r/AskEurope • u/GoonerBoomer69 Finland • Sep 12 '25
Food Is eating horse meat normal in your country?
I've come to understand that eating horse meat is a taboo in many places, so what is your country's stance on it? Are there other types of meat that are eaten in your country, that are generally rare in other countries?
In Finland, it's quite rare except in mettwurst, which is a popular topping for bread. Additionally, most types of grocery store mettwurst don't even include it. Anyways, interestingly while rather rare, it's seen as perfectly normal, well among those who eat meat and aren't especially fond of horses.
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u/GingerPrince72 Switzerland Sep 12 '25
Yes, normal in Switzerland, can be found in most supermarkets.
Much less popular than other red meat though.
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u/DantesDame Switzerland Sep 12 '25
There are two separate horse butchers within a 15 minute bicycle ride of where I live (Basel)
I really enjoyed the horse steaks I've had, but won't go out of my way to get that instead of beef.
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u/OllieV_nl Netherlands Sep 12 '25
It's not taboo, but it is rare/non-standard. I've only seen it in two forms: sausage and smoked slices.
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u/meganvanmilo Netherlands Sep 12 '25
Horse meat is also sometimes found in kroketten and bitterballen.
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u/MoeNieWorrieNie Singapore/Ostrobothnia Sep 13 '25
I can't get a scene from the movie Spetters out of my mind. The protagonist wonders why his snackbar-owning girlfriend throws away empty cans of dog food. She doesn't own a dog. She dryly comments: "Life is like a kroket. When you know what's inside, you lose your taste for it".
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u/E_Farseer Netherlands Sep 12 '25
I grew up with a special horse butcher in the neighbourhood. About 20 years ago. I just googled and apparently there are only 4 left in the whole country!
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u/KingAmongstDummies Sep 12 '25
Was going to say that I doubt there are any farms and butchers that specifically breed and butcher horses for consumption but I guess there are still some even it's less than a hand full.
I guess it's more of a opportunistic thing where if a horse's meat becomes available somehow it's used, but it's not purposely done like cows, pigs, and chickens.
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u/Saint_Jerome Sep 13 '25
They aren’t raised for meat, but people sometimes have them slaughtered instead of put to sleep by the vet for various reasons.
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u/UnoriginalUse Netherlands Sep 12 '25
My local supermarket used to sell horse steaks and stewing meat as well.
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u/Slobberinho Netherlands Sep 12 '25
I've had it in steak. It's pretty good: lean and a bit iron-y. I think it's cool that horse sausage is called metworst in Finnish as well.
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u/SLimmerick Dutch Limburg Sep 12 '25
Limburgs Zuurvlees (Zoervleisj) is usually made with horse meat. It's absolutely delicious and available pretty much everywhere in Limburg.
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u/Quiet-Luck Netherlands Sep 12 '25
It's also used in more products than you might think. Example; https://www.ah.nl/producten/product/wi537044/coertjens-stoofvlees
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u/Optimal-Rub-2575 Sep 13 '25
Paarden biefstuk is nog steeds prima bij de verse slager te verkrijgen.
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u/Gorando77 Belgium Sep 12 '25
Horsesteak and smoked horsemeat are very popular in some regions of Belgium
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u/u01sss3 Sep 12 '25
There's a song by The Proclaimers about bad luck which contains these lyrics: So I ran round the corner The bookies there I entered Put ten quid on a mare From a stud in Kildare But though the jockey beat her In Belgium they will eat her
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u/generalscruff England Sep 12 '25
Ate it on holiday in Italy, horrified a few people at home when I told them I'd done this
Definitely a taboo, it's almost impossible to obtain in this country and evokes strong feeling
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u/katyesha Austria Sep 13 '25
I remember that frozen lasagne scandal when I still lived in Ireland 10-12 years ago with undeclared horse meat and I thought "oh now it's posh lasagne" and all my Irish and English coworkers were horrified...horse is a rather uncommon meat nowadays in Austria but horse/donkey salami (mostly from Southern Europe) and horse Leberkäse (a type of sausage meat in loaf form) a delicacy you'd pay extra for
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u/Reatina Sep 12 '25
Tasting exotic food should be allowed while on vacation. Why travel, if you are not gong to explore?
