Horsemeat, anyone?

Have any of you ever sampled horsemeat (konina)? I have. It's bit like beef but with a sweetish undertone which can be eliminated when marinated.

Horsemeat is not a favourite of Poels, however, but Poland is a major exporter of slaughter horses. I think fanciers are found in Italy, Belgium and France. Know of any other countries where it's a delicacy?

I would never eat the beautiful horses.

That is so totally repugnant. It's like eating dogs and cats.


I almost puked all over the laptop when reading this :(

That's not my quote :)

I would never stoop so low to eat a lovely animal like a horse. Yuck!

oops sorry Plastic Pole. fixed it already :)

Nope....never eaten horsemeat , well not knowingly....Like the others that have posted here so far i would prefer my horsemeat to be on the horse...

Had some in France. Bit more of a "game" flavour than beef.
Same as any meat, cook slowly in a casserole and its fine.

Just out of curiosity - anyone on the board killed an animal, gutted it, cooked it and then eaten it ? If so, how frequently.

well almost...not long after i moved to Poland i was asked to help with transporting a group of Danish hunters around the forest...This was a properly licenced hunt organised by the Polish hunting association.... I owned a 4 x 4 , which is what you need for driving in a muddy forest in winter...

I am not a hunter , never have been , and the idea of shooting something just to put its head on my wall is not my thing , i am quite prepared to kill an animal if i am starving to death , the animal is about to eat me , or to put it out of its misery if its in pain and cannot be helped...but for fun...no..

I am not violently against hunting , its an old and noble sport , and in Poland the hunters are the ones that are largely responsible for the carefull management of the forest and its animals , so provide a great service....

As i was rather skint , i decided to provide transport to these hunters , the pay was rather good , and i decided that if i was going to go around saying hunting was not for me then i at least ought to be there and see what its all about... I was very close to the animals as they were shot , mostly wild boar , a few deer , and a fox... i was also close by as they gutted the animals right after killing , and later had some nice soup made with wild boar meat in it...found it a bit on the chewy side....

The best part of the hunt for me was being so close to the wild animals , and having the pleasure of those that escaped the guns run right past me....

I prefer to shoot the wildlife around my farm......with a camera..

For me taking a powerful rifle with scope out in the hills isn't hunting - its shooting.
There is stalking but when a defenceless animal is shot you can't really call that hunting - there is nothing noble in it.
(That statement is a bit mixed up but you will know what I mean ).

Killing an animal, gutting it, butchering it, I find gives people respect for the animal and respect for the meat you get from it.

There is no excuse to kill wildlife ( apart from maybe seals - dont ask, I dont like them ).

I remember some lowland fanny tried to have a foxhunt with hounds in the Highlands some years ago. Ended with the organisers looking down the wrong end of a 12 bore - didn't happen again :-)

I have to say i didn,t see any real skill in shooting an animal that has been driven into the path of the hunters by groups of beaters...These guys had high powered rifles with telescopic sights...i reckon i could have brought down the boars with a bow and arrow at the ranges they were shooting from....

But as i say...i don,t strongly object to it , as long as its done properly , strictly controlled , and with minimum suffering to the animals...it does pee me off a bit that they can legally come onto my land to shoot animals...mind you , once the Harley has been fired up there are no animals around to shoot at....ooopsss

Horse meat is taboo! The horse is domesticated and thought as a companion. It has pet status in the Western world. In the U.S., it's shipped overseas; highly frowned upon even in dog food. It's a major meat in a few countries, notably in Central Asia, but Europe, South America and China do consume.

Personally, I have to disassociate myself from my food groups. I would never eat a domesticated animal.

(Side Note:) My aunt and uncle lived on an Island. I would visit in the summer time. I loved to help take care of the cute bunny rabbits they had. Unknowingly, at dinner, I had a bite of one my little friends. I asked my uncle what kind of meat we were having?

I thought it was chicken. I was horrified that it was rabbit. The same one I had been petting. I'm scarred. <EWWW>

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat#Belgium

I know many question the accuracy of Wikipedia, but some of this basic info may be of interest.
I hadn't known hosemeat was used by the Germans in sauerbraten and by Poles in kabanosy!

I think the French are enthusiastic chompers of horsemeat....mind you , they eat snails and frogs legs too....

Not in this lifetime. I won't even feed that stuff to my dog.

Several times a horse has tried to eat me...but i never felt like returning the favour....i am told the taste of horsemeat is rather strong...i don,t think i would like it...even if it were not made from horses...

They eat it as a delicacy in Japan. More particularly, in Kyushu. It's called basashi in Japanese. I never got round to trying it but I don't regret that.

Can anyone tell us Brits living in Poland what foods to avoid that might contain horesmeat...?

Heinz pork n beans:)

Is eating horse legal in all of Europe or is it just France and Poland? I can't believe something so barbaric can be legal in all of Europe? I can't believe it's legal anywhere.

You know, if you eat horse meat, you have no moral right to complain to Koreans about them eating dogs, because you are as barbaric for eating horse as they are for eating dogs.

Heinz beans....NEVER....beans are food of the gods...and me as well...!

It's legal here in the US and horses get sold at auctions to slaughterhouses. They ship the meat overseas because Americans don't eat horse.

I don't think so Plastic Pole.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat#United_States

Horse meat is illegal in the US. Eating it, selling it, or slothering, it's illegal. But I saw ones a special on CNN when they went undercover and this fake business was buying horses in the States and then secretly selling them to slaughterhouses in Mexico and Quebec. Then the meat got sold abroad. Truly horrifying.

Horses are special to Americans...its what built the wild west , almost as important as the railroad....can,t see them eating them...!

Then the media lies because I've seen stories on televisions about horses sold to slaughterhouses to sell their meat overseas. The media never mentions it's illegal to do this.

I am sure that even if its illegal , there will be criminals willing to do it if it makes money...

I hear that horse meat ends up in the cans for dogs and cats...but I don't know.
This is one of many other types of meat I'm not willing to try.

Yes and No.
yes, some horses are sold at auctions in the US, they are usually located behind the barns in a kill pen. However, it is now illegal to slaughter horses in the US. They are being shipped live into Canada, where the French Canadians slaughter and eat them.

I have saved several of these "kill" horses. It's sad because one of those horses I rescued was a 16 years thoroughbred race horse. She was very skinny, only 16 but useless to the breeder. I had her for 4 month untill she suffered a cardiac arrest.

The American public refused to buy dog food containing horse meat and won the battle, so it not served to dogs either.

I'm glad to hear it!

This is Summer whom I rescued from a kill pen. Such a great horse but so neglected. Horses deserve better than to be eaten by humans. It's almost like canibalism.

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I rescued another horse Dolly from the slaughter. She is over 20 years old, she was in a pen with several other horses, hoofs were not trimmed in at least 5 years and she needed corrective trimming.