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Curry Chat => Talk About Anything Other Than Curry => Topic started by: beachbum on February 08, 2013, 11:56 PM

Title: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: beachbum on February 08, 2013, 11:56 PM
Scandal? What scandal? Send me some! Horse used to be my favourite meat back in the 70s - especially when I was on holiday in Southern Italy.

It was commonly used in BIR restaurants in Cardiff at any rate where the menu would generally read like this:

Beef Dopiaza
Lamb Dopiaza
Meat Dopiaza
Chicken Dopiaza etc

And no, it's not an urban myth along with the frozen cats and the half a labrador in the Chinese restaurant freezer, whenever I asked the Maitre d' what the meat was on the menu he was always forthcoming.

Sort of in the same taste spectrum as venison and - surprisingly - kangaroo, not beefy really. Actually would be a fair sub for goat.
My Dad always used to go for the horse as well, as he said "what would you rather eat, some fly bitten cow that's been up to it's knees in mud and shyte or a well groomed and stabled horse that just didn't run fast enough  ;D

The Irish horse trade got knocked in the head in the 70s - older forum members may still remember the Daily Mirror publishing gruesome pics on Page 1, but the furore was more about cruelty than health concerns.
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Malc. on February 09, 2013, 01:02 AM
Its all horses for courses. ;)

I've eaten horse and love it, and would willingly eat it again, though i'd rather it was a steak than a lasagne!
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Stephen Lindsay on February 09, 2013, 01:26 AM
What about the "halal" pork in the pasties and pies sent to the prisons?  ;)
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: natterjak on February 09, 2013, 08:32 AM
It's not the fact that the meat was horse rather than beef which concerns me, like you say horse is a perfectly palatable meat. The real issue is if the suppliers of meat can't be trusted to tell the truth about what meat they're supplying, can they be trusted not to introduce unsafe meat from untested sources.? There may be drugs or other chemicals in illicit meat supplies which are not tested for during spot checks because they aren't applicable to beef (like that polybutylene horse drug).

Having said all that, I used to quite enjoy a Findus lasagne from time to time. It wasn't the pasta or the cheese which was the best bit, it was the the bologneighs sauce.... 
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on February 09, 2013, 09:07 AM
It is interesting how we all have different concerns : product labelling, health risk, "passing off" and so on.  Yet my concern is completely different.  For me, eating cat, dog or horse represents a complete betrayal of trust -- these animals give their love unconditionally to we humans, and ask for little in return apart from a warm bed and something to eat.  To eat one is, to me, as unthinkable and as abhorrent as the idea of eating a child.

** Phil.
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Graeme on February 09, 2013, 09:41 AM
Well said Phil...
(edit)
But the Ref to a child now tonight scares me
a little in this word we live in  :(
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: curryhell on February 09, 2013, 10:28 AM
I'm afraid that i have to agree with Phil on this one  ::)
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: fried on February 09, 2013, 10:50 AM
I'm sorry but I disagree with Phil on this one. Whether certain animals give you their 'love unconditionally' is at best highly debatable. People who work with animals will also tell you the same about cows and especially pigs. Once you chose to eat meat you cannot pretend that the meat you eat is somehow different. You have a personal choice to not eat or eat as you wish.

My niece for example gets terribly upset if we talk about eating rabbit. I can understand the sentiments coming from a vegetarian but other wise it all sounds like some animals are 'cuter' than others.
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Naga on February 09, 2013, 10:59 AM
...it was the the bologneighs sauce...

Ohhhh Nooooo! I hope these horse jokes don't go on furlong! :D
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on February 09, 2013, 11:36 AM
I'm sorry but I disagree with Phil on this one. Whether certain animals give you their 'love unconditionally' is at best highly debatable. People who work with animals will also tell you the same about cows and especially pigs. Once you chose to eat meat you cannot pretend that the meat you eat is somehow different.

It is not a pretence, Fried : it is a reality.  Animals with whom I choose to share my home, or my stable, I do not eat (nor do I eat their friends and relatives); animals with whom I have no close relationship, I do eat.  That is the difference, and it is real.

Quote
You have a personal choice to not eat or eat as you wish.

I agree; each must make his her her own choice.  But that does not disbar those who won't eat (say) veal from seeking to persuade others to do likewise.  We have a choice, but we also have the right to attempt to convince others of our position and of the reason(s) that we have taken that postion.

Quote
My niece for example gets terribly upset if we talk about eating rabbit. I can understand the sentiments coming from a vegetarian but other wise it all sounds like some animals are 'cuter' than others.

I eat rabbit, and I have no compunction about skinning and gutting road-kill rabbit (and then eating it, of course).  But put a 12-bore in my hand, and a rabbit 20 yards away, and I will open the breech : what I see in front of me is alive and beautiful, and long may it remain that way.  If, later, someone shoots that rabbit and it ends up in my local farm shop, then I will buy it and eat it, because to allow it to be killed for nothing (or for sport) would be criminal -- but I will never intentionally sentence any animal to death.

** Phil.
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Malc. on February 09, 2013, 11:42 AM
I'm sorry but I disagree with Phil on this one. Whether certain animals give you their 'love unconditionally' is at best highly debatable. People who work with animals will also tell you the same about cows and especially pigs. Once you chose to eat meat you cannot pretend that the meat you eat is somehow different.