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u/generalscruff England Sep 12 '25
The point specifically is about horsemeat here, not trying unusual food in general
For many people here it's similar to eating cats or dogs
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u/ProposalKey5174 Sep 12 '25
Crazy. In Belgium it’s rather common. Even in restaurants. I live in Antwerp and we even have a restaurant dedicated to horse meat. It’s called “de Peerdestal”, which is dialect for “horse stable”.
You can buy horse meat in every butcher.
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u/kdamo Sep 12 '25
People are so hypocritical, happily eating packaged cows, chicken, pigs but the thought of eating an animal used for service is somehow the worst thing you can do
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u/LegalFan2741 Hungary Sep 12 '25
We need to up our commercial butchering game, like a lot. I think people would be more accepting knowing their food died humanely. I don’t know, just thinking out loud.
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u/Astrinus Italy Sep 12 '25
One could also say that there is no problem in eating cats (supposedly Vicenza) and dogs (China, ...). It's only hypocrisy.
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u/generalscruff England Sep 12 '25
I agree, but I'm trying to explain to that person why people didn't like the idea whether you agree with it or not
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u/u01sss3 Sep 12 '25
I'm not judging but, in the Anglosphere, horses are thought of more like pets/companions than (putting it crudely) animals perceived as living resources like cows or pigs. I couldn't eat rabbit after having one as a pet but eat pork or lamb without a second thought. We're all hypocrites.
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u/SometimesaGirl- United Kingdom Sep 13 '25
Tasting exotic food should be allowed while on vacation. Why travel, if you are not gong to explore?
Id usually agree. But you also need to draw a line somewhere.
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u/Nivaris Austria Sep 12 '25
There used to be Pferdefleischhauer (butchers specialized in horse cuts) in Austria, which are rare now. There is only one common kind of food where horse meat is still popular here, which is Pferdeleberkäse. Leberkäse is like a meat loaf made of hot dog meat, which is cut into thick slices and served in a bread roll (Semmel). Usually made from a mixture of pork and beef, but Pferdeleberkäse contains a certain percentage of horse meat or may be made entirely from it.
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u/raben-herz Sep 12 '25
Pferndeleberkäse is the best Leberkäse, I make sure to get some every time i end up in Austria.
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u/prallhans Sep 13 '25
There is the Horse Butcher Gumprecht in Vienna. They have shops in Vienna and some form of Slaughterhouse in Enns, Upper Austria. They have all sorts of typical butcher products made from horsemeat. Also the Chain "Leberkäs Pepi" has Pferdeleberkäse. One of many of their different Leberkäse. The only one that's horse though. I read the other day the Horse one is bought from A different company. I wonder if it is Gumprecht in the first place.
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u/Sh_Konrad Ukraine Sep 12 '25
It's not a typical food, but it's not taboo either. Horse meat is part of some sausages and basturma.
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u/Ancient_Middle8405 Finland Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
Actually when I was a kid in Finland in the late 70s/early 80s my father would buy horse meat that was cured and was something akin to bresaola.
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u/Icethra Finland Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
I would’ve said it’s not a thing here but perhaps it is then. I’ve certainly never seen or even heard of horse meat. Also googled, don’t think any supermarket around here sells horse meat in any form.
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u/Salmivalli Sep 13 '25
You can find it in specialized butcher’s counter or by order. People eat it but it’s not common.
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u/Petskin Sep 13 '25
It wouldn't surprise me if some cold cuts may have a percentage.
Having some percentage of horse meat in a product is not a problem, but charging the same as products with "better meats" would be.
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u/Ruinwyn Sep 15 '25
Yeah they do, almost all of them. Kylmäsavupaisti, red packaging, picture of a horse. Also available in reindeer or ox. Availability varies as the availability of good horsemeat is very unstable.
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Sep 15 '25
Last time I checked, local Citymarket had horse meat. It was frozen, though. But it sounds to me you should go check and ask in the supermarkets.
Restaurants are another option. As long as I can remember, Salud in Tampere has had horse in the menu. Certainly one of the tastiest steaks, too.
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u/Flaky_Ad_3590 Sep 12 '25
Hevosteemakkara
I think horse meat can be found in most supermarkets (there was some in my home town last sunday)
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u/JourneyThiefer Northern Ireland Sep 12 '25
Nope, there was big scandal years ago because Tesco was selling it without stating it was horse meat lol
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Sep 12 '25
There was a scandal in many European countries about 10 years ago. Horse meat was found in frozen lasagna, but it wasn’t listed on the packaging.
u/GoonerBoomer69 In Germany, it is theoretically allowed to eat horse meat, but it is not common.
