Cheval

I was stunned to walk into my favorite Picard (purveyor of cheap frozen foods and godsend of graduate students and working parents in this country) to find the following alert:

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"Les résultats des analyses demandées par Picard ont confirmé la détection de viande de cheval dans les deux lots de lasagnes bolognaises." Yikes.

Yes, the lasagna bolognaise had horse meat in it. But despite Picard's faith that the products are tout à fait consommables, they've pulled the lasagne and chili con caballo from the shelves before anyone got the chance to try it for themselves. I would not have been one of them -- too many years of working with horses has elevated them to pet status in my mind -- but I suspect there would have been many takers here.

France, you see, has always loved horse meat, or at least since the 1789 Revolution. When the peasants overthrew the monarchy, they also slaughtered and butchered the contents of the nobles' stables to feed the starving citizenry. There seems to be a logical gap between wanting to behead the king and wanting to kill and eat every animal associated with him, but we'll assume for now that the peasants were just really, really hungry, since Marie-Antoinette never came through on her offer to let everyone eat brioche cakes.

In later history, French armies took to eating the enemy's horses as a sign of victory and a way to fend of malnutrition on the battlefront. A recipe dating from the Napoleonic campaigns describes how to make a great post-battle stew from the enemies' horses: cut up the horse and cook it in the enemy's armor, and then season with a pinch of gunpowder. ("La cuirasse pectorale des cavaliers démontés et blessés eux-mêmes servait de marmite pour la coction de cette viande, et au lieu de sel, dont nous étions entièrement dépourvus, elle fut assaisonnée avec de la poudre à canon.") Yum. 

These were hard times, though. Much like the 1870 Siege of Paris, during which a food shortage prompted restauranteurs to raid the city's zoos. A Christmas Eve menu from that year features elephant, bear, kangaroo, antelope, and stray cats.

Surely by the 20th century and the arrival of the modern industrial food complex, the French would neither want nor need to eat horse meat, right? Apparently horse meat is very delicious, because although 1870 food critics decried elephant meat as "tough, course, and oily," horse meat remains on the menu. In 2004, 25,600 tons of horse were consumed in France: only a couple of ounces per citizen, but a regular part of one-sixth of the population's diet. Horse meat is fairly expensive, selling at the local horse butcher at about the same price as veal.

Butchers in France always feature smiling meat-producers. Is it a suggestion of humane slaughter, or just a creepy endorsement? 

Despite the horror of English-speaking nations and fair-weather vegetarians everywhere, France is not alone in its consumption of horse. Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium are also major consumers of cheval. Intentional consumers, that is. Tunisia is also an early adopter, judging from this market vendor we encountered in Tunis this weekend.

For the rest of us, we can only shudder and be glad that the lasagne bolognaise wasn't on sale the day we were out shopping.

Prague Blog

Prague has been on my personal to-visit list for a while now. It was one of those places that everyone had been to and loved, but that I hadn't ever made it to. (Also on this list: Berlin, Amsterdam, Budapest, Istanbul, to name a few). Last weekend, I finally checked it off. My conclusion: WHY HAVEN'T YOU BEEN TO PRAGUE YET?

The city is beautiful, an amazing mix of Medieval, Baroque, Renaissance, and Art Nouveau architecture. Although the Czechs were under Soviet control for decades, there are -- thankfully -- very few traces of their particular style of construction in Prague. The subway is a spectacular feat of Soviet engineering that sits out of sight and underground, where it belongs.  The rest of the city is more like this:

Building on the Old Town square.

Saint Nicholas Church (these guys had an anti-Catholic reformation that makes Martin Luther look mainstream)

Obecní dům: the Prague municipal house

I fell in love with Prague's municipal house, a stately Art Nouveau building used for public functions, particularly concerts. 

Ceiling of the main concert hall

Interior of the Obecní dům

Okay, okay, that's all the architecture I'll throw at you. Prague has many merits besides design excellence. The Charles Bridge is one of them. We found ourselves there right at sunset and were treated to spectacular views of the city.

View across the Vltava. Vlatava is Czech for "you will never learn how to pronounce our language." 

View of the Prague Castle.

The Charles Bridge dates from the 14th and 15th centuries. Being the first bridge across the river, it was a huge innovation at the time, because the winter ice was a struggle to paddle across.

Of course we also saw the main tourist attractions: the Astronomical Clock and the Prague Castle. According to legend, the king ordered that the maker of the clock be blinded so that nobody else could have as neat of a toy. The legend is almost certainly false, but it's easy to believe when you see the 15th-century clock do it's song and dance routine on the hour.

Mike with a toy.

St. Vitus Cathedral, at Prague Castle.

Of course, no vacation is complete without a tour of the local cuisine. We were surprised to find really good food in Prague, since Czech food doesn't have a reputation for being spectacular. Their traditional dish, beef with cream sauce and dumplings (sliced steamed bread), was hearty and perfect for a cold day. Okay, the dumplings were really where it was at, but there was some meat on the dish too.

From Paddy, under Creative Commons licensing.

And then we tried a Czech kolache. This is nothing like a Kolache shop creation: little did we know that kolaches are basically stuffed dumplings, not rolls with a tablespoon of jam on top. I sincerely regret not going back for more.

Packed with apricot. Just the right amount of sweet. So addictive!

I really enjoyed learning about Prague on our trip. I seriously considered enrolling in a school program there so that we could stay longer. Maybe Unicorn College?

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