This Restaurant Serves ‘My Little Pony Burgers’

From an article in the UK -
My dad used to be a chef and had his own vegan restaurant in Breda (a city in the Netherlands). Back then, a girl named Babbe Hengeveld used to work in the kitchen. That girl is now a young woman and a progressive chef in her own restaurant called Food Guerilla. I went to see her with my father in the Stek area in Breda—a creative breeding ground for conscious citizens and radical ex-hippie squatters—to eat a “My Little Pony burger.” That’s a burger made from aging ponies from amusement park Slagharen.

Although this dish might make the hair on the back of your neck stand straight up if you love horses, it is actually one of the most sensible things to do with this meat. Horsemeat is tasty and healthy, and it’s an awful sin to throw it away.

The burgers come from the Keuken van het Ongewenst Dier (the unwanted animal kitchen). According to the artist duo that runs it, humans use animals as disposable items, like the ponies from Slagharen. If the animals are too old, they are of no use. They are doomed to be slaughtered because they are no longer able to walk around all day with children bouncing on their backs. The Keuken van het Ongewenst Dier makes sure that the meat goes to a horse butcher who uses the meat for great burgers

Burgers made of old horse meat? If you don’t like the word old, just ignore it. Burgers are often made of meat from older animals since it is very suitable, my father says. The Keuken van het Ongewenst Dier ensures that the meat comes from an entrepreneur who is not afraid to fight against waste.

When the burger is served, I catch myself feeling a bit nauseous from the idea of eating old horse meat. I’m not a meat eater, but this is a damn good burger, I tell them, slightly surprising myself.

“You used to eat horse meat very often” says my father. “You only didn’t know because you didn’t ask about it.” “Thanks Dad!” When I ask him about his motive for feeding me ponies without letting me know, he says “I prefer horse meat over beef, since it has more flavour—a wild flavour.”

Hengeveld is a young mother. She has lively eyes, and while I feel comfortable with her right away, I think she also has a harder side. She was asked by the city of Breda to do something in the Stek area. Hengeveld tells me that, although she very much supports the idea of burgers made of horse meat, she is still in doubt whether to keep them on the menu. “They don’t sell well because people do feel bad about the idea of eating horse,” she says. “I just need to throw away the meat sometimes. For people to understand, you really have to explain to them clearly about the unwanted ponies and horse meat. When I’m cooking in the kitchen, I don’t always have time for this.”

The menu always changes since the restaurant is dependent on food that would normally go to waste. The daily specials vary depending on what is being delivered that day. She is not a horse girl herself, hence doesn’t care whether she prepares a burger made from horse meat or beef. According to her, we can eat any animal as long as we don’t see them as pets. I look at the dog who guards the restaurant and ask, “Would you eat your dog?” She looks at me with amusement. “No. I consider my dog as a family member, like horse girls do with their own horse.” She continues: “But dogs can be eaten, you know.” “So you would eat dogs that come from a shelter that are going to be killed anyway?” I ask her. “Yes. Exactly,” she says.

Hengeveld tells me she has always been dedicated to preventing waste, but that she sees things are changing over the last few years. Large companies are even interested in her method. “Not for the good reasons though,” she says, laughing. “For businesses, it’s just a matter of improving their image.” But that doesn’t bother her very much. “If the goal is reached, the underlying reason doesn’t matter that much.”

I think Hengeveld is refreshingly realistic for an idealist. And while I might be a bit of a hypocrite, I do have to confess that I did really enjoy my horse-meat burger.
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Back in the early 70's, beef prices had gotten to crazy levels (as judged by the times) - and to fill in - local markets made horse meat steaks available. Fried or otherwise cooked like venison, it is quite tasty. As is buffalo (bison). While stationed in the RoK, I no doubt had a few doggie burgers at the homes of locals. Even mule (on the Rez, don't ask) isn't half bad tho tough to my taste.

So, in any possible bad times ahead, what are you prepared to eat - or not. For me rodent is out....

 

What an interesting thread! Definitely not misanthropic or PC.

When times are tough, those who fail to adapt, are reducing their own odds for survival, as opposed to early adapters. When people are starving, some will eat anything that they believe will sustain them....even resorting to cannibalism; while some won't compromise on their own eating prejudices to the point of starving to death. Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 - Wikipedia

There is nothing intrinsically wrong with eating horse flesh, or the flesh of cats, dogs, guinea pigs, or a number of other domesticated or pet animals for that matter. Prejudices against eating those kinds of animals are all in the mind.