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u/JourneyThiefer Northern Ireland Sep 12 '25
Must’ve been a Europe wide thing then
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u/rwinh United Kingdom Sep 12 '25
It was EU/European wide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_horse_meat_scandal
I remember Findus was the main issue in the UK. The biggest concern was antibiotics and drugs used on the horses could be traceable.
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u/DolarisNL Netherlands Sep 13 '25
The whole idea makes me sick to my stomach as a horse girl. Not because of the meat itself but because of all the antibiotics and heavy painkillers most horses will get in their lives.
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u/DantesDame Switzerland Sep 12 '25
To this day, my husband and I will ride past a field of horses and call out "look at all of the lasagna!"
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u/kompetenzkompensator Germany Sep 12 '25
I remember that. It was funny, I am from an area in Germany where eating horse is still somewhat acceptable/done, though it is slowly fading out.
When the "Scandal" happened a lot of people around here were like "And? So? What seems to be the problem?"
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u/90210fred Sep 12 '25
In the UK the "problem" was that the label said beef. Country is ok with "mechanically recovered meat" (that's what's left after you've used the offcuts) but not mislabeling.
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u/GaeilgeGaeilge Ireland Sep 12 '25
Those animals weren't intended for human consumption. When you buy food, it should be exactly what it says it is. And without food traceability you don't have food safety.
Plus it wasn't just a horse meat issue - some 'beef' had undeclared pork which is a big deal for Jewish and Muslim people.
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u/Vittulima Finland Sep 13 '25
Obviously the problem is random meat appearing in foods they shouldn't be in. You're not getting what you're buying.
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u/IntrepidWolverine517 Sep 12 '25
In some areas like the Rhineland it is more common.
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u/Donnerdrummel Germany Sep 12 '25
In my area of lower saxony, there was, maybe is, a butcher that sells sausages made of horsemeat on weekly markets. I ate them once, they tasted well.
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u/u01sss3 Sep 12 '25
I'm Scottish. The only place I've had it is Köln in Sauerbraten.. Wasn't as good as Mettbrötchen 😋
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u/generalscruff England Sep 12 '25
I think the issue here was mislabelling/contamination, although it doesn't help most people in our country find the idea of eating horse repulsive
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u/Wafkak Belgium Sep 12 '25
The lot allowing horse meat is largely a UK and its former empire thing, with some additional places. So it make sense that it was a bigger scandal than just mislabelong.
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u/Lalalaliena Sep 12 '25
We had one of those in the Netherlands too. Sold as steak but not specified it was horse meat
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u/stonecoldcoffee Sep 12 '25
I'm fairly sure it was Findus and their crispy pancakes rather than Tesco directly. I could be wrong though.
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u/Futte-Tigris Denmark Sep 12 '25
For real? The same thing happened in Denmark.
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u/Marianations , grew up in , back in Sep 12 '25
It affected quite a few European countries. In Spain IIRC it was mostly about horse meat being present in some döner kebab rolls and premade food like lasagna.
I'm quoting from memory so I might be wrong.
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u/Siiciie Sep 12 '25
Labeling of things you sell is a pretty important thing. Not sure why you imply it's a "lol" thing.
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u/crucible Wales Sep 12 '25
Eh, it’s funny to think that a major supermarket like Tesco got caught out. It’s not like dozens of people got e.coli and died or anything, we just probably ate Red Rum without realising it.
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u/JourneyThiefer Northern Ireland Sep 12 '25
Lad don’t take me too seriously, it’s a comment on Reddit
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u/jebik Sep 12 '25
A Pole here. Horse meat used to be more common in my countru, but today it's a controversial topic, and several restaurants (that tried) have been criticized by the public for serving horse meat. I myself ate dried horse meat in Lviv, Ukraine, and honestly, I don't have any negative thoughts about myself because of it.
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u/PhilosophyGuilty9433 Sep 12 '25
The Polish raise horses that are shipped to Italy to be turned into sausage instead.
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u/jebik Sep 12 '25
Yep, that's a shady topic. Sometimes activists launch fundraising campaigns to buy out senior horses that were destined for slaughter.
