to eat or not to eat... (horse)
Replies: 70 - Last Post: Mar 19, 2013 2:39 PM Last Post By: Dutch_Uncle
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to eat or not to eat... (horse)
Horse meat was just mentioned on another thread.Also, as many of you have heard, at least on this side of the pond, recently there's been a scandal in the meat industry in Europe.
Horse meat has been used instead of beef, in ready made dishes like lasagna.Food distributors are (or play) upset and investigations are under way.
Cheating customers aside, what's your attitude towards horse meat?
Where I live it isn't particulary popular, and you rarely find it at supermarket. But when visiting northern Italy, or more precisely Verona, I don't want to miss the oportunity to have a horse steak. There are several restaurants that specialise in horse meat dishes, and they enjoy a special status.
The meat is firm but tender, and above all very tasty. Best enjoyed with the local Valpolicella wine.
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My sister who lives in Paris was just telling me how the radio stations are going on about how horrific this story is etc ... and then I came across this article from the indomitable Boris Johnson (London mayor):http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9861727/They-love-horse-meat-in-France-so-why-do-we-turn-our-noses-up.html
which made me laugh!
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Excellent article piaczka!!I have the usual American attitude about horse meat, and dog and cat for that matter. Although I don't feel as strongly about eating horse as I do about pets. My daughter refuses to eat anything that she finds cute. She has no attraction to cows so she'll eat beef although she has stated that, if we get cows she doesn't want to be around when they're butchered or know about it when she eats meat at our house and we all hate chickens - they're mean little buggers.
Camel meat on the other hand isn't too bad if it's cooked and spiced correctly.
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I have the impression the fuss in France is not that it's horsemeat, which people do eat, but that they can't be sure where the meat is coming from. It seems that the meat in question started in Romania, was sold to a company here in southwestern France who claims what they bought was labelled as "beef from the EU", they just transferred it to another company, before it was made into ground meat by someone else again. They call it a lack of "traceability". I haven't heard anyone sound upset because it's horsemeat.4
I think the concern lies in the contamination rather than the meat itself, you have to remember that BSE is still in the minds of many people and especially those with children.What I found disturbing around the time this story broke, was that suppliers of meat pies and pasties to HM prisons were found to have pork in them and that the British government apologised to prisoners for any stress caused to to them, I mean really what a cheek! I haven't heard them apologise to the law abiding general public for any stress they or their families may have suffered by eating possible contaminated horse meat.