I have to agree, pets are born into captivity and reared to accept humans in a relationship not of their making. I wonder if the so called pet would remain so loyal if you stopped feeding it and opened the door.

As for eating horse, the important part is giving the animal the respect it deserves. If it is slaughtered humanely then yes I would. There's far worse going on in this country, millions of people buy 2 for
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on February 09, 2013, 11:56 AM
I have to agree, pets are born into captivity and reared to accept humans in a relationship not of their making. I wonder if the so called pet would remain so loyal if you stopped feeding it and opened the door.

It is an interesting (one hopes hypothetical) question, but it is also something of an over-simplification : our pets have been selectively bred to select the very genes that code for love and affection (also for playfulness, quasi-immature behaviour and so on).  So the pet actually has very little choice : it has been forcibly evolved to behave in this way.

Quote
As for eating horse, the important part is giving the animal the respect it deserves. If it is slaughtered humanely then yes I would. There's far worse going on in this country, millions of people buy 2 for
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Malc. on February 09, 2013, 12:39 PM
But you have to Admit Phil "give their love unconditionally" and  "forcibly evolved" paint two different pictures. Either way, I respect that people have pets and are passionate about the relationship hey have with them. For me, it's all about the respect for the animal not the pet.

I don't think most people have the stomach to view on public display what takes place in an abattoir, knackery or any other animal 'processing' plant, that would be a step too far. However, I do feel that it is very important that people at least have a true knowledge of an abattoir and how their chosen meat product has been cultivated.
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: chef888 on February 09, 2013, 12:53 PM
i tried horse meat a few yrs ago upset my tummy gave me the trotts ;-) lol ( ivan )
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on February 09, 2013, 12:55 PM
But you have to Admit Phil "give their love unconditionally" and  "forcibly evolved" paint two different pictures.

I don't think they do, Malc : the animal (pet) has been forcibly evolved to give its love unconditionally.  It has no choice in its selectively-bred inherited traits, and having inherited those traits, it has no choice (or very little choice) other than to behave in the manner for which its genes code.

Returning to your earlier point, "I wonder if the so called pet would remain so loyal if you stopped feeding it and opened the door", I would offer two observations : (1) After a short period (a few days at most in cats, much longer in dogs), the animal would leave.  (2) But except in very rare circumstances it would not then elect to go feral : rather, it would seek out another human who could offer love, food and accommodation.

I share my home with a 3-legged cat "Jaffa", who adopted us about 14  months ago.  His former home is within less than 100 yards (probably closer to 50), and he returns there from time to time, mainly (I think) to seek out his brother, with whom he remains close even at the age of 13 (I cut a cat-flap-shaped hole in the intervening fence to facilitate his excursions).  But when I went away to Abu Dhabi for a few days, despite making arrangements with three separate people to come in and feed him and attend to him, within two days he had returned to his former home, and there he stayed until my return.  One rather sad thing is that he almost certainly suffered some brain damage when he haemorrhaged after surgery (he crashed twice, and needed three transfusions), and when he goes upstairs late evening, he then cries to be let into the closed bedrooms : he almost certainly expects to find his brother there (which is where he would be in his former home), and he is clearly sad and disturbed at not finding Tumble there ...

** Phil.
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Willyeckerslike on February 09, 2013, 02:57 PM
Quote
but I will never intentionally sentence any animal to death.

** Phil.

Every time you buy your chicken at Waitrose or wherever you do sentence an animal to death to restock the shelf...
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on February 09, 2013, 03:01 PM
Every time you buy your chicken at Waitrose or wherever you do sentence an animal to death to restock the shelf...
There is merit in your argument, Will; perhaps I should have said "never sentence any individual animal to death". I know, of course, that animals are killed in anticipation of the demand that I will later make for their meat.

** Phil.
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Malc. on February 09, 2013, 03:38 PM
It's horses for courses Phil. ;D
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on February 09, 2013, 03:45 PM
It's horses for courses Phil. ;D

Had it not been for my horse, Malc, my wife and I would probably never have started going out together, let alone getting married.  So I have a lot to be grateful to horses for, and to Jingo in particular ...

** Phil.

Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: harley on February 09, 2013, 04:06 PM
Our cat was a stray kitten from down the road, it was adament we were going to be its new owners. I think it liked our junk filled garden and wanted out of the perfect house near by. Whatever it was he the cat was well suited to us.
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: emin-j on February 09, 2013, 04:30 PM
Apparently they have now found human DNA in Welsh Lamb !  ;D
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Peripatetic Phil on February 09, 2013, 04:31 PM
Apparently they have now found human DNA in Welsh Lamb !  ;D

(prolonged chuckle .....).
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Malc. on February 09, 2013, 04:36 PM
Apparently they have now found human DNA in Welsh Lamb !  ;D

Don't mention Welllies to a Welsh Lamb!  ;D
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: Whandsy on February 09, 2013, 05:13 PM
Apparently they have now found human DNA in Welsh Lamb !  ;D

 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: beachbum on February 10, 2013, 12:14 AM
Switching your supply to New Zealand lamb would be even worse  ;D

Surprised nobody has mentioned the BBC3 series from a few years ago, Kill it, Cook it, Eat it.

It was on pay TV here a couple of years ago
Promo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ZZWHJkkMU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4ZZWHJkkMU)

Title: Re: Horsemeat burgers and lasagne
Post by: RubyDoo on February 11, 2013, 07:59 PM
 ;)

Is nobody going to mention Kangaroo?