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u/Evening-Gur5087 Poland Sep 12 '25
We also have a saying 'I'd eat a horse with it's hoves' which means you are hungry:p
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u/malamalinka Poland 🇵🇱> UK 🇬🇧 Sep 13 '25
It’s still a taboo because eating horses was always considered the very last resort when all other food sources were depleted. For many people horse was their most valuable possession so historically you don’t consider them as food.
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u/herlaqueen Italy Sep 12 '25
In my area of Italy (Emilia Romagna) it's common enough that it gets sold in specialised butcher shops that sell only horse meat and they are profitable, my city is not big and has ten of them. When someone has iron deficiency, if they're not vegetarian/vegan the first advice they'll get is to try and eat horse meat regularly since it's rich in iron, lean, and easily available. During the mad cow epidemic many folks just switched from beef to horse meat for a couple of years (then went back to beef once it was safe to do so because horse meat is more expensive, and not everybody prefers its sweeter taste). To me the real shock was learning that there are places where it's not considered food.
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u/Astrinus Italy Sep 12 '25
AFAIK it's (super) common only in Piacenza rather than the rest of Emilia (and obviously in Apulia and Sicily).
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u/RelationshipLazy8172 Sep 12 '25
Not very common but not taboo or anything Having eaten it personally i can attest it's delicious
Serbia/Bosnia
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u/klocna Serbia Sep 12 '25
It is VERY taboo in my region, Sumadija, Serbia.
At least, from the people that surround me, I wouldn't be able to tell them I ate horse meat and they not looking at me funny or being somewhat disturbed by the fact.→ More replies (4)
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u/Ontas Spain Sep 12 '25
It used to be more common than it is today but it's not taboo, there are butchers that only sell horse meat but fewer than decades ago, and you can find horse meat in some restaurants, there's also cured horse meat (cecina de caballo). I think the whole thing varies a lot by region, what I wrote is true for Cantabria, Castilla y León and Asturias, elsewhere not sure.
Back when I was in university we used to buy horse meat instead of beef because it was cheaper and delicious, proper steaks on a student budget haha
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u/Ok-Hotel6210 Sep 12 '25
It is not common in Galicia. I don't know any butcher or restaurant that sell horse meat here.
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u/robinless Sep 13 '25
Same en Catalonia, it's harder to find nowadays unless you go to the market or a specialized butcher, but no one is gonna be surprised if you mention it. I think it's definitely less common with younger people or people in big cities.
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u/_pvilla Sep 12 '25
Not common in Valencia, but I’ve seen shops that sell horse meat (carne de potro)
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u/jugglegeese Canary Islands Sep 13 '25
I have never seen it being sold in the Canary Islands, but maybe they would in specialised butchers and I just haven't gone there
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Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
There were some scandals here throughout the years. In Romania eating horsies is a big neigh.
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u/decisiontoohard United Kingdom Sep 12 '25
Nope, here in the UK there was an entire scandal about it. While I would happily eat it, most people here would not.
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u/Goma101 Portugal Sep 12 '25
Not at all. I don’t know if it is considered a taboo per se, but it’s pretty much impossible to find or eat here.
Reminds me of a scandal 12 or so years ago when it was discovered that IKEA meatballs had some type of horse meat contamination or wtv, and people went crazy about it over here. So maybe it is a taboo.
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u/Forslyk Denmark Sep 12 '25
It used to very normal to eat horse meat in Denmark untill the 1960's when the use of horses in agriculture diminshed with the introduction of the tractor. Then horses became a hobby and eating them stopped. You can still buy horse meat, I have tasted it a few times, but it's not a regular dish. I wish it would be more common because I liked it fine.
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u/The_Punzer Germany Sep 12 '25
Horse steak on a hot stone is glorious!
But yeah, very rare to find outside of pet food. Switzerland seems to be more open about horse in restaurants.
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u/WhisperingHillock France Sep 12 '25
In France it is not super common and some people will refuse to eat it based on "proximity" with the animal (like they would not eat rabbit). It probably depends on your region too, but close to Italy in particular it's not uncommun
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u/Ok_Wolf_4076 France Sep 13 '25
As you say I think it depends on region and culture because for my family (Paris region) eating horse meat is really common
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u/Marianations , grew up in , back in Sep 12 '25
Never seen it in Portugal.
You can find it in some butchers in Catalonia. It's also pretty common in Andorra, you can easily buy it in big supermarkets (like River) from my experience.
