![]() ![]() The Canadian situation bears this out: Through language and cultural ties to France, the French-speaking province of Quebec is somewhat accepting of horse eating in Montreal, it’s no challenge to find the meat in a grocery store. But even if it were freely available, it’s unlikely that horse patties would manifest on supermarket shelves. Given the above legal situation, the answer to “Why don’t Americans eat horse?” seems fairly straightforward. In short: Horse meat won’t be appearing on American menus any time soon. The House has to pass that bill, and the ban could be added back on. But the USDA isn’t free to resume looking at horse carcasses yet. The horse debate was revived earlier this year: In July, the USDA’s annual funding bill passed without the ban on horse meat inspection funding. (Their products had primarily been sent overseas.) In the words of a USDA spokesperson, “If there is no mark of inspection, then horse meat is not allowed to move in our national commerce.” This spelled the end for America’s three horse-slaughter facilities, closed a decade ago. But appropriations committees did successfully ban funding to the USDA to inspect horse meat in 2007 - and if there’s no money for inspections, there’s no guarantee of safety, therefore it can’t be sold. ![]() variations on an outright horse slaughter ban have surfaced but floundered in Congress several times since 2006. Killing horses isn’t technically banned in the U.S. But there’s another key reason why such an episode will never air: Horse meat simply isn’t available in the U.S. The kerfuffle caused by Top Chef Canada’s foray into horse meat certainly would have discouraged producers of its American counterpart from cooking with equine - had the idea ever occurred to them. If I see a guy who’s pretty ripped, or someone who seems pretty serious about the gym - no cream, no butter - I might suggest a big green salad and a horse tenderloin. “If someone wants a delicious steak, I’m not going to steer them down the horse path. “I like the depth of flavor, I really view it as a healthy option,” McMillan says. ![]() David McMillan, co-owner of prominent Montreal restaurant Joe Beef, which has often served horse, is a fan of it as a leaner meat choice. Though stereotypically seen as a hub for horse meat, France didn’t jump on the bandwagon until the revolutionary era, when it dawned upon revolutionaries to seize the aristocrats’ steeds to help feed the population.Īs for the taste of it: It’s a red meat, often considered adjacent to both beef and venison, with a touch of minerality and sweetness. It’s a red meat, with a touch of minerality and sweetness. It has never been on the menu for Jews - the hooves mean horse isn’t kosher - and while Muslims can eat it, they have sometimes been discouraged from doing so. It has long been consumed in Central Asia by nomadic groups in countries like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, where grassy steppes allowed horses to thrive a horse sausage, kazy, is particularly popular.įurther west, consuming horse meat has had a more fraught history: Pagan groups in Europe were accustomed to it, but Pope Gregory III issued an edict against eating it in 732 (apparently to target the pagans). While it may not be to those protesters’ tastes, eating horse is quite common, and has historic precedence in Europe and Asia. The Food Network, which produces the Canadian version of Top Chef, defended using horse as part of “ a truly authentic, traditional French menu.” The network ended up pulling the episode from its website - and it may have been a learning experience, as Top Chef Canada never went near the meat again. But those 45 seconds prompted mass outrage: Media outlets jumped all over it, and a Facebook page calling for a boycott of Top Chef Canada garnered thousands of followers (six years later, it’s still active). Andrea, the contestant who drew horse, whipped up a horse tartare and the judges found it passable all in all, the slab of equine flesh only got about 45 seconds of screen time. One by one, contestants randomly chose proteins: sweetbreads, frogs’ legs. Nothing about most of the episode was particularly outstanding: It had a French theme with New York-based chef Daniel Boulud dropping in as a guest judge, and the elimination challenge required each contestant to cook with a different protein common in French cuisine. Six years ago, an episode of Canadian Top Chef featured a moment that would never be replicated on its American counterpart under any circumstances. ![]()
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