeat illegal, especially in a place like Texas. Lord knows the beef industry makes a pile of money, but I suppose it's always in one's interests to eliminate the competition.

What I'd really like to know is, how about those wild donkeys in Spain? I bet those taste good!

[Vancouver Lee]

Shelora, I did think of you tonight at Bis Moreno.

I cannot over-emphasize how good our horse tenderloin was. I'll post details about our meal in the "Last 3 Meals" thread, but some info we picked up tonight from Moreno is more appropriate here:

1) He gets his horse meat (indeed, most of his meat) at Columbus Meats at Renfrew and 1st. Apparently they sell between 1/4 and 1/2 of a horse every week.

2) Columbus gets their horses from Alberta, where they are raised for slaughter.

3) Jamie was quite right in his post upthread - the older a horse is, the more tender the meat. Curious, as that's exactly the opposite of beef.

4) One of the gentlemen dining with us tonight (a non-eGulletter) ran into a guy recently who is the meat export business. It seems that an entire planeload of live horses is shipped from Calgary to Japan each week. The horses are finished in Japan, and the choice ones are chosen for human consumption.

5) It costs about $4 per pound more than beef.

For those of you curious about the taste, it's better than the very piece of beef you've ever had in your life. Seriously. There is just the slightest hint of gaminess (spelling???), but if you didn't know you were eating horse, it could easily pass for beef. It's served rare, and the meat is buttery-soft. If it were readily available and wouldn't squick the odd dinner guest, I'd cook, serve and eat it over beef in a heartbeat.

[BCinBC]

Wow amazing pix from the Bis Moreno dinner, guys. I had a slight squeamish factor on the idea of horsemeat, but I'll try (almost) anything once. Now having seen it, I'm definitely more tempted. (Though my usual done-ness is medium rare, but who am I to argue with the chef. )

Lee: you mentioned that the tenderloin was buttery in texture. Did Chef Moreno (or anyone else in the know) mention how the other cuts would be, texture-wise? Some parts tend to cook much further than rare - for example, would one slow roast a horse shoulder or would that turn out really stringy? Is every cut treated as though it was beef? Curiosity piqued.

[Vancouver Lee]

Lee: you mentioned that the tenderloin was buttery in texture. Did Chef Moreno (or anyone else in the know) mention how the other cuts would be, texture-wise? Some parts tend to cook much further than rare - for example, would one slow roast a horse shoulder or would that turn out really stringy? Is every cut treated as though it was beef? Curiosity piqued.

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We didn't ask. Moreno did say that cooking horse more than MR at the most results in tough, flavourless meat. I assume that would apply to all cuts.

[Ling]

^I've gotta get down to Columbus Meats this weekend! Your meal looked fantastic!

[Vancouver Lee]

^I've gotta get down to Columbus Meats this weekend! Your meal looked fantastic! 

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It was, Lorna. We were thinking about you, too, sitting just upstairs!