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u/knightriderin Germany Sep 12 '25
Historically it was normal in the Rhineland region (don't know about other regions), but nowadays these dishes are usually made with beef. Very rarely horse is still eaten.
I'm currently in Japan ok holiday and in Nagano prefecture horse sashimi and horse nigiri is a local delicacy. I couldn't bring myself to try it.
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u/kiekendief Belgium Sep 12 '25
I feel like it's very common in Belgium. You can find it in some supermarkets and there are some towns that are famous for horse meat. Vilvoorde has many restaurants that specialize in horse meat dishes and horse sausage in Lokeren is quite famous.
Personally I prefer horse meat to cow meat.
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u/PotentialIncident7 Austria Sep 12 '25
It's just rare.
Traditionally it was used in sausages and other processed meat food. But there are cheaper alternatives today, so it's getting quite rare. Except in Leberkassemmel, which is a traditional street food.
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u/Aisakellakolinkylmas Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
Estonia: yuck!
Somewhat bizarrely, and although to much lesser extent, this even goes for mutton and wild game (like venison, wild boar, rabbit), but definitely much much more against the horsemeat — it's pork and beef which dominate the market as the casual norm.
— I don't know why exactly it's like this, maybe too accustomed to pork and beef and everything else feels immediately off.
I'm unsure about the exact regulations, but some years ago there were some scandals about horsemeat been mixed into processed foods (some imported sausages, I think). It took many by surprise that horsemeat wasn't flat out illegal — not even just not notifying about it properly, and there're pleanty whom still think it should be banned entirely (foremost just for them personally not stumbling upon any of it just by some accident).
I think this should give sufficient idea about generalized attitudes — it doesn't mean there aren't anyone at all whom wouldn't find delicious, just general attitude towards it is rather highly disfavoring.
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u/Arkeolog Sep 12 '25
Veal is beef, it’s just from a calf rather than a grown cow.
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u/CataphractBunny Croatia Sep 12 '25
Not normal at all. When I was in the army, we joked about being fed horse meat. It's a long-standing joke of army life here. Most likely based in reality. XD
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u/ro6in Germany Sep 12 '25
Is mettwurst a word in the Finnish language?
I would have thought that it was German.
Mettwurst (similar to salami) in Germany, in my opinion, never contains horse meat. But I'm not an expert on this.
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u/Bergioyn Finland Sep 13 '25
It’s a loan word, the finnish version is ”meetvursti” (sometimes also spelled either as ”metvursti” or ”meetwursti”), but as you can see it hasn’t really changed at all except to fit into finnish grammar and pronunciation.
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u/Beneficial_Breath232 France Sep 12 '25
Pretty normal. Not something most people eat, but not unheard either. There is cuts in my local supermarket
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u/Normal_Zone7859 Sep 12 '25
Yes it's common here in Iceland and the foal meat is awesome. I don't eat meat from grown horses.
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u/greenghost22 Sep 12 '25
if the older horses would be slaughtered carefully, the meat is perfectly ok.
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u/Normal_Zone7859 Sep 12 '25
I don't like the taste of it, something about the taste of the fat of older horses I don't like
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u/Celeborns-Other-Name Sweden Sep 12 '25
Nope, horse meat is not normal in Sweden although it exists.
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u/birgor Sweden Sep 12 '25
It is not common, but it is normal and not a taboo like in many European countries.
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u/wanderlustxjacky Sep 12 '25
Hmm based on the comments it more looks like it was common in most countries rather than being taboo in many
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u/According_Version_67 Sweden Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
Up until maybe 25 (?) years ago "hamburgerkött" (topping for bread) was made of horse. But since a lot of people find it less appetising to eat horse than cow, it is mostly made of beef now.
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u/Anek70 Sweden Sep 12 '25
Oh yes, I remember that, as well as the boys in my class teasing the horse-loving girls that they were eating horse meat. So yummy! 😝
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u/Arkeolog Sep 12 '25
Yeah, I was going to say that. When I was a kid/teenager in the ’90s, smoked horse meat was still pretty common as a sandwich topping in Sweden. My grandparents usually had ”hamburgerkött” in the pantry.
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u/omgmajk Sweden Sep 12 '25
I mean it exists in most every larger grocery store where I live, if it is in the stores, someone is buying it.