In urban sieges such as Paris (1870) and of various places during WW2. Zoos were culled for edible meat; and knackered draught horses became a culinary delicacy, to the point that horse flesh restaurants remained very popular well after the siege of Paris had ended. Horse meat - Wikipedia

My father, who survived a number of air raids in WW2 Germany (Including Dresden), found that there was keen competition to find draught horses slaughtered as a consequence of the bombing, and sometimes the reckless, desperate or adventurous would leave the shelters, before the bombs had finished dropping....often all the more tentative folk who waited until the all clear would find, would be the blood marks where a horse had been killed and butchered, and the spoils taken by the more bolder folk.

I would be prepared, if it was a matter of survival necessity to eat bush meat, and even rodents. Man, they would be carefully prepared and well cooked.

Running the race....: Yikes!
Running the race....: The rat saga continues...
Go to the atimeasthis blog archive for further episodes in the rat saga.



Via:How to Prepare Bush Rat

 

I agree with you on rodents.They seem to carry more disease then other animals and I would not want to eat a rat with issues. I think worms would be on the menu at Casa Moto.

Things I am unsure if you can eat-
groundhogs
fox
coyotes- heard no but seen some posts of maybe
squirrel- rodent family???
porcupine
racoon
skunk
mountain lion

 

I first tasted horse in the Netherlands also. I spent 6 years there in my early 20s and always say it is where my eyes opened and made start to question the status quo and much of our society. We use to eat something called 'Frikkidel' if I remember correctly. Really tasty. It never bothered me because I eat rabbit, venison...even dog. Dog is not bad meat, quite good. Koreans eat it as do many parts in Asia. Like any other meat it depends how it is prepared. The Netherlands also was the first place I tried Tartare...geez I haven't had that in years but the thought makes my mouth water. LOL!

Also, in Central Asia horse is considered choice/prime meat which I am sure comes from the days of the Mongols. It is highly regarded and is more expensive than beef.

EDIT: I believe one can eat most meat, even bad meat, if it is cooked long enough, to include rats. I believe even rancid meat...not sure about that one as that class was a long time ago and its not something that I ever practiced.

 

Well it does take some getting use to the idea of eating a pet.. or real hunger. I remeber puking as a kid the first time my mom made me slaughter the extra rabbits.

Great post @DKR

 

@Motomom34 - the reason I dismiss rats out of hand is that - in urban areas - they are a disease vector.
as for the others

Ground hog - How to Cook a Groundhog | Jennie Ivey
Fox - How to Cook a Fox | Diane Kochilas (careful as rabies is often an issue here0
Coyote - the sweet taste of coyote in "Primitive" Cooking & Food Preparation Forum
Squirrel - yes, so many recipes I can't list them all.
Porcupine - yes, but - I leave them alone now as they are a real survival food. AS for cooking - Porcupine Recipes?
Racoon - yummy - Down South: How to Cook a Raccoon
Skunk - The Old Foodie: How to Cook a Skunk.
Mountain lion - Mountain lion tenderloins on menu at wild-game cooking class

Any of these are better with bacon, and given the plague of wild hogs in North America, bacon shouldn't be an issue.

 

Both Roald Amundsen (leading his South Pole expedition) and Robert Falcon Scott (leading the Terra Nova expedition) reached the South Pole within a month of each other. But while Scott and his four companions died on the return journey, Amundsen's party managed to reach the pole first and subsequently return to their base camp at Framheim without loss of life, suggesting that they were better prepared for the expedition. The contrasting fates of the two teams seeking the same prize at the same time invites comparison.

Scott refused to eat his dogs, failed to set supply caches properly and had lost most of his cached fuel owing to bad containers.
Amundsen planned on eating his dogs - they weren't pets, they were mobile rations and a good source of needed vitamins.....

Much of what people find as acceptable eats in based on culture - I have friends who would die rather than eat Kimchi - and most Koreans in-country would run away from sauerkraut. Yet - both are processed cabbage.

And people wonder why I have a food storage program.

 

How to skin and cook gopher | Survival Monkey Forums

 

@ DKR Well, concerning Kimchi...let's just say that I would have to be damn hungry. Wife makes it all the time and stinks the house up so you can smell it blocks away...now that I think about it, it's probably what she does to get me out of the house! Now, good sauerkraut loaded up on a fresh baked roll and fat juicy wurst - well - throw in a large stein of beer and I'm in heaven telling Saint Pete to hold the gate as I'll be right in after I'm finish!

