Top Chef using horse meat as ingredient

[Sonya]

I've never watched the show...but I will say I would not knowingly eat horse unless I was starving and there was nothing else.. Although it's taboo in the states, many countries do eat it along w/cats and dogs. I see no problem with eating it but I wouldn't do it.

 

[Flying minis]

steers and bulls are different. Most steers are mellow but some can be just as bad as bulls. She stated a cow, so I assumed she ment just that, a cow.

I have come across cows that would attack a person - worked at an animal vaccine lab - and no, we weren't doing anything mean to them. We had cows that were range cows, never had much human interaction. Most were good, but there were some that would definately attack without provocation.

 

[sfmini]

Something else that the elimination of US slaughterhouses has caused is a viscious black market in horsemeat in Florida. Horses are slaughtered in their fields or stolen and slaughtered and not kindly. So, to those who thought they did such a great thing by halting horse slaughter in the US I say

:arg!

 

[weebiscuit]

Have you ever eaten beef? Did you know that cows have almost exactly the same pet and work potential as horses? When raised like a horse they act very much like a horse; they can be trained to pull a cart and they can be broke to ride. Honestly, any of you can think of me what you will, but, to me, if it is okay to eat cows then it is okay to eat horses. Also, if you eat cows, you are eating something that can learn to love to be scratched on it's shoulders JUST like your horse.

Not only all of the above, but cows are also given dewormers, and they receive antibiotics and other vaccines as well. I think the reason people are so horrified by eating horses is because horses are simply so beautiful. Horse meat used to be a common food, and it is still consumed in Europe. In the states, long ago we realized it was easier to raise cattle and slaughter them for meat than to raise horses for this, so as a society we have simply gotten UN-used to eating horse meat.

I don't think horses are slaughtered any differently than cattle. IMO, slaughtering ANY animal for meat is abhorrent. When I think of a load of cattle being taken to the slaughter house and run through the shoot and stunned with a stun gun or shot in the head, hoisted up by the back feet, and having their throats slit so their blood can be drained, I shudder. We DO eat meat... it's just that the idea of killing anything living animal still gets to me. We raise our own chickens, and take them to the Amish to slaughter and dress. One time I stayed and watched how they killed them. I even took a video of it because I was fascinated while horrified at the same time.

Anyway, I digress! As to the topic of horses, I used to get absolutely ill seeing them in the "slaughter" pen when I'd go to horse auctions. These were the horses that came in either without Coggins (purposely), or the owner didn't want any more and couldn't sell due to its age or physical condition. It used to bother me very much. I'd look at those horses and know that one of the kill buyers there would be leaving with one or more of them, yet those horses would just be milling about in the pen, munching on a bit of hay, totally unaware what fate awaited them.

France, Belgium, Japan, Italy, Switzerland are the major consumer of horse meat in the world today.

 

[disneyhorse]

You know those big, strong draft horses that originated in Europe? Not only bred because they are strong enough to pull a load... but because they are big enough to bear a lot of meat. Horses ARE bred for meat in many cultures.

Andrea

 

[weebiscuit]

I don't think draft horses were bred big for food consumption during the middle ages. They were bred big to carry knights into battle. By the middle ages, horsemeat was not regularly eaten in Europe. In fact, the Church banned its consumption in the 700's. I'm sure some people continued eating it, but mutton was the main food of the poor with venison, foul, and lamb the main meat of the wealthy.

 

[Molly's Run Minis]

steers and bulls are different. Most steers are mellow but some can be just as bad as bulls. She stated a cow, so I assumed she ment just that, a cow.

umm...a cow is the name of the breed of animal. a heifer is a female cow, a steer is a castrated cow and a bull is an intact cow.

thats what i was taught anyway.

 

[sfmini]

There is actually a breed of horse that is bred for meat and nothing else in France.

From Wikepedia:

The Breton is used in many capacities, due to the various sub-types of the breed. The smaller types can be used under saddle and for fast, light draft work, while the larger types are ideal for heavy draft and agricultural work. They are also commonly used to improve other breeds through cross-breeding. Today, the breed is used as a draft horse on small farms, and is also used to gather seaweed. It is also bred for meat production.[4] Horse meat is a dietary staple in many European countries, including France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.[10]

 

[fourluckyhorseshoes]

Sfmini- I think Percherons are also used for meat since they are so big.

 

[HGFarm]

Yep, to me, meat is meat.. bovine, sheep, goat, emu, ostrich, pork, snake, domestic and wild fowl, crocodile, fish, sea food, rabbit, deer, elk, javelina, antelope, buffalo.. I've tried all those and probably some I have forgotten. I have not eaten horse not because I wouldn't, just never had an opportunity.

Closing slaughter houses here hasn't saved anything or made things better- now the horses spend days on a crowded truck with no food or water or place to lay down, so they can be trucked out of the country to unknown conditions. To me, it was turning a blind eye to the problem so people here would feel better about it all. Now they can pretend it doesnt happen. And now they go off to countries where we have no control over any regulations of what happens. Why weren't the conditions here changed instead? It was putting a bandaid on an arterial wound.

I dont see how anyone can rightfully feel good about having them shipped off to another country to have the deed done- the end result is the same. I think slaughter houses need to be reopened here in a responsible way and the treatment of ANY animals there needs to be monitored by their management and no abuse tolerated.

Not all horses can or should be saved. There is a time to end the misery for some. (Flame suit on now) I have never been against horse slaughter, just as I am not against cattle, pig, etc...

My opinion is that not ALL societies or people are against eating horse meat. I am sure people in India think the rest of the world is insane for eating cattle.

 

[Sue_C.]

I don't think draft horses were bred big for food consumption during the middle ages. They were bred big to carry knights into battle. By the middle ages, horsemeat was not regularly eaten in Europe. In fact, the Church banned its consumption in the 700's. I'm sure some people continued eating it, but mutton was the main food of the poor with venison, foul, and lamb the main meat of the wealthy.

But there are, or at least were, draft horse breeds in Europe specifically bred for human consumption...I believe the Italian draft is/was one of them for example.

 

[gimp]

umm...a cow is the name of the breed of animal. a heifer is a female cow, a steer is a castrated cow and a bull is an intact cow.

thats what i was taught anyway.

Actually, cow, bull and steer (and heifer for a baby girl) all refer to the sex of the cattle or bovine.

It has become a bit like the canine thing, where "dog" is actually referring to the male of the species. In other words there is really no such thing as a "bull cow," unless perhaps it is used is a descriptive way for a hermaphrodite (which carries the sex organs of both in one cattle).