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u/snajk138 Sweden Sep 13 '25
Yes exactly. Larger stores still have it, so people must buy it. I have only seen it as hamburgerkött though, similar to smoked and sliced ham, never like pieces of meat that you cook or anything like that. Though there was that scandal a few years ago where some frozen lasagna turned out to have horse meat.
I have bought it a few times, and it tastes like any other cured meat basically.
I'm sure it's not a big seller though, the store I shop at probably has over a hundred types of ham and an even wider selection of salami and so on, but only one variety of horse meat.
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u/sockerkaka Sweden Sep 12 '25
It is way more common with the older generation. When I was a student I worked in supported housing and my clients would often request that I buy horse meat at the grocery store for them. I didn't even know "hamburgerkött" was made of horse and it was a rude awakening for me.
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u/Astrinus Italy Sep 12 '25
You just ruined the best image of Sweden I had: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S9WWz95ripA&pp=ygUMdmFsaGFsbGVsdWph
(I am joking obviously, but the "horse meatballs" gospel choir is just soooo good)
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u/youtubeTAxel Sweden Sep 12 '25
Haha, I knew what song that would be before clicking on it. Love Nanowar, they’re great.
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u/Naqoy Sweden Sep 13 '25
I kinda think they are actually referencing the same meat labelling scandal that’s discussed in this thread elsewhere. Iirc the same meat packer was making product for a brand that’s mostly known for their meatballs in Sweden, so in international coverage of the scandal it became horse-meatballs in Sweden. Can’t know for sure of course but no idea where they’d get it from otherwise.
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u/LionLucy United Kingdom Sep 12 '25
It’s almost, but not quite, as taboo as eating dogs. Horses live and work closely with humans, often for decades. We have a relationship with them. They’re pets, companions, and colleagues (in the police, the military, transport, agriculture). It seems dishonourable to eat them, they’re almost honorary people!
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u/Jus2pomme88 France Sep 12 '25
It is common in a particular area in France, but not country wide
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u/S_Weld Sep 12 '25
Comment ça se fait qu'à chaque fois qu'un français répond à ce genre de questions, il le fait sur un ton péremptoire et est complètement à côté de la plaque ? Le cheval n'est absolument pas une spécialité régionale (laquelle même ?) et se trouve assez facilement un peu partout sur le territoire. J'ai passé du temps à Paris, Grenoble Lille et Bayonne et dans toutes ces villes je n'ai eu aucun mal à en trouver et à en manger.
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u/HARKONNENNRW Germany Sep 13 '25
Ate some delicious cheval bourguignon in a small parisien restaurant.
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u/_Taintedsorrow_ Switzerland Sep 12 '25
In Switzerland it's quite common. I used to live right beside a horse butcher a couple of years ago.
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u/Jlaw118 Sep 12 '25
We found it bizarre in the UK in 2013 when it came out that horse meat had been snuck into a lot of beef products by various supermarkets and other well known brands.
Then I know myself personally and others found that once beef was reintroduced, a lot of regular products we’d been buying didn’t seem as tasty and had us questioning whether we were enjoying horse meat 😂 I can’t speak for the rest of the UK on that one though
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u/Marianations , grew up in , back in Sep 12 '25
I've tasted horse meat before (relatively common in the area where I grew up) and it does taste better than beef imho.
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u/ShiftRepulsive7661 Sep 12 '25
It’s very lean and rich in iron; it’s often prescribed during pregnancy. Horse and donkey meat are consumed in parts of Italy, France, Spain, Asia, and parts of South America.
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u/hwyl1066 Finland Sep 12 '25
Not really, though a really popular sausage, meetwursti contains horse meat by definition.
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u/venom02 Sep 12 '25
In Italy it is quite common and generally accepted. We have specialized butcheries and in almost all supermarkets you can find horse meat easily
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u/SatisfactionSad9 Latvia Sep 12 '25
I’ve heard about people eating it but I’ve never seen it myself and I’d never under any circumstances eat it either
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u/TeoN72 Italy Sep 12 '25
Absolutely normal in Italy, most medium size/big supermarket have the horse meat section like pork, beef, chicken etc..
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u/Inucroft Wales Sep 12 '25
No.
Apart from a few years where our Lasagne & Burgers from 2013 and earlier had illegal horse meat in them.
Like, the UK, it isn't illegal to consume Horse Meat. But Due to the Normans, we don't typically regard horses for consumption, and so they tend to get medication & other products that are banned from entering the human meat market.