 

Clash of Cultures! Maybe you should have looked for a kindly lass from Baden-Baden.

But, ya - Kimchi is an acquired taste. I spent a year in the RoK and and Kimchi still is something yet to be consumed.....

 

Wild Rabbit is the one food I avoid unless I know where it came from. Too many problems can be found from consuming "bad Rabbit" to take a risk. Rodents in the wilds should not be a problem, but I would avoid urban critters up to cats. Dog would be iffy, but chances are better with them!

 

I once brought pickled herring to a party, and was treated to the most astonished looks, when I ate raw fish (pickled herring) before their very eyes. That was well before man vs wild! Nobody else at the party were prepared to try it.

Whith my own children, at a very early age, I introduced them to a number of continental delicacies, such as pickled herring, saurkraut, smoked eel, pigs trotters, etc etc, and as a consequence they are pretty adventurous when it comes to exotic cuisine. I think that is good preparation for austere dining, when the usual staples are unavailable.

Feral rats, i'd be inclined to agree with you, hand raised rats, hand fed...I think that the disease risk would be minimal. I'd probably prefer raising guinea pigs and rabbits for subsistance food though.

 

pickled herring, canned sardines *shudder*

 

Ah! Another delicacy that I learned in the Netherlands and suffered decades without. But, 'God is Great!' and upon returning to the state and performing a pilgrimage to the grand shrine of Costco - LO AND BEHOLD - pickle herring in a white wine sauce! While there was no brown bottle Heineken to sate my thirst, I made do, and was immediately teleported to Valhalla where I did not move until all 5 jars were consumed...along with a massive amount of beer. I still keep at least one jar in the fridge...just to remind me of those days gone by...

 

AHHHH! The great bathes of Baden-Baden! Where the old crones would rub you so raw you could not stand then wrap you in warm towels or haul you off to a good beating first (what others call a massage) and when you stand to walk out you are nothing but a slimy bit of putty and stumble like a drunk...and then it was to the bier... Ahhhh...memories...

 

One of the things for which I have my army years to thank is the discovery that there are many things one might not choose to eat normally that hunger makes acceptable. I have eaten dog, cat, horse, donkey, monkey, snakes, grubs, ants, insects, various birds and bait fish as well as many other things that do not come quickly to mind. I would eat all of them again if motivated by varying degrees of hunger.

I also really like pickled herring...I almost always have it in the house (especially since nobody else around here is even willing to try it) and enjoy it on crackers. As a matter of fact, I have been sitting here wondering what I wanted for a snack and, now that my taste buds have been teased, I am off to the kitchen for some.

 

I learned to eat horse as a kid! There was a horse butcher shop in SE PDX and it was cheaper than beef and tasted great, lean and flavorful! I was raised on venison, in Nevada. Beef was expensive out in the boonies and big mulies were everywhere!
Mom canned the deer in slices in a brown gravy! It was delicious! I'm afraid that when rations got short dad occasionally popped an "extra" deer! We had a huge vegetable garden and only bought things like sugar, flour, spices and such! We bought apples, it was to harsh to grow apples there! Heat, lack of enough water, etc. So, apples, and our own spuds and vegetables stayed in our honest to gosh, root cellar! Dug into the side of a hill! We raised rabbits which mom butchered and canned, too. Fresh fish were incredibly abundant, trout and catfish!
Then, in the military, I spent a year in ROK and trust me, I ate the Kimchi! I have two jars of cabbage and one jar of daikon radish kimchi in the refer now!
I have also eaten dog, cat and rat, snake and bugs over there! I do have an adventurous palate!
'Course I also, picked up amoebic dysentery over there, and hoped I would die quickly!

 

I got zero problems eating a horse............. pass some this way

 

Horse streak. MMMMMMM! When I was in Europe they had Horse Meat joints like we have cow joints. Horse burger. MMMMMM! It was sold in supermarkets here until the snowflakes started whining. Racoon. MMMMM! Very tasty, just cut the scent glands out from under the legs. Rabbits. MMMMM! Ate rabbits six days a week while I was growing up. On Sunday we got fried chicken (also MMMM!) Groundhog. MMMM! Vegetarian (like beaver/muskrats) and the young ones are prime eating! Beaver/muskrat. MMMMMM! Beaver tastes like REALLY good prime beef! Deer. MMMM! Venison tastes like grass feed beef. Buffalo. What, are you people sick?!

 

Can't imagine horse would be all that different from moose...sorry Mort!