Eating Horse Meat in the UK ~ In Lincolnshire !
Eating Horses in Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Horse meat in Tesco beef burgers is a current hot topic, there’s a labelling issue of course but the major outrage is because here in Britain we don’t eat horses, not our tradition or culture
A chat with my father told another tale . . .
Those damnable French, Aaaaargh the French!, have a tradition of eating horses but here in the UK we don’t do that, never really have done in recent history, not our tradition . . . well . . .
A talk today with The Real Mr Collins proved providential.
“Of course I’ve eaten horsemeat, plenty of it” my father said “there used to be a horsemeat butcher in Grimsby !”
What ! I exclaimed, sensing a cracking blog post so I probed my father’s amazing memory . . .
On Cleethorpe Road in Grimsby there was a Horse Meat Butcher’s shop owned, and I think called, Ben Veermich
This was during wartime rationing in 1941 and Ben Veermich sold only horse meat.
As well as this shop my father believes he also had a ‘Knackers Yard’ and Tannery at Waltham near Grimsby.
Ben Veermich was a ‘Fellmonger’ and dealt in ‘dead meat’ - that is to say he didn’t slaughter per se, he was contacted by landowners and farmers who had an animal that died, he would then collect the body and use every part of it - a risk of this trade was, my father believes, was catching anthrax.
It wasn’t just Ben Veermich’s butchers shop that was selling horsemeat but restaurants also.
Another recollection of my father is eating a horsemeat steak at a restaurant named, again we think, Sammy Weiss where he had a horsemeat steak and chips !
If you know anything at all connected with the eating of horsemeat here in Lincolnshire, especially anything connected with the above then please do leave a comment
Equinely yours,
Rod
v said,
January 21, 2013 @ 8:17 am
sorry sent that before i checked it . Just delete that .
My parents often talked about how they had to have horsemeat during the war Rod. They didn’t like it but …needs must. That was inner city Manchester of course, so more wide spread than Lincoln.
They told me that they went to a Baptism on 1950 and the host served up horsemeat afterwards. ( I know what to serve up for my grandchild’s Baptism in May now ….tesco burgers )
Amiguru said,
January 21, 2013 @ 12:37 pm
V,
The first edition almost reads as if Rod’s brother serves up la viande de cheval
Regards,
Paardenvlees
Little Brother said,
January 21, 2013 @ 2:35 pm
Amiguru,
The left-overs go in the risotto!
I do Heston’s version cooked in truffle scented hay at three degrees for ffteen years and served with a saffron and nitric oxide foam
Actually I shall, for once add something of historical interest (you’ll be the judge of that!) according to my battered copy of ‘Gastronomique’ from the seventies which has, alas nothing to do with Grimsby but then again we are talking gastronomy!
In Paris in the 1800’s the selling of horsemeat was forbidden then allowed on numerous occasions before being allowed ‘proper’ in 1830. A certain Baron Larrey had used the meat to feed his wounded soldiers during the Napoleonic war and championed its return to the butchers table.
Legend has it that after the battle of Eylau and having been cut off from all supplies on the Isle of Lobau he made a soup from horsemeat in the breastplates of the dismounted cavalry and seasoned it with gunpowder in place of salt! Being a Baron and having more brains than the rest he’d kept some of his own salt ration back and thus seasoned his plate with it enabling him to invite Marshall Massena to join him in a bowl.
A propoganda campaign ensued and horsemeat returned to the table following a horsemeat banquet at the Grand Hotel in 1865. Hurrrah!
Here endeth my brief forray into historical research
LB
v said,
January 21, 2013 @ 3:02 pm
Neville , re first post , of course ….
I always think of Miles first.
He of the perfect height, great body , looks, wit, cooking skill and now a HISTORY expert
we do indeed sit at the feet of the master .
paul greenwood said,
January 21, 2013 @ 6:50 pm
anyone who has eaten salami whilst abroad has probably eaten donkey meat. If folks dont like a horse burger they should turn it into a cheeseburger, perhaps with mascoponi cheese?
Amiguru said,
January 21, 2013 @ 9:58 pm
LB,
At this rate you make us all redundant in the Mystery of History department! Is there any end to your talents?