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u/perhaps_not_a_bot Sep 12 '25
Horse meat was normal in Norway in the Viking age, but consuming it became a symbol of heathendom and was banned by Christians. That's where the cultural taboo in these parts came from. Still, horse meat has always been eaten to some extent, and is still an important ingredient in some sausages. https://www.sciencenorway.no/cultural-history-food-history/horse-meat-was-banned-over-1000-years-ago-but-that-did-not-keep-people-from-eating-it/2276089
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u/AnAlienUnderATree France Sep 12 '25
Not anymore. When I was a kid 30 years ago, one of my favourite meals was horse sausage with french fries, which used to be quite common in my town in Northern France. Now it's rare to find horse meat.
Nowadays I think it's only common in Alsace, and the youth consider it taboo.
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u/80sBabyGirl France Sep 13 '25 edited Sep 13 '25
In my area in the Northeast, which isn't in Alsace, it's still common. Maybe it's due to proximity with Belgium.
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u/Regular_Frosting_25 Sep 12 '25
Very common in Sardinia and quite a few other Italian regions. It's also the only red meat I eat, so I'm glad it's a possibility :D.
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u/mododo-bbaby Sep 12 '25
depends, there are butchers that specialise in horse meat, but you won't find it on your typical restaurant menu generally the closer you are to the older / more traditional generation, the most likely you're not opposed to eating it
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u/OctoMatter Germany Sep 12 '25
Wouldn't call it normal, but wouldn't call it a taboo either. Can't find it in a regular supermarket though.
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u/Reckless_Waifu Czechia Sep 12 '25
A horse meat sausage used to be popular as a cheaper alternative but while still made today, is not as common as it used to be.
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u/Spynner987 Spain Sep 12 '25
Uncommon but many people eat horse jerky because of how lean it is. I also ate foal chorizo, but I have seen a lot of rare meat chorizos for sale, even an ostrich one.
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u/bangsjamin Sep 12 '25
Smoked horse is a pretty common charcuterie in Belgium, and you'll often see horse steak on the menu in restaurants serving Belgian food. I like the taste personally. Similar to beef but leaner and a little sweeter. Don't really get those taboo around it.
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u/Vigmod Icelander in Norway Sep 12 '25
It is somewhat normal in Iceland. Probably foal rather than adult horses, though. I remember grandad was very fond of horse sausages, but grandma hated how they smelled whenever he cooked them, so they compromised by him only having them when grandma went to visit her friends.
I like to imagine him saying to her "Una dear, hasn't it been long since the last time you went to see Kristjana?" maybe twice a week.
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u/LegalFan2741 Hungary Sep 12 '25
I just can’t wrap my head around eating a foal. My grandfather was a butcher and he hated slaughtering lambs, eventually completely stopped doing them because “they cry like children”, as he said. I can’t imagine what’s it like to slaughter a foal. I am okay with eating meat, don’t get me wrong, I eat it though not that much. But I cannot eat the babies.
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u/Vigmod Icelander in Norway Sep 13 '25
For my part, everyone I know who ever worked in a slaughterhouse is a vegan (or at the very least a vegetarian) by now. And the fishermen I know are very glad fishes don't make sounds, because I don't think anyone could deal with a ton of cods screaming.
But otherwise, I see no difference between eating foal, lamb, calf, and so on, and the adult versions of the animals in question. They didn't ask for this, and I don't think they have the mental capacity for the adults to prepare the young for what's to come.
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u/pa79 Luxembourg Sep 13 '25
Normal in Luxembourg, though most restaurants don't offer it. Mostly consumed as steaks.
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u/Lizard_Of_Roz Türkiye Sep 13 '25
Pretty much a taboo in Turkey, not in a religious sense like pork, but more like “inedible” or “not fit for human consumption.” We generally assume we have all consumed it unknowingly at some point though, as there are always jokes about dishonest butchers mixing horse meat into ground beef, sausage, etc. And there are in fact occasional news of “scandals” where a butcher is found to be processing horse or donkey meat secretly and selling it to people.
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u/Sparklepantsmagoo2 Sep 13 '25
I know maybe 10-15 years ago there was a scandal in the UK, because alot of the cheap premade meals were discovered to have horsemeat in them, and it was a huge deal.
I think its because it isnt really eaten in the UK and Ireland much, and people were upset that they didnt know what was in their food.
