# I want to try horsemeat. Where do I get it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 20, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175 "2006-03-20T18:46:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/1 "2006-03-20T18:46:41Z")
I wanna eat horse! I could call up horse farms one by one and ask them if they had any meat to spare, but I don’t think that would get me very far. I never see horse in the grocery store, even the more exotic meat markets. Where could I get horse in the Midwestern U.S.? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/2 "2006-03-20T19:01:15Z")
I think most Outback steaks are actually horsemeat. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/3 "2006-03-20T19:08:01Z")
France. “Roadtrip!” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/4 "2006-03-20T19:20:10Z")
You can get it from German E-bay, of course! [Rossschlacterei D. Bauemer](http://stores.ebay.de/Rossschlachterei-D-Baumer) Fresh Horsemeat, Canned Horsemeat, Horse Ham, Horse Sausage… (Pferde is German for Horse, so pretty much anything with Pferde in it is a horse product.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/5 "2006-03-20T19:25:32Z")
Dunno if they have horse meat (or if it’s even legal in Boston), but I know that I’ve seen exotic game meats at Savenor’s Market on Charles Street (and now apparently on Kirkland St. in Cambridge): > **[Savenor's Butcher Shop and Market](https://www.savenorsmarket.com/)** > > Family-owned, whole animal premium butcher shop featuring local, heritage, prime, and domestic meats. Julia Child's first butcher. Located in Boston & Cambridge for over 85 years. Supplier to the Boston Red Sox and Fenway. I _know_ I’ve seen zebra meat there in the past. No joke. There’s nothing wrong with horse meat, by the way, and it’s not necessarily tough or gamey. It’s reportedly sweeter than beef. Marvin Harris devoted an entire chapter to the eating and taboos on horsemeat, with interesting speculation on the origins of those taboos, in his book **Good to Eat** (AKA **The Sacred Cow and the Abominable Pig** ). ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/6 "2006-03-20T19:27:26Z")
Try Quebec - much closer than Paris! ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/7 "2006-03-20T19:29:17Z")
Trigger. He’s what’s for dinner. _::: cue Aaron Copeland’s “Hoe Down” :::_ ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/8 "2006-03-20T19:34:52Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > You can get it from German E-bay, of course! > > [Rossschlacterei D. Bauemer](http://stores.ebay.de/Rossschlachterei-D-Baumer) > > Fresh Horsemeat, Canned Horsemeat, Horse Ham, Horse Sausage… > (Pferde is German for Horse, so pretty much anything with Pferde in it is a horse product.) I LOVE that there’s a button at the top that says “Mein Ebay.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/9 "2006-03-20T19:38:55Z")
Although beef is usually used nowadays, sauerbraten was traditionally made with horsemeat. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauerbraten](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauerbraten) ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/10 "2006-03-20T20:08:34Z")
“40 Pieces of Silver” “What can you find in the Lone Ranger’s freezer?” ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/11 "2006-03-20T20:44:27Z")
[See post #8.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=363565) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/12 "2006-03-20T21:04:26Z")
I believe you could slather some of your dog’s food on a cracker to ease into the flavor. Trigger Paté on a Ritz. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/13 "2006-03-20T21:36:41Z")
I’ve tried the German horse sausage. A tip: try something else. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/14 "2006-03-20T22:20:53Z")
_USA Today_, May 12, 2004: > [@](#): > > The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that every year, more than 50,000 horses are slaughtered for food in this country. . . . > > Foreign-owned slaughterhouses cart them in, butcher them and ship the meat overseas to Asia and Europe. This is not done for famine relief or directed toward the poverty-stricken. Rather, horse meat is a delicacy in these destinations. . . . > > Just two slaughterhouses carry out these deeds. Both are in Texas, where it is, ironically, illegal to sell consumers horse meat. A third facility is being planned in Illinois. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/15 "2006-03-20T22:34:42Z")
By the way, the two Texas slaughterhouses are Dallas Crown Packing of Kaufman and Beltex Corp. of Fort Worth. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/16 "2006-03-20T22:38:51Z")
Go to the Kentucky Derby. Wait out back. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/17 "2006-03-20T22:39:16Z")
Just seven states — Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio and Virginia — allow horse meat’s sale domestically. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/18 "2006-03-20T23:03:23Z")
I’ve had horse meat sashimi in Japan. I don’t recommed it. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/19 "2006-03-20T23:14:03Z")
When my uncle was raising a pair of otters for research, he fed them canned ground horsemeat. He said he got it through a pet store. (In the US, you can buy horsemeat if it isn’t for human food.) There are some loopholes. For example, you can’t sell horsemeat for human consumption. **However,** a meat processing house can butcher horses if customers bring them in. If you just charge a processing fee and give the meat back to the horses owner, no law is broken. It’s just like butchering a deer. There are weekly horse auctions. Lame horses and dangerous horses are sold cheaply there. Some of them go to rendering plants (to become petfood and glue,) but some are butchered for home use. Many a farmer has gotten his family through a lean winter on horsemeat. So, if you want to try horsemeat, start at a big pet store. Then, ask around among farmers. You might find one who will informally sell you a couple of steaks. I personally have no moral qualms about people eating horsemeat. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2006, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175/20 "2006-03-21T00:39:23Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > I’ve tried the German horse sausage. A tip: try something else. Yes, I’ve tried the Garden variety Pferdewurst too. You’re right, not that great. Whether or not it was the sausage recipe or the actual horseflesh, I’m not entirely sure, but it was a very red and a very sweet sausage, not my cup of tea. The Horse Ham and Horse Salami looks like it might be a better choice. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-try-horsemeat-where-do-i-get-it/349175.md?page=2)