Watch Out for French Menus with Horses

As if eating out in France wasn’t difficult enough, visitors need to be aware of an additional culinary peril: horse meat is coming back into style.

The high price of beef is the cause of the increase in horse meat sales; in France alone, sales are up 6% to 25,000 metric tons. (US consumption: 0.)

Besides France, you can also find horse meat butcheries and speciality restaurants in Japan, China, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, but France is the only place I know where regular restaurants will add it to their menus.

It’s pretty easy to avoid horse butcheries, since they usually display a sign with a horse at the front of the store. French menus, however, are trickier to navigate. Look for the word “chevaline” and if you aren’t feeling ambitious, order something else.

Image from blm.gov