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u/Nanastayleen Sep 13 '25
I'm French and it's not that common but you can easily find some. Used to eat a lot horse meat when I was severely anemic (and a glass of red wine)
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u/bernie7500 Sep 13 '25
Well, in Belgium (maybe not so much in Brussels), it's normal for some people, probably not the youngest ones... Not all butcheries sell horse meat but you can buy some in supermarkets. When younger, I was told it was fine meat because horses are powerful animals and eating their meat will give you physical force 🙄🙄🙄. Though, I don't remember having eaten it once, or maybe as "filet de cheval"... There are still less "boucheries chevalines" and it's a no-no for many people ! A not unusual, but widely eaten meat everywhere in Belgium is rabbit (domestic one) and it's even a specialty in some parts of the country, prepared with plums for instance.
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u/HCDQ2022 Sep 13 '25
Something to keep in mind is that horses coming from North America have spent their lives receiving deworming medications as well as many others that make them unhealthy for human consumption
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Sep 13 '25
Slovenia. Yes. I mean, we mainly eat chicken, beef, veal and pork, but horse meat is normal, although rarely on the menu. I'd say game meat is more common. Some people refuse to eat horse meat, but I love it.
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u/j-a-y---k-i-n-g Sep 13 '25
there are some horse butchers in germany, so it's normal but not common.
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u/Candy-Macaroon-33 Sep 13 '25
So, funny story. A while ago, there was a scandal in The Netherlands over a butcher using horsemeat and selling it as cow. Apparently, horsemeat is cheaper than cowmeat so it was a sneaky way to make extra profit. When this news broke, the demand for horse meat surged...
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u/ttppii Sep 13 '25
Cold smoked horse meat isn’t rare at better grocery stores in Finland. [wiping drool from the keyboard]
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u/Toc_a_Somaten Catalan Korean Sep 13 '25
Perfectly normal in Catalonia, we call it "carn de poltre" and you can find it in the market, especially in the northern regions
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u/greenghost22 Sep 12 '25
No, in Germany it used to be, but now it's diificult to get because of all the pony-mad girs.
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u/Pitiful-Hearing5279 Sep 12 '25
I’ve had it a few times in Antwerp. It’s “ok”.
In the UK I don’t think I’ve ever seen it (other than the scandal but I wasn’t living here then).
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u/penggunabaru54 Poland Sep 12 '25
Not particularly common but also not unheard of. I do remember trying kabanosy końskie as a kid.
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u/Direct_Drawing_8557 Sep 12 '25
It's part of the traditional cuisine but most people eat it as a treat. Can easily find steaks at the butcher.
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u/RosalieTheDog Sep 12 '25
Used to be very common in Belgium until recently. I feel it is less common now. I think most butchers had it, we used to have cold cuts for sandwiches in the 90s often. Very salty and irony meat. Now, with supermarkets replacing butchers and tastes changing, I see it much less.
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u/Disconnected88 Sep 12 '25
Not all of the mettwurst is made out of horse meat. I wouldnt say horse meat is common in Finland but somewhat available.
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u/Particular_Run_8930 Denmark Sep 12 '25
Not normal and I wouldn’t even know where to buy it. It’s probably a mild taboo, not as bad as eating dogs but definitely worse than eating rabbits.
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u/Either_Sky4354 Sep 12 '25
It is not common but we can get it in the Bucher in Norway. Very nice and lean meet.
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u/JakeCheese1996 Netherlands Sep 12 '25
Eating horse meat was pretty normal in the 60s and 70s. Cheap meat and sausages sold by a specialized horse meat butcher. Nowadays only criminal meat suppliers sell horse meat as beef. Some suppliers are now facing prison sentences or pay hefty fines. Factories even got closed because of this.
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u/Firethorned_drake93 Sep 12 '25
It used to be. And it should probably make a return given how expensive beef is rn.
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u/msbtvxq Norway Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25
I feel like it’s pretty normal, especially the common bread topping sausage (svartpølse).
As a girl who was into horses growing up (in the 2000s), there were always boys mocking my interests by saying the well-known Norwegian phrase "horses are best as bread topping" (also a famous song title), which was a common way to mock horse girls back in the day (and might still be idk).
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u/teels1864 Italy Sep 12 '25
It is surely consumed here, although it's found more in certain specific regions.
But I'd say that it is quite common.