I hasten to add that, despite being in great admiration of your multifarious skills behind the skillet and kenning behind the camera, unlike V, I have not been ogling your burgeoning body!
regards,
Neville
Little Brother said,
January 21, 2013 @ 11:07 pm
Neville,
‘Talent’ as modern day television will tell you is a much abused term and my talent for history rather sadly lies in the Simon Cowell camp of talent terminology
Regards
Miles
Mrs HH said,
January 21, 2013 @ 11:26 pm
I have eaten horse meat in France (and now it seems probably in Blighty too!) There is a fabulous butchers shop at the top of Steep Hill in Lincoln that sells exotic meats, we have tried Shark, Reebok, Zebra and Crocodile and apart from the Crocodile enjoyed them! Despite being an animal lover I am also a carnivore so can’t say I am horrified. I think the real issue is that it wasn’t what it said on the tin, or plastic in this case! As long as food is labelled correctly to give the consumer a choice I don’t think I can be outraged by it.
Gastronomically yours
Mrs HH
Rod said,
January 22, 2013 @ 8:15 am
Mrs HH,
like you I’ve no ethical qualms about it - I don’t see the difference between eating a pig and eating a horse.
Regards,
Rod
Amiguru said,
January 22, 2013 @ 2:08 pm
LB,
“television” ….what’s that?
Regards,
Wireless Listener
jean said,
January 22, 2013 @ 3:57 pm
Hi Rod,
when living in Singapore in the sixties had mee hoon soup and there were 7 different looking and tasting meat, dont know what they were but it tasted good so put it down to travel broadening the palate. Jean
Rod said,
January 22, 2013 @ 4:58 pm
Jean,
probably just as well you didn’t know
What a place to be in the 60s Jean - fabulous!
Regards,
Rod
option911 said,
January 22, 2013 @ 11:55 pm
Rod, apart from the huge labelling issue, I don’t see what all the fuss is about;it’s just another meet. My parents told me of eating Horse during the war, as they lived close to Cleethorpes Rd, it’s possibly where it came from. Having eaten Dog, Crocodile, goat, Kangaroo, Ostrich, Bamboo Shrew, Frog, Rabbit and Yak as well as all kinds of sea creatures, still alive at the point of ingestion. I cannot see why people have an issue, these are not prizewinning racing thoroughbreds, just animals for food the same as cows, sheep, pigs and deer. We are too sensitive to animals in this country, they are part of the food chain and come below human!
Rod said,
January 23, 2013 @ 7:29 am
Option,
couldn’t agree more, it’s nothing but hypocrisy and irrational emotion.
If people are against it then they shouldn’t eat meat of any kind
Best
Rod
Paul Rowe said,
February 8, 2013 @ 7:34 pm
Taiwanese Trawlermen regularly fish around the Cape of Good Hope and often land at Cape Town for fresh supplies.Their arrival often coincides with the disappearance of many dogs in the adjacent areas. The fishermen love dog meat.They say that when a Taiwanese is feeling under the weather he says” I need a dog!”. Or Chinese words to that effect! I regularly eat Ostrich,Kudu,Springbok but the finest tastiest juiciest meat on this earth is Karoo Lamb .It is delicious because the sheep eat the herbs and plants of the Karoo! We call it “Skaapvleis”. I would never ever eat dog or horse.My best friend is a Dalmatian and after all surely that is what makes us,”Rost biefs” vastly superior to the “surrender monkeys” across the channel who are too ready to eat anything frogs,snails, horses etc. or whatever!
graham h said,
February 9, 2013 @ 12:26 pm
Rod,
I remember my mother saying she had eaten horse meat during the war years. I agree with options comments I remember having bison steak in South America during my sea going years and its taste was brilliant ( the size of them was great too, enormous ).
Look at the worlds different culinary ideas and some people would find them disgusting, but then they find some of our food unpalletable. Take the African continent and South America they eat all kinds of grubs and insects and find them delightfull if they put it in front of us it would probabally make us sick but its all about survival.
Graham
Rod said,
February 9, 2013 @ 6:46 pm
Graham,
it’s all in the mind I think, whatever we think is right is right in our minds.
As you say plenty eat horse and why not if it OK to eat fluffy little lambs . . .
Best
Rod
Looby Lou said,
February 25, 2013 @ 11:27 pm
Rod.
I heard on radio 4 last week that the reason for an increasingly high percentage of horse meat in ready meals is the recent ban of horse and carts on roads in Poland.
Also the tests are looking for the (beef) offal percentage in the products, not necessarily other contaminants. So in practice the tests can easily overlook any other sort of meat the product may contain. If I remember rightly the presenter even questioned this shocking revelation by asking ’so we could be eating badger meat?!’.
Put it this way, by the bumbling, ever-so-nervous answer the representative of the major food company gave I’d say YES! Ewwwww….
Rod said,
February 26, 2013 @ 7:06 am
LL,
the problem as I see it is you obviously can’t check everything, you have to trust the supply chain - if that cannot be trusted then you could be eating anything - Sweeney Todd !
Best
Rod